Missouri’s largest gaming terminal company suspends operations, AG says
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Torch Electronics agreed to suspend in-state operations by Friday, per the AG.
- Hanaway said Torch’s suspension followed a joint probe with U.S. attorneys.
- Missouri House passed a bill to regulate the machines, but the Senate may not advance it.
Missouri’s largest operator of “skill based gaming terminals,” which resemble slot machines and at retail locations across the state, suspended operation in the state on Friday.
The terminals promulgated throughout the state, with manufacturers claiming they aren’t gambling devices because they provide players odds or relied on an element of skill. But Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway contends that they are illegal gambling devices, and has ramped up enforcement against them during her tenure.
Hanaway announced on Wednesday that Torch Electronics will suspend operation by Friday in response to a joint investigation by her office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri.
“Torch’s agreement to proactively halt these operations signals clearly that there has never been a gray market,” Hanaway said in a statement.
Torch manufactured roughly 16,000 of the 25,000 Missouri gaming machines, sometimes called “gray machines” due to their legal ambiguity, according to an estimate from the Attorney General’s Office.
Hannaway said she’ll continue to investigate and enforce anti-gambling laws on the remaining machines in the state. Torch spokesperson Gregg Keller declined to comment on the story.
Last month, Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson announced her office would partner with Hanaway to aggressively target gaming machines starting July 1.
“Our position remains the same,” Jazzlyn Johnson, director of communications at the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, told The Star in an email. “Jackson County business owners must remove the illegal gambling devices before the July 1, 2026, deadline or face potential criminal charges.”
Torch said it planned to appeal a court ruling that considered the devices to be illegal gambling machines.
A bill that would regulate the machines, rather than criminalize them, passed in the Missouri House. But the Senate could prove to be the more challenging chamber.
Senate President Cindy O’Laughlin has been a critic of regulating the gaming terminals, preferring to keep them illegal. The bill received a Senate committee hearing on April 1, but hasn’t been recommended for a vote on the Senate floor.
This story was originally published April 10, 2026 at 2:26 PM.
