Section 349.17 Conduct of Bingo

MINNESOTA STATUTES AND CODES

349.17 CONDUCT OF BINGO.

Subdivision 1.

[Repealed, 2005 c 166 art 1 s 38]

Subd. 2.Bingo.

During any bingo occasion conducted by an organization, the organization is directly responsible for the:

(1) staffing of the bingo occasion;

(2) conducting of lawful gambling during the bingo occasion;

(3) acquiring, storage, inventory control, and reporting of all gambling equipment used by the organization;

(4) receipt, accounting, and all expenditures of gross receipts from lawful gambling; and

(5) preparation of the bingo packets.

Subd. 2a.

[Repealed, 2002 c 386 art 1 s 12]

Subd. 3.Winners.

Each bingo winner must be determined and every prize shall be awarded and delivered the same day on which the bingo occasion is conducted, except that payment for a progressive prize or a linked bingo prize must be delivered within three business days of the day on which the occasion was conducted.

Subd. 4.Checkers.

One or more checkers must be engaged for each bingo occasion when bingo is conducted using bingo hard cards. The checker or checkers must record, on a form the board provides, the number of hard cards played in each game and the prizes awarded to recorded hard cards. The form must provide for the inclusion of the face number of each winning hard card and must include a checker's certification that the figures recorded are correct to the best of the checker's knowledge.

Subd. 5.Bingo cards and sheets.

(a) The board shall by rule require that all licensed organizations: (1) conduct bingo only using a bingo paper sheet or facsimile of a bingo face that bears an individual number recorded by the distributor or linked bingo game provider; and (2) use each bingo paper sheet for no more than one bingo occasion. In lieu of the requirements of clause (2), a licensed organization may electronically record the sale of each bingo hard card or paper sheet at each bingo occasion using an electronic recording system approved by the board.

(b) The requirements of paragraph (a) shall only apply to a licensed organization that received gross receipts from bingo in excess of $150,000 in the organization's last fiscal year.

(c) Each bingo hard card, bingo paper sheet, or a facsimile of a bingo paper sheet must have five horizontal rows of spaces with each row except one having five numbers. The center row must have four numbers and the center space marked "free." Each column must have one of the letters B-I-N-G-O in order at the top. Bingo paper sheets may also have numbers that are not preprinted but are filled in by players.

Subd. 6.Conduct of bingo.

A game of bingo begins with the first letter and number called. Each player must cover, mark, or activate the numbers when bingo numbers are randomly selected, announced, and displayed to the players, either manually or with a flashboard and monitor. The game is won when a player, using bingo paper, bingo hard card, or a facsimile of a bingo paper sheet, has completed, as described in the bingo program, a previously designated pattern or previously determined requirements of the game and declared bingo. The game is completed when a winning card, sheet, or facsimile is verified and a prize awarded pursuant to subdivision 3.

Subd. 7.Bar bingo.

An organization may conduct bar bingo subject to the following restrictions:

(1) the bingo is conducted at a site the organization owns or leases and which has a license for the sale of intoxicating beverages on the premises under chapter 340A;

(2) the bingo is conducted using only bingo paper sheets or facsimiles of bingo paper sheets purchased from a licensed distributor or licensed linked bingo game provider; and

(3) no rent may be paid for a bar bingo occasion.

Subd. 8.Linked bingo games.

(a) A licensed organization may conduct or participate in not more than two linked bingo games per occasion, one of which may be a progressive game in which a portion of the prize is carried over from one occasion to another until won by a player achieving a bingo within a predetermined amount of bingo numbers called.

(b) Each participating licensed organization shall contribute to each prize awarded in a linked bingo game in an amount not to exceed $300.

(d) The board may adopt rules to:

(1) specify the manner in which a linked bingo game must be played and how the linked bingo prizes must be awarded;

(2) specify the records to be maintained by a linked bingo game provider;

(3) require the submission of periodic reports by the linked bingo game provider and specify the content of the reports;

(4) establish the qualifications required to be licensed as a linked bingo game provider; and

(5) any other matter involving the operation of a linked bingo game.

History:

1976 c 261 s 7; 1979 c 166 s 1; 1984 c 502 art 12 s 11; 1986 c 467 s 16; 1987 c 327 s 15,16; 1988 c 596 s 3,4; 1989 c 334 art 2 s 26; 1990 c 590 art 1 s 28; 1991 c 336 art 2 s 24; 1994 c 633 art 5 s 68-71; 1995 c 186 s 69; 1995 c 261 s 23; 2001 c 96 s 11; 2003 c 110 s 32-35; 2005 c 166 art 1 s 26,27; 2006 c 205 s 19-21; 2007 c 145 s 6; 2008 c 260 s 11,12; 2009 c 124 s 39-42