S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                 1631--A

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 13, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sens. BONACIC, O'MARA -- read twice and ordered printed,
  and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on  Racing,  Gaming
  and  Wagering  --  recommitted  to the Committee on Racing, Gaming and
  Wagering in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- reported  favora-
  bly  from  said committee and committed to the Committee on Finance --
  committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as  amended  and
  recommitted to said committee

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:

  Section  1.    Section 185 of the general municipal law, as amended by
chapter 574 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:
  S 185. Short title; purpose of article. This article  shall  be  known
and  may  be cited as the games of chance licensing law. The legislature
hereby declares that the raising of funds for the promotion of bona fide
charitable, educational, scientific,  health,  religious  and  patriotic
causes and undertakings, where the beneficiaries are undetermined, is in
the  public  interest.  It  hereby finds that, as conducted prior to the
enactment of this article, games of chance were the subject of exploita-
tion by professional gamblers, promoters, and commercial interests,  AND
IT  FINDS  FURTHER  THAT  TOURNAMENTS  OF  THE VARIOUS GAMES OF POKER AS
OFFERED BY AUTHORIZED  ORGANIZATIONS  PURSUANT  TO  SUBDIVISION  TWO  OF
SECTION  NINE OF ARTICLE I OF THE NEW YORK STATE CONSTITUTION, SHOULD BE
REGULATED UNDER THIS ARTICLE. It is hereby declared to be the policy  of
the  legislature that all phases of the supervision, licensing and regu-
lation of games of chance and of the conduct of games of chance,  should
be closely controlled and that the laws and regulations pertaining ther-
eto  should be strictly construed and rigidly enforced; that the conduct
of the game and all attendant activities  should  be  so  regulated  and
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.
                                                           LBD03321-02-6
              

S. 1631--A                          2

gambling in all its forms, including the rental of  commercial  premises
for  games  of  chance,  and to ensure a maximum availability of the net
proceeds of games of chance exclusively for application  to  the  worthy
causes  and  undertakings  specified herein; that the only justification
for this article is to foster and support such worthy causes and  under-
takings,  and  that  the  mandate  of section nine of article one of the
state constitution, as amended, should be carried  out  by  rigid  regu-
lations  to  prevent  commercialized  gambling, prevent participation by
criminal and other undesirable elements and  prevent  the  diversion  of
funds from the purposes herein authorized.
  S  2.  Subdivision  3  of section 186 of the general municipal law, as
amended by chapter 531 of the laws  of  2011,  is  amended  to  read  as
follows:
  3.  "Games  of  chance" shall mean and include only the games known as
"merchandise wheels", "coin boards", "merchandise boards", "seal cards",
"event games", "raffles", "POKER TOURNAMENTS" and "bell jars"  and  such
other  specific games as may be authorized by the board, in which prizes
are awarded on the basis of a  designated  winning  number  or  numbers,
color or colors, symbol or symbols determined by chance, but not includ-
ing  games commonly known as "bingo or lotto" which are controlled under
article fourteen-H of this chapter and also not including  "bookmaking",
"policy  or numbers games" and "lottery" as defined in section 225.00 of
the penal law. No game of chance shall involve wagering of money by  one
player against another player.
  S  3.  Section 186 of the general municipal law is amended by adding a
new subdivision 3-f to read as follows:
  3-F. "POKER TOURNAMENTS" SHALL MEAN  AND  INCLUDE  CONTESTS  IN  WHICH
PARTICIPANTS  COMPETE  BY  PLAYING  POKER GAMES THAT ARE APPROVED BY THE
BOARD. PLACEMENT IN A POKER TOURNAMENT SHALL BE DETERMINED BY THE NUMBER
OF POKER CHIPS THAT ARE ACCUMULATED DURING THE COURSE OF PLAY OR BY  THE
VARIOUS TIMES THAT CONTESTANTS ARE ELIMINATED FROM THE TOURNAMENT DURING
THE  COURSE  OF  PLAY.  POKER  CHIPS SHALL BE ALLOTTED TO CONTESTANTS IN
ACCORDANCE WITH RULES THAT ARE ADOPTED BY THE BOARD.
  S 4. Subdivision 14 of section 186 of the general  municipal  law,  as
amended  by  chapter  531  of  the  laws  of 2011, is amended to read as
follows:
  14. "One occasion" shall mean the successive  operations  of  any  one
single  type of game of chance which results in the awarding of a series
of prizes amounting to five hundred  dollars  or  four  hundred  dollars
during  any  one  license  period,  in accordance with the provisions of
subdivision eight of section one hundred eighty-nine of this article, as
the case may be. For purposes of the game of chance known as a  merchan-
dise  wheel  or a raffle, "one occasion" shall mean the successive oper-
ations of any one such merchandise wheel or raffle for which  the  limit
on a series of prizes provided by subdivision six of section one hundred
eighty-nine  of  this  article  shall apply. For purposes of the game of
chance known as a bell jar, "one occasion"  shall  mean  the  successive
operation  of  any one such bell jar, seal card, event game, coin board,
or merchandise board which results in the awarding of a series of prizes
amounting to three thousand dollars. For the purposes  of  the  game  of
chance  known as raffle "one occasion" shall mean a calendar year during
which successive operations of such game are conducted.  FOR THE PURPOSE
OF POKER TOURNAMENTS, "ONE OCCASION" SHALL MEAN THE PERIOD OF TIME  FROM
THE COMMENCEMENT OF SUCH TOURNAMENT UNTIL A WINNER OR WINNERS ARE DETER-
MINED  OR  A  PRE-DETERMINED  TIME  TO  CONCLUDE THE TOURNAMENT HAS BEEN
REACHED.

S. 1631--A                          3

  S 5. Subdivision 5 of section 189 of the  general  municipal  law,  as
amended  by  chapter  455  of  the  laws  of 2012, is amended to read as
follows:
  5.  No  single  prize  awarded by games of chance other than raffle OR
POKER TOURNAMENT shall exceed the sum or value of three hundred dollars,
except that for merchandise wheels, no single prize shall exceed the sum
or value of two hundred fifty dollars. No single prize awarded by raffle
shall exceed the sum or value of one hundred thousand dollars. No single
wager shall exceed six dollars  and  for  bell  jars,  coin  boards,  or
merchandise  boards,  no  single prize shall exceed five hundred dollars
provided, however, that such limitation shall not apply to the amount of
money or value paid by the participant in a raffle in return for a tick-
et or other receipt. For coin boards and merchandise boards,  the  value
of  a prize shall be determined by its costs to the authorized organiza-
tion or, if donated, its fair market value.
  S 6. Subdivision 8 of section 189 of the  general  municipal  law,  as
amended  by  chapter  455  of  the  laws  of 2012, is amended to read as
follows:
  8. Except for merchandise wheels [and], raffles AND POKER TOURNAMENTS,
no series of prizes on any one occasion shall aggregate more  than  four
hundred  dollars when the licensed authorized organization conducts five
single types of games of chance during any one  license  period.  Except
for  merchandise wheels, raffles [and], bell jars AND POKER TOURNAMENTS,
no series of prizes on any one occasion shall aggregate more  than  five
hundred  dollars when the licensed authorized organization conducts less
than five single types of games  of  chance,  exclusive  of  merchandise
wheels,  raffles  [and], bell jars AND POKER TOURNAMENTS, during any one
license period. No authorized organization shall award by raffle  prizes
with  an aggregate value in excess of two million dollars during any one
license period.
  S 7. Section 195-d of the general municipal law, as amended by chapter
637 of the laws of 1999, is amended to read as follows:
  S 195-d. Charge for admission and  participation;  amount  of  prizes;
award  of  prizes. A fee may be charged by any licensee for admission to
any game or games of chance conducted under  any  license  issued  under
this  article. The clerk or department may in its discretion fix a mini-
mum fee.  NO MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS SHALL BE CHARGED AS AN ADMIS-
SION FEE TO A POKER TOURNAMENT. FIFTY  PERCENT  OF  SUCH  FEE  SHALL  BE
APPLIED  TO  A  PRIZE  OR PRIZES, AS MAY BE DETERMINED BY THE AUTHORIZED
ORGANIZATION, AND FIFTY PERCENT OF SUCH FEE SHALL  BE  RETAINED  BY  THE
AUTHORIZED ORGANIZATION, SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS OF SUBDIVISION SIX OF
SECTION  ONE  HUNDRED  EIGHTY-SIX OF THIS ARTICLE. With the exception of
bell jars, coin boards, seal cards,  merchandise  boards,  and  raffles,
every  winner  shall  be determined and every prize shall be awarded and
delivered within the same calendar day as that upon which the  game  was
played.  No  alcoholic  beverage shall be offered or given as a prize in
any game of chance.
  S 8. Section 195-e of the general municipal law, as amended by chapter
94 of the laws of 1981, is amended to read as follows:
  S 195-e. Advertising games. A licensee may advertise  the  conduct  of
games  of  chance to the general public by means of newspaper, circular,
handbill and poster, and by one sign not exceeding sixty square feet  in
area,  which  may  be  displayed on or adjacent to the premises owned or
occupied by a licensed authorized organization, and when an organization
is licensed to conduct games of chance  on  premises  of  an  authorized
games  of chance lessor, one additional such sign may be displayed on or

S. 1631--A                          4

adjacent to the premises in which the games are to be conducted.   Addi-
tional signs may be displayed upon any fire fighting equipment belonging
to any licensed authorized organization which is a volunteer fire compa-
ny, or upon any equipment of a first aid or rescue squad in and through-
out  the  community  served by such volunteer fire company or such first
aid or rescue squad, as the case may be.  All  advertisements  shall  be
limited to the description of such event as "Games of chance" [or], "Las
Vegas Night" OR "POKER TOURNAMENT", the name of the authorized organiza-
tion  conducting such games, the license number of the authorized organ-
ization as assigned by the clerk or department and  the  date,  location
and time of the event.
  S 9. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediate-
ly,  the  addition,  amendment  and/or  repeal of any rule or regulation
necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective  date  are
authorized  to  be  made  and completed by the state racing and wagering
board on or before such date.