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Bud's Tavern in Jeffersontown features three Burning Barrel machines that proprietor Rebecca Henry says customers love. Called "skill games" by their manufacturers and "gray games" by opponents, the machines are at the center of an expensive lobbying fight in Kentucky. Some want to regulate and tax them, while others say they are illegal gambling and should be explicitly banned. Jan. 24, 2023 (WDRB photo)
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So-called 'skill' games are popping up at bars and convenience stores all over Kentucky. Powerful interests are set to clash in Frankfort over whether the games should outlawed, regulated or left alone.
Operators of the machines — which can be found in bars, veterans halls and truck stops — argue they take memory, dexterity, and skill to win, and are legal.
Kentucky lawmakers passed a bill to outlaw thousands of gaming machines with cash payouts that have proliferated at bars and restaurants across the state, setting up a potential legal challenge from the industry behind the games going by names like Burning Barrel and Wildcat.
