Gray machines Buds Tavern 1-24-23 (2).JPG
Bud's Tavern in Jeffersontown features three Burning Barrel machines that proprietor Rebecca Henry says customers love. The tavern also has an ATM-like ticket redemption machine to support Burning Barrel. 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.
If the bill is signed into law, the so-called skill games that look like slot machines would be banned.
The CEO of Louisville-based Churchill Downs Inc. said Thursday that the company stands to benefit from Kentucky’s move to outlaw thousands of so-called “gray machines” that have popped up since 2021 at bars and restaurants around the state, though he said it’s hard to quantify the impact.
