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You walk into a gas station to pick up your favorite road trip treats and a drink to keep you alert. While making your selections, your attention is drawn to a sight familiar to many: flashing lights and animations that pull you closer. What stands before you resembles machines you thought were only in casinos. But this is surely not a slot machine for gambling ... or is it?
These "gray" machines, found in bars, gas stations, and other locations, look similar to casino devices. Recently, there has been a rise of gray machines in the United States. They feature various themes, play levels, and the opportunity to pay money for cash prizes. Some even require players to complete a skill-based challenge as part of the game.
A crucial difference between these gray machines and traditional casino slots is that players can choose to view whether the next spin will be a "winner." This contrasts with casino slot machines, which typically use a random number generator to ensure each spin is entirely based on chance.
Gambling consists of three elements: (1) prize (anything of value); (2) chance (winning depends on factors outside a person's control); and (3) consideration (typically requiring payment to play). To avoid constituting illegal gambling, a game must eliminate at least one of these elements.
Gray machines satisfy the first and third elements, as users pay to play for an opportunity to win a cash prize. The question becomes: are these games decided by chance? Determining whether a game is one of chance is not always clear-cut. States have developed tests to make this determination, but these tests are difficult to apply to machines operating in this legal gray area.
The outcome of a gray machine's play is predetermined by a sequence when the machine starts up. This design has sparked litigation in several states, including Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri, focusing on whether gray machines truly eliminate chance. As a result, these machines remain in a "gray" area of the law—between gambling devices and lawful entertainment.
In recent years, Kentucky gray machines have faced lawsuits and legislative action. In 2023, lawmakers passed a bill banning certain "skill" games, arguing the outcomes relied on chance. In response, new machines were distributed in 2024, marketed as "no-risk" games. These devices revealed the outcome before the spin, which creators claimed removed chance and, therefore, the game's classification as gambling.
However, Kentucky's Attorney General issued an advisory in September 2024 stating these "no-risk" games still constitute gambling. The advisory cited a 1918 Kentucky Supreme Court case involving machines that cost a nickel to play and always returned a stick of gum worth 5 cents while also revealing whether the player would win an additional token. The court reasoned that chance existed because players were enticed by the possibility of getting "something for nothing," a "lure" that encouraged continued play.
Similarly, Kentucky's Attorney General argues that modern machines entice players with the hope of winning more than the cost to play, making them gambling devices.
In Tennessee, a court ruled in July 2025 that the ability to see the next spin's outcome does not eliminate chance. The court found that requiring payment to view additional outcomes creates uncertainty, classifying these machines as illegal gambling devices.
Missouri has become a focal point in the gray machine debate. Despite repeated legislative attempts to regulate or ban these devices, the machines remain largely unregulated. In 2025, the Missouri House narrowly passed House Bill 970, which sought to legalize and regulate video lottery terminals while phasing out gray machines. However, the bill stalled in the Senate amid opposition from both casinos and gray machine operators, leaving the legal landscape unchanged.
Meanwhile, litigation has intensified. In October 2025, a federal jury ruled that "no-chance" machines violate Missouri gambling laws, awarding $500,000 in damages to a competitor. This verdict marked the first time a court addressed the legality of these devices in Missouri, finding that the machines' design still involves an element of chance despite their "pre-reveal" feature.
The rise of gray machines highlights a growing tension between innovation, consumer demand, and regulatory oversight. While operators argue these devices offer skill-based entertainment without chance, courts and regulators increasingly view them as gambling due to the lure of winning "something for nothing." Recent rulings in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri demonstrate that the legal landscape is shifting, and uncertainty remains for businesses, players, and policymakers.
Stakeholders, including legislators, regulators and business owners, must engage proactively to clarify the law and establish consistent standards. Without clear guidance, litigation and enforcement actions will continue to shape the industry in unpredictable ways.
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