Bill Text: NY S00988 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Authorizes licensed authorized organizations to conduct certain poker tournaments as licensed games of chance fundraisers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-06-20 - COMMITTED TO RULES [S00988 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-S00988-Amended.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                         988--A
            Cal. No. 1038
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                     January 6, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sens.  BONACIC,  AKSHAR, FUNKE, O'MARA -- read twice and
          ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on
          Racing,  Gaming and Wagering -- reported favorably from said committee
          and committed to the Committee on Finance -- reported  favorably  from
          said committee, ordered to first and second report, ordered to a third
          reading,  amended  and  ordered  reprinted, retaining its place in the
          order of third reading
        AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to poker  tourna-
          ments
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1.  Section 185 of the general municipal law,  as  amended  by
     2  chapter 574 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:
     3    §  185.  Short  title; purpose of article. This article shall be known
     4  and may be cited as the games of chance licensing law.  The  legislature
     5  hereby declares that the raising of funds for the promotion of bona fide
     6  charitable,  educational,  scientific,  health,  religious and patriotic
     7  causes and undertakings, where the beneficiaries are undetermined, is in
     8  the public interest. It hereby finds that, as  conducted  prior  to  the
     9  enactment of this article, games of chance were the subject of exploita-
    10  tion  by professional gamblers, promoters, and commercial interests, and
    11  it finds further that tournaments of  the  various  games  of  poker  as
    12  offered  by  authorized  organizations  pursuant  to  subdivision two of
    13  section nine of article I of the New York state constitution, should  be
    14  regulated  under this article. It is hereby declared to be the policy of
    15  the legislature that all phases of the supervision, licensing and  regu-
    16  lation  of games of chance and of the conduct of games of chance, should
    17  be closely controlled and that the laws and regulations pertaining ther-
    18  eto should be strictly construed and rigidly enforced; that the  conduct
    19  of  the  game  and  all  attendant activities should be so regulated and
    20  adequate controls so instituted as to  discourage  commercialization  of
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04897-04-7

        S. 988--A                           2
     1  gambling  in  all its forms, including the rental of commercial premises
     2  for games of chance, and to ensure a maximum  availability  of  the  net
     3  proceeds  of  games  of chance exclusively for application to the worthy
     4  causes  and  undertakings  specified herein; that the only justification
     5  for this article is to foster and support such worthy causes and  under-
     6  takings,  and  that  the  mandate  of section nine of article one of the
     7  state constitution, as amended, should be carried  out  by  rigid  regu-
     8  lations  to  prevent  commercialized  gambling, prevent participation by
     9  criminal and other undesirable elements and  prevent  the  diversion  of
    10  funds from the purposes herein authorized.
    11    §  2.  Subdivision  3  of section 186 of the general municipal law, as
    12  amended by chapter 531 of the laws  of  2011,  is  amended  to  read  as
    13  follows:
    14    3.  "Games  of  chance" shall mean and include only the games known as
    15  "merchandise wheels", "coin boards", "merchandise boards", "seal cards",
    16  "event games", "raffles", "poker tournaments" and "bell jars"  and  such
    17  other  specific games as may be authorized by the board, in which prizes
    18  are awarded on the basis of a  designated  winning  number  or  numbers,
    19  color or colors, symbol or symbols determined by chance, but not includ-
    20  ing  games commonly known as "bingo or lotto" which are controlled under
    21  article fourteen-H of this chapter and also not including  "bookmaking",
    22  "policy  or numbers games" and "lottery" as defined in section 225.00 of
    23  the penal law. No game of chance shall involve wagering of money by  one
    24  player against another player.
    25    §  3.  Section 186 of the general municipal law is amended by adding a
    26  new subdivision 3-f to read as follows:
    27    3-f. "Poker tournaments" shall mean  and  include  contests  in  which
    28  participants  compete  by  playing  poker games that are approved by the
    29  board. Placement in a poker tournament shall be determined by the number
    30  of poker chips that are accumulated during the course of play or by  the
    31  various times that contestants are eliminated from the tournament during
    32  the  course  of  play.  Poker  chips shall be allotted to contestants in
    33  accordance with rules that are adopted by the board.
    34    § 4. Subdivision 14 of section 186 of the general  municipal  law,  as
    35  amended  by  chapter  531  of  the  laws  of 2011, is amended to read as
    36  follows:
    37    14. "One occasion" shall mean the successive  operations  of  any  one
    38  single  type of game of chance which results in the awarding of a series
    39  of prizes amounting to five hundred  dollars  or  four  hundred  dollars
    40  during  any  one  license  period,  in accordance with the provisions of
    41  subdivision eight of section one hundred eighty-nine of this article, as
    42  the case may be. For purposes of the game of chance known as a  merchan-
    43  dise  wheel  or a raffle, "one occasion" shall mean the successive oper-
    44  ations of any one such merchandise wheel or raffle for which  the  limit
    45  on a series of prizes provided by subdivision six of section one hundred
    46  eighty-nine  of  this  article  shall apply. For purposes of the game of
    47  chance known as a bell jar, "one occasion"  shall  mean  the  successive
    48  operation  of  any one such bell jar, seal card, event game, coin board,
    49  or merchandise board which results in the awarding of a series of prizes
    50  amounting to three thousand dollars. For the purposes  of  the  game  of
    51  chance  known as raffle "one occasion" shall mean a calendar year during
    52  which successive operations of such game are conducted.  For the purpose
    53  of poker tournaments, "one occasion" shall mean the period of time  from
    54  the commencement of such tournament until a winner or winners are deter-
    55  mined  or  a  pre-determined  time  to  conclude the tournament has been
    56  reached.

        S. 988--A                           3
     1    § 5. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 5 of  section  189  of  the  general
     2  municipal  law, as amended by section 11 of part MM of chapter 59 of the
     3  laws of 2017, is amended to read as follows:
     4    (a)  No  single  prize awarded by games of chance other than raffle or
     5  poker tournament shall exceed the sum or value of three hundred dollars,
     6  except that for merchandise wheels, no single prize shall exceed the sum
     7  or value of two hundred fifty dollars, and for bell jar, no single prize
     8  shall exceed the sum or value of one thousand dollars.
     9    § 6. Subdivision 8 of section 189 of the  general  municipal  law,  as
    10  amended  by  chapter  434  of  the  laws  of 2016, is amended to read as
    11  follows:
    12    8. Except for merchandise wheels [and], raffles and poker tournaments,
    13  no series of prizes on any one occasion shall aggregate more  than  four
    14  hundred  dollars when the licensed authorized organization conducts five
    15  single types of games of chance during any one  license  period.  Except
    16  for  merchandise wheels, raffles [and], bell jars and poker tournaments,
    17  no series of prizes on any one occasion shall aggregate more  than  five
    18  hundred  dollars when the licensed authorized organization conducts less
    19  than five single types of games  of  chance,  exclusive  of  merchandise
    20  wheels,  raffles  [and], bell jars and poker tournaments, during any one
    21  license period. No authorized organization shall award by raffle  prizes
    22  with  an  aggregate  value in excess of three million dollars during any
    23  one license period.
    24    § 7. Subdivision 1 of section 195-d of the general municipal  law,  as
    25  amended  by  section 13 of part MM of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is
    26  amended to read as follows:
    27    1. A fee may be charged by any licensee for admission to any  game  or
    28  games  of  chance conducted under any license issued under this article.
    29  The clerk or department may in its discretion fix a  minimum  fee.    No
    30  more  than one hundred dollars shall be charged as an admission fee to a
    31  poker tournament. Fifty percent of such fee shall be applied to a  prize
    32  or  prizes,  as  may  be  determined by the authorized organization, and
    33  fifty percent of such fee shall be retained by the authorized  organiza-
    34  tion,  subject  to  the  provisions  of  subdivision  six of section one
    35  hundred eighty-six of this article.
    36    § 8. Section 195-e of the general municipal law, as amended by section
    37  14 of part MM of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, is amended to  read  as
    38  follows:
    39    §  195-e.  Advertising  games. A licensee may advertise the conduct of
    40  games of chance to the general public by means of  newspaper,  circular,
    41  handbill  and poster, and by one sign not exceeding sixty square feet in
    42  area, which may be displayed on or adjacent to  the  premises  owned  or
    43  occupied  by a licensed authorized organization, through the internet or
    44  television as may be regulated by  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the
    45  commission.  When  an  organization is licensed or authorized to conduct
    46  games of chance on the premises of an authorized games of chance lessor,
    47  one additional such sign may be displayed on or adjacent to the premises
    48  in which the  games  are  to  be  conducted.  Additional  signs  may  be
    49  displayed  upon any firefighting or ambulance equipment belonging to any
    50  licensed authorized organization  that  is  a  volunteer  fire  company,
    51  volunteer ambulance corps or upon any equipment of a first aid or rescue
    52  squad  in  and  throughout  the  community served by such volunteer fire
    53  company, volunteer ambulance corps or such first aid or rescue squad, as
    54  the case may be. All advertisements shall be limited to the  description
    55  of  such  event  as  "Games of chance" [or], "Las Vegas Night" or "Poker
    56  Tournament", the name of the  authorized  organization  conducting  such

        S. 988--A                           4
     1  games,  the license number of the authorized organization as assigned by
     2  the clerk or department, the prizes offered and the date,  location  and
     3  time of the event.
     4    § 9. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
     5  it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediate-
     6  ly,  the  addition,  amendment  and/or  repeal of any rule or regulation
     7  necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective  date  are
     8  authorized  to  be  made  and completed by the state racing and wagering
     9  board on or before such date.
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