Torch Electronics Pulls Out of Missouri Amid Prosecution Threat

Posted on: April 10, 2026, 05:31h. 

Last updated on: April 10, 2026, 05:31h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.
  • Torch halts Missouri gray-market machines amid criminal investigation threats
  • Federal ruling declares slot-style devices illegal outside licensed casinos
  • Retailers face charges but may get leniency if machines removed

Torch Electronics is pulling its gray market slot-style machines from Missouri amid the threat of prosecution after a federal judge ruled them illegal under state law.

Torch Electronics, Missouri gambling law, gray market slot machines, illegal gaming devices, Missouri Attorney General
Missouri AG Catherine Hanaway, above, is going hard against Torch Electronics, but she is offering leniency to businesses that host their machines if they agree to keep them switched off from Friday. (Image: Missouri AG’s Office)

The company, which is the largest supplier of gray-market machines in the state, wrote to its retail locations this week to say the games would be switched off today, Friday, April 10, pending the result of a state and federal investigation.

Retailers Face Criminal Risk

“The U.S. Attorney’s office and the Missouri Attorney General have indicated they are going to move forward with criminal investigations and proceedings,” the company wrote to its location partners.

While we are confident in our position, criminal proceedings create real uncertainty for our business — and more importantly, they create risk for all of you. We take that seriously, and we want to do everything we can to protect you.”

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway emphasized in a statement Wednesday that it was “illegal to provide access to unregulated machines and games for gambling purposes.” She added that her office would continue to “seek enforcement action against other operators, manufacturers, and retail stores facilitating this illegal activity.”

Thousands of Machines

Missouri has an estimated 14,000 to 20,000 gray market machines deployed at bars, gas stations, and convenience stores across the state. The games are often advertised as “no chance” or “skill” machines and mimic casino slots but exist in unregulated settings.

Torch argued that the machines were legal because they used a “no-chance” or “pre-reveal” feature. This allowed players to press a button to see the result of the next spin before betting, which the company said eliminated the element of chance that defines gambling under state law.

The machines also cycled through a fixed sequence of outcomes, rather than using a random number generator, which Torch argued further removes the element of chance.

But in late September 2025, a civil jury agreed that the sheer length of the sequence, and the fact that its starting point is randomized on reboot, rendered it effectively unknowable.

And since users typically play through a series of spins rather than just one, in practice, they’re always paying to see what happens in the spin after the next one, which remains unknown.

In February 2026, a federal judge in St. Louis determined for the first time that Torch’s machines were “gambling devices” and therefore illegal under Missouri law when operated outside a licensed casino.

Leniency for Compliance

In an interview published Friday by The Missouri Independent, Hanaway said her office would consider dropping charges already filed against convenience-store owners who hosted Torch machines if they agree not to restart them after today’s deadline.

“Torch’s agreement to proactively halt these operations signals clearly that there has never been a gray market,” she told the outlet.