PROPOSED RULES
Original Notice.
Preproposal statement of inquiry was filed as WSR 08-08-006.
Title of Rule and Other Identifying Information: WAC 230-15-320 Surveillance room requirements for house-banked card game licensees.
Hearing Location(s): DoubleTree Hotel Seattle Airport, 18740 International Boulevard, Seattle, WA 98188, on November 14, 2008, at 9:30 a.m.
Date of Intended Adoption: November 14, 2008.
Submit Written Comments to: Susan Arland, P.O. Box 42400, Olympia, WA 98504-2400, e-mail Susan2@wsgc.wa.gov, fax (360) 486-3625, by November 1, 2008.
Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact Gail Grate, executive assistant, by November 1, 2008, TTY (360) 486-3637 or (360) 486-3453.
Purpose of the Proposal and Its Anticipated Effects, Including Any Changes in Existing Rules: The Recreational Gaming Association (RGA) is requesting that house-banked card game licensees not be required to have a staffed surveillance room when they operate only nonhouse-banked card games.
Staff has been working with the industry on this rule change.
The RGA states that licensees only operating nonhouse-banked games should not be held to a higher standard because they, at times, also operate house-banked games. The RGA states that the increased cost for providing a staffed surveillance room on nonhouse-banked games is not warranted.
At the May 2008 meeting, the commission denied a petition from the RGA for a less defined and broader request because of regulatory concerns. At the meeting, director Day said staff would work with the RGA to clarify their request and work towards an alternative that would satisfy the industry and meet our regulatory requirements.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 9.46.070.
Statute Being Implemented: Not applicable.
Name of Proponent: Recreational Gaming Association, private.
Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting: Susan Arland, Rules Coordinator, Lacey, (360) 486-3466; Implementation: Rick Day, Director, Lacey, (360) 486-3446; and Enforcement: Mark Harris, Assistant Director, Lacey, (360) 486-3579.
No small business economic impact statement has been prepared under chapter 19.85 RCW. A small business economic impact statement has not been prepared pursuant to RCW 19.85.025 because the change would not impose additional costs on businesses.
A cost-benefit analysis is not required under RCW 34.05.328. The Washington state gambling commission is not an agency that is statutorily required to prepare a cost-benefit analysis under RCW 34.05.328.
August 20, 2008
Susan Arland
Rules Coordinator
OTS-1866.1
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Order 611, filed 4/24/07,
effective 1/1/08)
WAC 230-15-320
Surveillance room requirements for
house-banked card game licensees.
House-banked card game
licensees must maintain one or more surveillance rooms. They
must:
(1) Control access to the surveillance room so that only surveillance department employees use the room. Owners or their approved supervisory or management personnel may also enter the surveillance room to monitor activities. Licensees may allow authorized personnel to escort any other person into the surveillance room for educational, investigative, or maintenance purposes; and
(2) Ensure that surveillance room entrances are not easily observed from the gambling floor; and
(3) Ensure that a surveillance employee is present in the room and monitoring activities using the equipment any time the card room is conducting gambling and during the count process. However, licensees may operate the surveillance room without staff:
(a) For routine breaks that are less than thirty minutes
per shift; ((and)) or
(b) When only nonhouse-banked card games are operated.
(4) Ensure that any time a winning wager, a jackpot, or bonus pay out greater than one thousand dollars is won, they use pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras to verify:
(a) Winning hands; and
(b) Amounts of the wager; and
(c) Amounts of the pay out; and
(d) Players who won the prize.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 9.46.070. 07-10-034 (Order 611), § 230-15-320, filed 4/24/07, effective 1/1/08.]