STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5420--A
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 8, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CUSICK, M. G. MILLER, LAVINE, SKOUFIS -- Multi-
Sponsored by -- M. of A. HEVESI, LUPINACCI -- read once and referred
to the Committee on Racing and Wagering -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
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
21 gambling in all its forms, including the rental of commercial premises
22 for games of chance, and to ensure a maximum availability of the net
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04897-03-7
A. 5420--A 2
1 proceeds of games of chance exclusively for application to the worthy
2 causes and undertakings specified herein; that the only justification
3 for this article is to foster and support such worthy causes and under-
4 takings, and that the mandate of section nine of article one of the
5 state constitution, as amended, should be carried out by rigid regu-
6 lations to prevent commercialized gambling, prevent participation by
7 criminal and other undesirable elements and prevent the diversion of
8 funds from the purposes herein authorized.
9 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 186 of the general municipal law, as
10 amended by chapter 531 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as
11 follows:
12 3. "Games of chance" shall mean and include only the games known as
13 "merchandise wheels", "coin boards", "merchandise boards", "seal cards",
14 "event games", "raffles", "poker tournaments" and "bell jars" and such
15 other specific games as may be authorized by the board, in which prizes
16 are awarded on the basis of a designated winning number or numbers,
17 color or colors, symbol or symbols determined by chance, but not includ-
18 ing games commonly known as "bingo or lotto" which are controlled under
19 article fourteen-H of this chapter and also not including "bookmaking",
20 "policy or numbers games" and "lottery" as defined in section 225.00 of
21 the penal law. No game of chance shall involve wagering of money by one
22 player against another player.
23 § 3. Section 186 of the general municipal law is amended by adding a
24 new subdivision 3-f to read as follows:
25 3-f. "Poker tournaments" shall mean and include contests in which
26 participants compete by playing poker games that are approved by the
27 board. Placement in a poker tournament shall be determined by the number
28 of poker chips that are accumulated during the course of play or by the
29 various times that contestants are eliminated from the tournament during
30 the course of play. Poker chips shall be allotted to contestants in
31 accordance with rules that are adopted by the board.
32 § 4. Subdivision 14 of section 186 of the general municipal law, as
33 amended by chapter 531 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as
34 follows:
35 14. "One occasion" shall mean the successive operations of any one
36 single type of game of chance which results in the awarding of a series
37 of prizes amounting to five hundred dollars or four hundred dollars
38 during any one license period, in accordance with the provisions of
39 subdivision eight of section one hundred eighty-nine of this article, as
40 the case may be. For purposes of the game of chance known as a merchan-
41 dise wheel or a raffle, "one occasion" shall mean the successive oper-
42 ations of any one such merchandise wheel or raffle for which the limit
43 on a series of prizes provided by subdivision six of section one hundred
44 eighty-nine of this article shall apply. For purposes of the game of
45 chance known as a bell jar, "one occasion" shall mean the successive
46 operation of any one such bell jar, seal card, event game, coin board,
47 or merchandise board which results in the awarding of a series of prizes
48 amounting to three thousand dollars. For the purposes of the game of
49 chance known as raffle "one occasion" shall mean a calendar year during
50 which successive operations of such game are conducted. For the purpose
51 of poker tournaments, "one occasion" shall mean the period of time from
52 the commencement of such tournament until a winner or winners are deter-
53 mined or a pre-determined time to conclude the tournament has been
54 reached.
A. 5420--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
A. 5420--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.
