WSR 08-23-080

PERMANENT RULES

GAMBLING COMMISSION


[ Order 638 -- Filed November 18, 2008, 9:54 a.m. , effective January 1, 2009 ]


     Effective Date of Rule: January 1, 2009.

     Purpose: The Recreational Gaming Association's request that house-banked card game licensees not be required to have a staffed surveillance room when they operate only nonhouse-banked card games was approved. Licensees that choose to operate an unstaffed surveillance room must set wager limits for nonhouse-banked card games at $40 or less. The $40 wager limit must be documented in their internal controls and the wager limit applies whether the surveillance room is staffed or unstaffed.

     Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 230-15-320.

     Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 9.46.070.

      Adopted under notice filed as WSR 08-19-096 filed on September 16, 2008, and published October 1, 2008.

     Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0;      Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.

     Date Adopted: November 18, 2008.

Susan Arland

Rules Coordinator

OTS-1866.2


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, subject to subsection (4) of this section, 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 with wager limits of forty dollars or less and such limits are documented in their internal controls.

     (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.]

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