The number of such skill games have more than doubled across Nebraska in recent years, jumping from 1,577 in 2018 to 3,878 in November, according to Nebraska Department of Revenue data. This Kearney spot is not a gambling casino but a skill games “casino,” holding machines that the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled in 2011 were legal because they require some skill to win, unlike slot machines (illegal at that time), which are games based on chance. Nearly 4,000 skill games are licensed across Nebraska - almost four times as many as slot machines so far - including a handful in this skill game “casino” in Kearney. One wall of the mostly barren shop is lined with video machines that are a dead ringer for slot machines that are now being played at Nebraska’s first legal casinos in Lincoln and Grand Island. LINCOLN - “Win Big Money” and “Win $15,000 Today” read the signs at a small outlet at a strip mall in Kearney, Nebraska.

Editor’s note: this story has been updated to add comment from skill game executive.

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