Electronic Bingo Daubers

Mississippi Gaming Commission Rules Table of Contents – Electronic Bingo Daubers Title 13: Gaming............................................................................................................................. 1 Part 13: ELECTRONIC BINGO DAUBERS…....................................................................................... 1 Part 13 Chapter 1: MIMIMUM STANDARDS FOR ELECTRONIC BINGO DAUBERS.......................... 1 Rule 1.1 Operation of Devices…......................................................................................... 1 Rule 1.2 Minimum Receipt Standards................................................................................ 2 Rule 1.3 Minimum Electronic Dauber Standards…………………………………………………..………. 3 Rule 1.4 Minimum System Requirements…………….…………………………………………………….… 4

TITLE 13: GAMING Part 13: Electronic Bingo Daubers Part 13 Chapter 1: DAUBERS.

MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR ELECTRONIC BINGO

Rule 1.1 Operation of Devices. (a) No electronic bingo daubing system or any part thereof may be sold, leased, or otherwise furnished to any person in this state or used in the conduct of bingo for public play unless and until a representative sample has first been furnished to the Commission by its manufacturer at the manufacturer’s expense and has been approved by the Commission for use within the state. The Commission may require up to two (2) representative prototypes for purposes of evaluation. In the process of evaluation and testing the system or any of its components, electronic components may be destroyed or rendered inoperable. All cost of evaluation will be borne by the manufacturer/distributor. Once an electronic daubing system or any part thereof has been approved, the Commission may keep the system and any of its components for further testing, evaluation, and investigative support for as long as the Commission deems necessary. Any significant modification to any part of the system must be approved by the Commission prior to its distribution or installation. Electronic dauber systems in use at the time of adoption of electronic dauber rules will be allowed to continue in use during the testing and evaluation of the system. Sufficient reasonable time will be allowed for any modification which may subsequently be required. (b) The Commission may examine and inspect any portion of the system or any individual dauber at any time. Such examination and inspection includes immediate access to the daubing device and unlimited inspection of all parts of the daubing device or related systems. (c) If the Commission detects or discovers any problem with an electronic dauber or its associated system that affects the security and/or integrity of the bingo game or the system, the Commission may direct the bingo location to cease the sale, lease, or use of the device or system as applicable. The Commission may require the manufacturer to correct the problem or recall the device or system immediately upon notification by the Commission to the manufacturer. If the bingo location detects or discovers any defect, malfunction, or problem with any component of the system, the bingo location shall immediately remove the component from use or play and immediately notify the Commission of such action. (d) Each manufacturer selling electronic daubers and the associated system must maintain a log showing the date, model, serial number, and to whom they were sold. This information is required to be reported monthly to the Commission. (e) Each distributor or operator must maintain a log containing the date, model number and serial number in addition to the name and address of the manufacturer or distributor from whom the components were purchased. This distributor or operator must also log the name and address of any bingo location to whom the components are sold, leased, or otherwise furnished. (f) Each bingo location purchasing, leasing, or otherwise utilizing an electronic daubing system must maintain a record showing the date, model number and serial number. Additionally, all records, reports and receipts relating to an electronic dauber or its associated system’s sales, maintenance, and repairs must be retained by the bingo location on the premises where the charitable organization is licensed to conduct bingo or at a location designated in writing by the 1

charitable organization for a period of three (3) years for examination by the Commission. Any proposed change in the designated location must be submitted to the Commission in writing at least ten (10) days prior to the change. (g) No bingo location may display, use or otherwise furnish an electronic daubing device having been marked, defaced, tampered with, or altered in any manner which may deceive the public or affect a participant’s chances of winning. (h) No bingo location shall require a participant to use an electronic dauber in playing bingo. No bingo location shall furnish or reserve more than one (1) electronic dauber unit per participant. (i) The system may utilize an automatic mark feature that, if turned on, will mark the participant’s cards automatically on both handheld and tabletop units. The system must allow for the cancellation or correction of numbers entered in error. The receipt control number shall be displayed on the unit if the cards were loaded wirelessly. (j) When a winning pattern or “bingo” occurs, the participant must notify the bingo location by means that do not utilize the dauber unit or the associated system. (k) The device must recognize and display all bingos achieved. Additionally, the participant must present a receipt showing purchase of the card. The bingo location must verify that the numbers called for the present game constitute a win for that particular card and that the date of the receipt is current. (l) The participant must be physically present at the bingo location where the game is actually conducted and when the game is called. (m) Bingo locations shall not reserve electronic dauber units for any participant except as allowed in section (n) of this rule. (n) Bingo locations that offer electronic dauber units shall have at least two (2) devices for participants with disabilities consistent with the definitions set forth in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that would restrict the ability to mark cards. If there are no requests for the reserved devices prior to fifteen (15) minutes before the scheduled start of a session, the devices may be made available for use by any player. (o) If bingo locations charge a fee for use of the electronic dauber unit, such fees must be a flat fee and shall not be based on the number or dollar value of cards purchased. Participants with disabilities consistent with the definitions set forth in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that would restrict the ability to mark cards shall not be required to pay a rental fee or comply with the minimum purchase requirements imposed on all other participants utilizing electronic dauber units. (p) The system itself shall not be capable of dispensing currency by any means or any other form of automatic payout (i.e. ticket voucher etc.). Any prize awarded a participant will require the same level of documentation as set forth in 13 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 10, R. 5.5(h)(5). (q) Prizes awarded from wins with the electronic representations of the dauber unit are to be included in the prize limitations set forth by 13 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 10, R. 5.5(c) and (d). (r) Participant-owned or participant-leased devices are not considered to be “electronic bingo daubers” for the purposes of these rules and the use of such devices is strictly prohibited. Source: Miss. Code Ann. § 97-33-65. Rule 1.2 Minimum Receipt Standards. (a) Each participant is to be issued a receipt at the time of payment for the amount paid to participate in each game or set of games. The receipt must be imprinted with the following 2

information: 1. Name of the charitable organization; 2. Session number; 3. Time and date of purchase. The circuitry and programs that maintain and control the time and date must be of the type that can only be reset by service personnel and must retain the last transaction number issued even throughout adverse conditions or power interruptions; 4. Amount paid for the opportunity to play each game or game pack; 5. Total amount paid; and 6. Receipts are to contain a control number with numbers comprised of at least six (6) digits. The circuitry and program that maintain and control this numbering scheme must be of the type that can only be reset by service personnel and must retain the last number issued even throughout adverse conditions or power interruptions. (b) Voided transactions must have the sales receipt signed by the participant and the cashier attached and are to be retained by the cashier until the session is complete and then attached to the bingo session report. (c) The system must produce a summary report on a hard copy transaction log after each session and monthly which details the following information: 1. Charitable organization; 2. Date and time of report; 3. Type of cards loaded by paper type (cut and collation); 4. Price of card type and number of each sold; 5. Voided transactions; 6. Total sales; and 7. Total number of units used. (d) Electronic credit will not be allowed. The sale of electronic representations of a specified number of cards shall be made directly by the cashier, and purchase from other personnel is strictly prohibited. (e) The price for a card face played through an electronic dauber shall be the same as the price of that of a disposable card face or bingo hard card sold separately or in combination in that session. Source: Miss. Code Ann. §§ 97-33-65 and 97-33-71. Rule 1.3 Minimum Electronic Dauber Standards. (a) The device shall be designed to ensure that the participant is not subjected to any unreasonable physical, electrical or mechanical hazard. (b) Each device shall be identified with a unit identification number. (c) The device must allow the cancellation or correction of numbers entered in error. (d) Notification to the bingo location by a participant having a winning pattern or “bingo” must be made by means which do not utilize the dauber unit or the associated system. (e) Electronically stored cards must reside in a non-volatile read only storage medium. Currently acceptable means for storage of electronic cards are: 1. EPROM - Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory 2. CDROM - Compact Disc Read Only Memory 3. HDD - Hard Disc Drive (f) Electronically stored card sets shall not change without the prior approval of the Commission, 3

and the card sets shall be accessible to the Commission through on-site inspection. (g) Upon interruption of power to the daubing device, the device must be capable of resuming the present game with no loss of data upon the restoration of power. (h) The daubing unit shall be designed to ensure there are no readily accessible game-function related points which would allow any input and that there is no access to input or output circuits unless it is necessary for the proper operation of the game. Source: Miss. Code Ann. § 97-33-65. Rule 1.4 Minimum System Requirements. (a) Access to the electronic computer system or any of its components shall be restricted to the manufacturer and Commission personnel. (b) Modification of the program which operates and controls the dauber units or the cards stored in the electronic database requires Commission approval prior to the distribution or installation of such. (c) The representation of each card will be displayed with a legible, distinct, unique card control number. This number, which corresponds to a particular arrangement of numbers on the card-face, cannot be used more than once for any game. (d) Upon the win of a participant, the system must be capable of printing a hard copy of the winning card including the card control number of the card-face. This information is to supplement the prize report information required by 13 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 10, R. 5.3(h)(5). Only electronic card faces sold for that session and that particular game shall show as a good bingo from the verifier. All voided transactions shall be removed from the list of cards in play for a particular game, and all voided transactions should show either being voided prior to game play or after the game has been completed. (e) The distribution of the numbers displayed on the card-sets are required to be a randomly chosen distribution. Biased groups of cards are strictly prohibited. An even distribution of numbers throughout all cards in the manufacturer’s library is required. (f) Upon interruption of power to the system, the system must be capable of retaining its previous state with no loss or corruption of data upon the restoration of power. An Un-interruptible Power Supply (UPS) is recommended for system implementation but will not be considered a primary safeguard to the loss or corruption of data for testing purposes. (g) The unit number, date and time must register on the master unit when the participant logs on to the system with the input code. Source: Miss. Code Ann. § 97-33-65.

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