Virginia Regulatory Town Hall View Comments

Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

Charitable Gaming Board

Charitable Gaming Regulations [11 VAC 15 ‑ 40]

Action	Consolidates charitable gaming regulations and establishes guidelines for electronic games of chance
Stage	Proposed
Comment Period	Ended on 1/6/2012

Previous Comment Back to List of Comments

1/6/12 7:02 pm

Commenter: Mark Newton, VKGS LLC dba Video King

Comments on Charitable gaming regulation.

11VAC15-40-10 Definitions

Electronic Bingo Device

Department Published Text:"Electronic bingo device" means an electronic device that uses proprietary software or hardware, or in conjunction with commonly available software and computers, displays facsimiles of bingo cards and allows a player to daub such cards or allows for the automatic daubing of such cards.

Video King Proposed Text:"Electronic bingo device" means an electronic device that uses proprietary software or hardware, or in conjunction with commonly available software and computers, displays facsimiles of bingo cards and allows a player to daub such cards or allows for the automatic daubing of such cards. An electronic bingo device may function as a “player device”

Reason: The proposed regulation differentiates between electronic bingo devices and player devices, and has specific requirements and restrictions for each device. Current technology allows for both of these functions to occur on the same device. Allowing Electronic Bingo Devices to perform the same functions as Player Devices will eliminate the need for multiple “Single use” devices being provided and ultimately reduce the cost of product incurred by the charitable organizations.

11VAC15-40-130 D 2

Department Published Text:All electronic bingo devices shall use proprietary software and hardware or commonly available software and computers and shall be enabled for play on the premises where the game is to be played.

Video King Proposed Text:All electronic bingo devices shall use proprietary software and hardware or commonly available software and hardware and shall be enabled for play on the premises where the game is to be played.

Reason: The proposed regulation could be construed to restrict electronic bingo devices to personal computers or their equivalents. The suggested change is worded to be as inclusive as possible to technological advances.

11VAC15-40-130 D 3

Department Published Text:Each electronic bingo device shall have a unique identification number permanently coded into the software of such device. Manufacturers of electronic bingo devices shall....

Video King Proposed Text:Each electronic bingo device shall have a unique identification number securely encoded into the software of such device. Manufacturers of electronic bingo devices shall...

Reason: When designing proprietary devices manufacturers can ensure that the manufacturing process includes assigning a non-resettable permanent serial number to the hardware, however when utilizing “off the shelf” commonly available hardware the manufacturer is not afforded this opportunity. Manufacturers can set identification numbers through secure methods but that is in the software layer and not the hardware layer.

11VAC15-40-130 D 6

Department Published Text:....During the play of a bingo game, the transmission of data to electronic bingo devices shall be limited to one-way communication to the device and shall consist only of the number called.

Video King Proposed Text:....During the play of a bingo game, the transmission of bingo data to electronic bingo devices shall be limited to one-way communication to the device and shall consist only of the publicly available information relative to the game being conducted. This information includes but is not limited to game identifiers, bingo patterns in play, prize values, and bingo numbers called.

Reason: Currently bingo games played by paper player utilize public address systems and shared display devices ( flashboards) to present various pieces of game information to all players including the game number, the current number called, the total number of ball calls, the game prize etc. Prohibiting the transmittal of this information is unnecessarily restrictive and could be confusing to the players. For instance, if there was a programming error and the prize programmed into the program was different from the actual prize to be awarded prohibiting the transmittal of this information would result in the devices displaying contrary and incorrect information to the player.

NOTE: The following is an excerpt from previous department communications relating to the type of data that is restricted to one way communication.

For purposes of testing and approving electronic bingo devices, the one-way data transmission limitation should be construed to mean that bingo game data, specifically the called numbers, are the only messages required to be transmitted via means of one-way communication. Bi-directional messages that are necessary to ensure connectivity, to process and support logical functions by the receiving device, etc., are permissible.

11VAC15-40-130 9

Department Published Text: . The system shall produce a receipt and a transaction log containing the following:

Video King Proposed Text: For each sale of an electronic bingo device the system shall produce a receipt containing the following:

Reason: There is no definition of a “transaction log” nor a function which the transaction log would satisfy that is not being met by the data retention and reporting requirements outlined in item 11VAC15-40-130 D 10. There for this requirement is unnecessarily burdensome.

11VAC15-40-130 9 d

Department Published Text: Number of electronic bingo cards loaded;

Video King Proposed Text: Quantity of electronic bingo cards loaded

Reason: The definition of free space number refers to various terms to designate a free space number including “card number”. Changing “number” to “quantity” should remove ambiguity as to what information is to be included on the receipt

NOTE: There are a number of other locations within the draft regulations where the word “number” is used in a similar context which should alo be changed to “quantity” for clarity.

11VAC15-40-130 9 f

Department Published Text: Date and time of each transaction

Video King Proposed Text: Date and time of the transaction

Reason: Grammatical correction

11VAC15-40-130 D 10

Department Published Text: The system shall maintain and make available on demand a summary report for each session that includes the following:

Video King Proposed Text The system shall maintain and make available on demand reports for each session that includes the following:

Reason: The requirement to include all of this information on a single report is overly restrictive. Developing comprehensive back end reports is easier if data is segmented into logical components. For example having a report list the range of transactions that occurred during a session along with the sales totals for the session is easier than listing each and every transaction.

11VAC15-40-130 D 10. b

Department Published Text: Physical location of bingo game:

Video King Proposed Text Location of bingo game:

Reason: There is no definition to indicate the difference between “physical location” and ”location”. This change would keep the type of data reported on consistent with that on the receipt as required in item 11VAC15-40-130 D 9 b

11VAC15-40-130 D 10. d

Department Published Text: Sequential transaction or receipt number;:

Video King Proposed Text Sequential transaction or receipt number of each transaction:

Reason: Clarity and grammatical correctness

11VAC15-40-130 D 10. e

Department Published Text: Number of electronic bingo cards loaded

Video King Proposed Text Quantity of electronic bingo cards loaded for each transaction

Reason: Clarity and grammatical correctness

11VAC15-40-130 D 10. f

Department Published Text: Cost of electronic bingo cards loaded;

Video King Proposed Text Cost of electronic bingo cards loaded for each transaction

Reason: Clarity and grammatical correctness

11VAC15-40-130 D 10. g

Department Published Text: A transaction history correlating each electronic sale to the device identification number of the device on which the sale was played;;

Video King Proposed Text A transaction history correlating the transaction number of each sale of an electronic bingo device to the identification number of the electronic bingo device for which the sale was conducted;

Reason: Clarity and grammatical correctness

11VAC15-40-130 D 11.

Department Published Text: Each device shall be programmed to automatically erase all stored electronic cards at the end of the last game of a session, within a set time from their rental to a player, or by some other clearance method approved by the Department;

Video King Proposed Text Each device shall be programmed to automatically deactivate electronic cards at the end of the last game of a session, within a set time from their rental to a player, or by some other clearance method approved by the Department

Reason: To improve efficiency of activation, electronic bingo devices can be designed to store vast libraries of bingo cards and only activate certain cards for play during each game of a session. This change clarifies the requirement that the activated cards need to be deactivated.

11VAC15-40-130 E

Comment, It is unclear what the phrase “electronic devices” in this section refers to. Is “electronic devices” an all encompassing term meant to include both “electronic bingo devices” and “player devices”?

11VAC15-40-300 H

Department Published Text: The number of player devices, other than those player devices that are handheld, present at any premise at which charitable gaming is conducted shall be limited to one device for every 50 permissible occupants under the maximum occupancy as determined pursuant to the Uniform Statewide Building Code. The Department shall determine whether a player device is handheld.;

Video King Proposed Text The number of player devices, other than electronic bingo devices acting as player devices, present at any premise at which charitable gaming is conducted shall be limited to one device for every 50 permissible occupants under the maximum occupancy as determined pursuant to the Uniform Statewide Building Code. The Department shall determine whether a player device is handheld.

Reason: The proposed text allows for unlimited portable devices.During discussions over the past two years it was always contemplated and purported by the department that the number of player devices utilized by a distributed pull-tab system would be restricted, but that this restriction would not impact existing charitable organizations utilizing electronic bingo devices. The proposed text maintains the intent of the restrictions as they were discussed.

CommentID: 21298