Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.

     Purpose: The petitioner, Monty Harmon, originally requested to increase the value of a promotional item operators can give their customers from five hundred dollars to five thousand dollars and allow licensees to provide additional entries into promotional contests of chance based on a player's time spent gambling and/or a player's betting levels. The petitioner's request was not filed at the March 2008 meeting. At the April 2008 meeting, the commission filed their own alternative to increase the limit on gambling promotional items from $500 to $5,000. The alternative did not include the petitioner's request to combine gambling promotions with promotional contests of chance. At the May 2008 meeting, the commission filed an alternative submitted by Mr. Harmon to remove all dollar limits on gambling promotional items. It did not include the petitioner's request to combine gambling promotions with promotional contests of chance. The commission adopted this alternative at the August commission [meeting]. As such, all dollar limits have been removed from promotional items related to gambling.

     Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 230-06-030 and 230-15-141.

     Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 9.46.070.

      Adopted under notice filed as WSR 08-09-096 on April 21, 2008, and published May 7, 2008, for WAC 230-15-141; and WSR 08-11-049 filed on May 15, 2008, and published June 4, 2008, for WAC 230-06-030.

     Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 2, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0;      Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 2, Repealed 0.

     Date Adopted: August 18, 2008.

Susan Arland

Rules Coordinator

OTS-1598.1

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Order 601, filed 8/22/06, effective 1/1/08)

WAC 230-06-030   Restrictions and conditions for gambling promotions.   Licensees may conduct gambling promotions to encourage players to participate in a gambling activity, but you must follow these restrictions and conditions:

     (1) ((Promotional items must not exceed five hundred dollars each; and

     (2))) You must give all players an equal opportunity to participate; and

     (((3))) (2) You must establish standards to determine how you will give promotional items to players. You must not give the items based on an element of chance, such as a drawing or spinning wheel, unless you are doing so as part of a bingo game; and

     (((4))) (3) You must not give another chance to participate in a gambling activity as a promotional item; and

     (((5))) (4) You must display all rules or restrictions clearly in the gambling area and include them on promotional materials or advertisements; and

     (((6))) (5) You must not combine gambling activities and related gambling promotions in any way with a promotional contest of chance as defined in RCW 9.46.0356.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 9.46.070. 06-17-132 (Order 601), § 230-06-030, filed 8/22/06, effective 1/1/08.]

OTS-1483.1

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Order 617, filed 10/22/07, effective 1/1/08)

WAC 230-15-141   Additional merchandise or cash prizes for card games.  

Nonproprietary games.

     (1) Licensees may add additional merchandise or cash prizes to nonproprietary games like Blackjack or Pai Gow. We consider these additional prizes a gambling promotion and they must((:

     (a) Not be greater than five hundred dollars each; and

     (b))) meet all requirements of WAC 230-06-030.

Proprietary games.

     (2) Licensees must not add additional merchandise or cash prizes to proprietary games without the approval of the company that owns the rights to the games.

     (3) To indicate their approval, the owner of the rights to a proprietary game must:

     (a) Submit an alternative pay-table that includes the additional or revised prize payout to us for review and approval; or

     (b) Send an authorization letter to us allowing the addition of gambling promotions to their game.

     (4) Once we approve the changes, the revised pay-tables are available to all card game licensees. The prizes become a part of the game rules and we consider them prize payouts on the game. Because of this, we do not consider the prizes a gambling promotion.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 9.46.070. 07-21-116 (Order 617), § 230-15-141, filed 10/22/07, effective 1/1/08.]

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