STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7453
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 26, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. ADDABBO -- (at request of the New York State Gaming
Commission) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be
committed to the Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to including video lottery
gaming in certain gambling offenses
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 13, 22 and 27 of section 225.00 of the penal
2 law, as added by chapter 174 of the laws of 2013, are amended to read as
3 follows:
4 13. "Authorized gaming establishment" means any structure, structure
5 and adjacent or attached structure, or grounds adjacent to a structure
6 in which casino gaming, conducted pursuant to article thirteen of the
7 racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, [or] Class III gaming, as
8 authorized pursuant to a compact reached between the state of New York
9 and a federally recognized Indian nation or tribe under the federal
10 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, or video lottery gaming is
11 conducted and shall include all public and non-public areas of any such
12 building, except for such areas of a building where either Class I or II
13 gaming are conducted or any building or grounds [known as] other than
14 the gaming floor or gaming operations at a video gaming entertainment
15 facility, including facilities where food and drink are served, as well
16 as those areas not normally open to the public, such as where records
17 related to video lottery gaming operations are kept, except shall not
18 include the racetracks or such areas where such video lottery gaming
19 operations or facilities do not take place or exist, such as racetrack
20 areas or fairgrounds [which] that are wholly unrelated to video lottery
21 gaming operations, pursuant to section sixteen hundred seventeen-a [and
22 paragraph five of subdivision a of section sixteen hundred twelve] of
23 the tax law, as amended and implemented.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06418-01-3
S. 7453 2
1 22. "Gaming regulatory authority" means, with respect to any author-
2 ized gaming establishment on Indian lands, territory or reservation, the
3 Indian nation or tribal gaming commission, its authorized officers,
4 agents and representatives acting in their official capacities or such
5 other agency of a nation or tribe as the nation or tribe may designate
6 as the agency responsible for the regulation of Class III gaming, joint-
7 ly with the state gaming agency, conducted pursuant to a gaming compact
8 between the nation or tribe and the state of New York, or with respect
9 to any casino gaming authorized pursuant to article thirteen of the
10 racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law or video lottery gaming
11 conducted pursuant to section sixteen hundred seventeen-a [and paragraph
12 five of subdivision a of section sixteen hundred twelve] of the tax law,
13 as amended and implemented.
14 27. "Unlawful gaming property" means:
15 (a) any device, not prescribed for use in [casinio] casino gaming or
16 video lottery gaming by its rules, [which] that is capable of assisting
17 a player:
18 (i) to calculate any probabilities material to the outcome of a
19 contest of chance; or
20 (ii) to receive or transmit information material to the outcome of a
21 contest of chance; or
22 (b) any object or article [which] that, by virtue of its size, shape
23 or any other quality, is capable of being used in casino gaming or video
24 lottery gaming as an improper substitute for a genuine chip, cheque,
25 token, betting coupon, debit instrument, voucher or other instrument or
26 indicia of value; or
27 (c) any unfair gaming equipment.
28 § 2. Section 225.55 of the penal law, as added by chapter 174 of the
29 laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
30 § 225.55 Gaming fraud in the second degree.
31 A person is guilty of gaming fraud in the second degree when he or
32 she:
33 1. with intent to defraud and in violation of the rules of the casino
34 gaming or video lottery gaming, misrepresents, changes the amount bet or
35 wagered on, or the outcome or possible outcome of the contest or event
36 [which] that is the subject of the bet or wager, or the amount or
37 frequency of payment in the casino gaming or video lottery gaming; or
38 2. with intent to defraud, obtains anything of value from casino
39 gaming or video lottery gaming without having won such amount by a bet
40 or wager contingent thereon.
41 Gaming fraud in the second degree is a class A misdemeanor.
42 § 3. Section 225.65 of the penal law, as added by chapter 174 of the
43 laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows
44 § 225.65 Use of counterfeit, unapproved or unlawful wagering instru-
45 ments.
46 A person is guilty of use of counterfeit, unapproved or unlawful
47 wagering instruments when in playing or using any casino gaming or video
48 lottery gaming designed to be played with, received or be operated by
49 chips, cheques, tokens, vouchers or other wagering instruments approved
50 by the appropriate gaming regulatory authority, he or she knowingly uses
51 chips, cheques, tokens, vouchers or other wagering instruments other
52 than those approved by the appropriate gaming regulating authority and
53 the state gaming agency or lawful coin or legal tender of the United
54 States of America.
S. 7453 3
1 Possession of more than one counterfeit, unapproved or unlawful wager-
2 ing instrument described in this section is presumptive evidence of
3 possession thereof with knowledge of its character or contents.
4 Use of counterfeit, unapproved or unlawful wagering instruments is a
5 class A misdemeanor.
6 § 4. Section 225.70 of the penal law, as added by chapter 174 of the
7 laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
8 § 225.70 Possession of unlawful gaming property in the third degree.
9 A person is guilty of possession of unlawful gaming property in the
10 third degree when he or she possesses, with intent to use such property
11 to commit gaming fraud, unlawful gaming property at a premises being
12 used for casino gaming or video lottery gaming.
13 Possession of unlawful gaming property in the third degree is a class
14 A misdemeanor.
15 § 5. Section 225.75 of the penal law, as added by chapter 174 of the
16 laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
17 § 225.75 Possession of unlawful gaming property in the second degree.
18 A person is guilty of possession of unlawful gaming property in the
19 second degree when:
20 1. [He] he or she makes, sells, or possesses with intent to sell, any
21 unlawful gaming property at a casino gaming facility or video lottery
22 gaming facility, the value of which exceeds three hundred dollars, with
23 intent that [it] such property be made available to a person for unlaw-
24 ful use; or
25 2. [He] he or she commits possession of unlawful gaming property in
26 the third degree as defined in section 225.70 of this article, and the
27 face value of the improper substitute property exceeds five hundred
28 dollars; or
29 3. [He] he or she commits the offense of possession of unlawful gaming
30 property in the third degree and has been previously convicted within
31 the preceding five years of any offense of which an essential element is
32 possession of unlawful gaming property.
33 Possession of unlawful gaming property in the second degree is a class
34 E felony.
35 § 6. Section 225.85 of the penal law, as added by chapter 174 of the
36 laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
37 § 225.85 Use of unlawful gaming property.
38 A person is guilty of use of unlawful gaming property when he or she
39 knowingly with intent to defraud uses unlawful gaming property at a
40 premises being used for casino gaming or video lottery gaming.
41 Use of unlawful gaming property is a class E felony.
42 § 7. The closing paragraph of section 225.90 of the penal law, as
43 added by chapter 174 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
44 Manipulation of gaming outcomes at an authorized gaming establishment
45 is a class A misdemeanor provided, however, that if the person has
46 previously been convicted of this crime within the past five years this
47 [crim] crime shall be a class E felony.
48 § 8. This act shall take effect immediately.