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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — You can find them in some stores, gas stations, bars and some restaurants in Kentucky. On July 1, devices that look like slot machines will be banned in the Commonwealth. They’re known as “skill games” or “gray machines”. It comes after Gov. Andy Beshear (D) signed a bill into law banning the machines.
Bud’s Tavern, in Jeffersontown, is a very special place for Rebecca Henry. It’s her family’s business, and she’s the general manager. The Jeffersontown location opened in Feb. 2020 and she said the community is why the restaurant still thrives today.
“We have a good thing going here. We smoke our own meats. We make everything here, is just about homemade. We put our touch to it. It means something to us. It’s a passion for us,” Henry explained.
About a year-and-a-half ago, they got three “Burning Barrel” game machines. They got so popular, the restaurant brought in two more. Henry said they draw people that normally wouldn’t come in. She said the machines regularly brought in $3,000-$5,000 a month in profit.
“The profit that we get from these games, we give back to the community with that. We do so many events here. We do so many fundraisers here for different people in the community. We have car shows every month that we are able to do. We’re able to bring in bands. More bands, more entertainment to draw more folks in. We’re able to pay bills with this. I keep my lights on, a roof over our head,” she added.
If you look closely at the machines inside the restaurant, you’ll see they’re not on. There are signs saying “effective June 30th, skill games are no longer available for play.” That’s because of the ban goes into effect July 1. Supporters of the ban, including the group Kentuckians Against Illegal Gambling, focused on the proliferation of the machines.
“We commend the Kentucky General Assembly for bringing House Bill 594 across the finish line to protect Kentucky families and communities from the dangers of illegal gray machine gambling,” Mark Guilfoyle, the group’s executive director, said after the Senate vote.
To Henry, the ban doesn’t make sense.
“Make it make sense to us. This is here. This isn’t taking money out of the big man’s pocket. This is helping the small businesses and the people around here in the community be able to grow and flourish as well. There’s enough to go around,” she said.
Henry added, “It helped build new business so I am concerned and also too, my opportunities to give back to the community are, I’m not going to be able to do as much that way.”
Henry said since Oct. 2022, she has traveled to Frankfort to fight against the bill.
“The fight’s definitely not over. I feel like we’ve already made headway in the fact that previously the games themselves were supposed to be out of Kentucky. Now we’re able to keep these machines in our establishment. We just have to remove the motherboard and the cords and such so they can’t be actively used. I feel like that’s a great step in the right direction,” said Henry.
Spectrum News 1 talked with a representative with PACE-O-MATIC. They make the machines in Henry’s tavern. The company has filed two lawsuits. The first was filed in Franklin Court to challenge the constitutionality of the bill. PACE-O-MATIC is still waiting on a hearing date for that. A second separate lawsuit was filed to stop a change of venue. The current status of that lawsuit is unclear.
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