Kansas Courts Won’t If Say Dragon’s Ascent Is a Game of Skill or Luck

Pace-O-Matic, owner and distributor of Dragon’s Ascent, has issues getting Kansas authorities to definitively state whether the game is skill- or luck-based.

Pace-O-Matic Seeks Clarification for the Legal Status of Dragon’s Ascent

Georgia-based company Pace-O-Matic (POM) distributes Dragon’s Ascent, a shooting game widely available in Kansas truck stops and convenience stores. The game allows players to shoot dragons, with every shot costing a credit, while every dragon slain yields a prize.

However, concerned with the legality of the game, POM asked the Kansas authorities if shooting dragons with winners possibly getting cash prizes is skill or luck-based. According to POM themselves, Dragon’s Ascent is a game of “100% skill and strategy.”

Kansas law generally prohibits using, possessing, manufacturing, or distributing a “gambling device” that enables an operator to receive money on a game of chance. This is what POM is concerned about and has previously approached the state authorities for clarification in 2019. However, the commission would not offer any formal opinion after it tested Dragon’s Ascent.

Nevertheless, POM proceeded with the game’s launch and filed a lawsuit against the Kansas attorney general, the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission, and the Douglas County district attorney. The company seeks a declaratory judgment that the game complies with Kansas’ criminal gambling statutes and that those statutes are unconstitutionally vague.

POM Files a Lawsuit

According to the Racing and Gaming Commission, who tested the devices, the game involved skill, “but contained too many non-skill features” to allow mastery. For example, the Commission observed a player beating other players “attempting to win with skill” by placing a heavy can over the joystick to allow continuous firing.

The Racing and Gaming Commission told POM  it wasn’t determining the game because the source code of the game could be changed remotely. Following this response, POM met with then-Attorney General Derek Schmidt and his staff to seek more clarification. However, because of the lack of a formal process, the company filed a lawsuit seeking a declaration that the game didn’t violate Kansas gambling laws.

POM approached the Kansas Supreme Court directly with these three claims:

That the Kansas Expanded Lottery Act doesn’t apply to Dragon’s Ascent

That Dragon’s Ascent doesn’t violate criminal gambling statutes

That the use of chance in gambling statutes is unconstitutionally vague

The Company Lacks Standing, according to Kansas Authorities

According to the most recent development from a few days ago, the authorities have decided that the company’s case has no standing. Kansas Supreme Court justice Keynen “K.J.” Wall Jr explained that since POM has not shown any credible threat of prosecution or injury traceable to the parties they sued, it lacks standing.

“We understand (Pace-O-Matic)’s desire to confirm that Dragon’s Ascent complies with Kansas law. But we cannot expand our judicial power simply because an answer would be helpful,” wrote Justice Keynen Wall. “No devices have been seized. No prosecutions have been initiated. No cease-and-desist orders have been issued. And neither the Racing and Gaming Commission nor the Attorney General has opined that the game is illegal.”

POM is taking this decision as a win. Michael Barley, chief public affairs officer at Pace-O-Matic, said the Supreme Court does not take the position the games are illegal. “Based on these facts and this case, we will continue to operate legally in Kansas,” Barley stated.