Section 130. Construction and other standards for bingo, instant bingo, pull-tabs, seal cards, raffles, electronic bingo devices, and instant bingo, pull-tab...

A. No supplier shall knowingly sell or otherwise provide to an organization and no organization shall knowingly use charitable gaming supplies unless they conform to the following construction standards:

1. Disposable paper sold shall be of sufficient weight and quality to allow for clearly readable numbers and to prevent ink from spreading, bleeding, or otherwise obscuring other numbers or cards.

2. Each sheet of disposable bingo paper shall be comprised of cards bearing a serial number. No serial number shall be repeated on or in the same style, series, and color of cards within a three-year period.

3. Disposable bingo paper assembled in books or packs shall not be separated except for single-sheet specials. This provision does not apply to two-part cards on which numbers are filled by players and one part is separated and provided to an organization for verification purposes.

4. Each unit of disposable bingo paper shall have an exterior label listing the following information:

a. Description of product;

b. Number of packs or loose sheets;

c. Series numbers;

d. Serial number of the top sheet;

e. Number of cases;

f. Cut of paper; and

g. Color of paper.

5. "Lucky Seven" bingo cards or electronic facsimiles thereof shall have a single face where seven numbers shall be chosen. "Lucky Seven" sheets or electronic facsimiles thereof shall have multiple faces where seven numbers shall be chosen per face.

B. No supplier shall knowingly sell or otherwise provide to an organization and no organization shall knowingly use instant bingo, pull-tab, or seal cards unless they conform to the following construction standards:

1. Cards shall be constructed so that concealed numbers, symbols, or winner protection features cannot be viewed or determined from the outside of the card by using a high intensity lamp of 500 watts, with or without utilizing a focusing lens.

2. Deals shall be designed, constructed, glued, and assembled in a manner to prevent determination of a winning or losing ticket without removing the tabs or otherwise uncovering the symbols or numbers as intended.

3. Each card in a deal shall bear the same serial number. Only one serial number shall be used in a deal. No serial number used in a deal shall be repeated by the same manufacturer on that same manufacturer's form within a three-year period. The flare of each deal shall accompany the deal and shall have affixed to it the same serial number as the tickets in such deal.

4. Numbers or symbols on cards shall be fully visible in the window and shall be placed so that no part of a number or symbol remains covered when the tab is removed.

5. Cards shall be glued on all edges and around each window. Glue shall be of sufficient strength and type to prevent the undetectable separation or delamination of the card. For banded tickets, the glue must be of sufficient strength and quality to prevent the separation of the band from the ticket.

6. The following minimum information shall be printed on a card:

a. Break open pull-tab and instant bingo cards:

(1) Name of the manufacturer or its distinctive logo;

(2) Name of the game;

(3) Manufacturer's form number;

(4) Price per individual card or bundle;

(5) Unique minimum five-digit game serial number printed on the game information side of the card; and

(6) Number of winners and respective winning number or symbols and specific prize amounts unless accompanied by a manufacturer's preprinted publicly posted flare with that information.

b. Banded pull-tabs:

(1) Manufacturer;

(2) Serial number;

(3) Price per individual card or bundle unless accompanied by a manufacturer's preprinted publicly posted flare with that information; and

(4) Number of winners and respective winning numbers or symbols and prize amounts or a manufacturer's preprinted publicly posted flare giving that information.

7. All seal card games sold to organizations shall contain the sign-up sheet, seals, and cards packaged together in each deal.

C. Raffle tickets used independent of a session must conform to the following construction standards:

1. Each ticket shall have a detachable section and shall be consecutively numbered.

2. Each section of a ticket shall bear the same number. The section retained by the organization shall provide space for the purchaser's name, complete address, and telephone number.

3. The following information shall be printed on the purchaser's section of each ticket:

a. Dates and times of drawings;

b. Locations of the drawings;

c. Name of the charitable organization conducting the raffle;

d. Price of the ticket;

e. Charitable gaming permit number; and

f. Prizes.

Exceptions to these construction standards are allowed only with prior written approval from the department.

D. Electronic bingo.

1. The department, at its discretion, may require additional testing of electronic bingo devices at any time. Such additional testing shall be at the manufacturer's expense and shall be a condition of the continued use of such device.

2. 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.

3. Each electronic bingo device shall have a unique identification number securely encoded into the software of the device. The unique identification number shall not be alterable by anyone other than the manufacturer of the electronic bingo device. Manufacturers of electronic bingo devices shall employ sufficient security safeguards in designing and manufacturing the devices such that it may be verified that all proprietary software components are authentic copies of the approved software components and all functioning components of the device are operating with identical copies of approved software programs. The electronic bingo device must also have sufficient security safeguards so that any restrictions or requirements authorized by the department or any approved proprietary software are protected from alteration by unauthorized personnel. The electronic bingo device shall not contain hard-coded or unchangeable passwords. Security measures that may be employed to comply with these provisions include, but are not limited to, the use of dongles, digital signature comparison hardware and software, secure boot loaders, encryption, and key and callback password systems.

4. A firewall or equivalent hardware device configured to block all inbound and outbound traffic that has not been expressly permitted and is not required for the continued use of the electronic bingo system must exist between the electronic bingo system and any external point of access.

5. Electronic bingo devices shall not allow a player to create a card by the input of specific numbers on each card. Manufacturers shall ensure that an electronic bingo device does not allow for the play of any bingo card faces other than those verifiably purchased by the patron.

6. Electronic bingo devices shall not accept cash, currency, or tokens for play.

7. Electronic bingo devices shall require the manual entry of numbers as they are called, the manual verification of numbers as they have been electronically transmitted to the device, or the full automatic daubing of numbers as each number is called. During the play of a bingo game, the transmission of data to electronic bingo devices shall be limited to one-way communication to the electronic bingo device and shall consist only of publicly available information regarding the current game.

8. A device shall not allow the play of more than 54 cards per device per game.

9. The electronic bingo device system shall record a sequential transaction number or audit tracking number for each transaction. The system shall not allow the manual resetting or changing of this number.

10. The system shall produce a receipt for each electronic bingo device rented or otherwise provided containing the following:

a. Organization name;

b. Location of bingo game;

c. Date and time of the transaction;

d. Sequential transaction or receipt number;

e. Description of each electronic bingo product loaded. The description must include the quantity of bingo card faces that appear on each electronic bingo product (i.e., 9 Jackpot) and the sales price of each electronic bingo product;

f. Quantity of each electronic bingo product loaded; and

g. Total sales price of the transaction.

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

a. Organization name;

b. Location of bingo game;

c. Date and time of each transaction;

d. Sequential transaction or receipt number of each transaction;

e. Description of each electronic bingo product loaded each session. The description must include the quantity of bingo card faces that appear on each electronic bingo product and the sales price of each electronic bingo product;

f. Quantity of each electronic bingo product loaded;

g. Total sales price of each electronic bingo product loaded;

h. Total sales price for each transaction;

i. A transaction history correlating the sequential transaction number of each electronic bingo device sale to the unique identification number of the electronic bingo device on which the sale was played;

j. Sufficient information to identify voids and returns, including the date and time of each voided transaction and return, the sequential transaction number, and the cost of voided transactions and returns; and

k. Total gross receipts for each session.

12. Each electronic bingo device shall be programmed to automatically erase all stored electronic bingo 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.

13. All electronic bingo devices shall be reloaded with another set of electronic bingo cards at the beginning of each session if the devices are to be reused at the same location.

E. In instances where a defect in packaging or in the construction of deals or electronic bingo devices is discovered by or reported to the department, the department shall notify the manufacturer of the deals or electronic bingo devices containing the alleged defect. Should the department, in consultation with the manufacturer, determine that a defect exists, and should the department determine the defect affects game security or otherwise threatens public confidence in the game, the department may, with respect to deals or electronic bingo devices for use still located within the Commonwealth of Virginia, require the supplier to:

1. Recall the deals or electronic bingo devices affected that have not been sold or otherwise provided; or

2. Issue a total recall of all affected deals or electronic bingo devices.

F. No supplier shall knowingly sell or otherwise provide to an organization and no organization shall knowingly use an instant bingo, pull-tab, or seal card dispenser unless the dispenser conforms to the following standards:

1. Each dispenser shall be manufactured in a manner that ensures a pull-tab ticket is dispensed only after insertion of United States currency or coinage into the dispenser. Such ticket and any change due shall be the only items dispensed from the machine.

2. Each dispenser shall be manufactured in a manner that ensures the dispenser neither displays nor has the capability of displaying or otherwise identifying an instant bingo, pull-tab, or seal card winning or nonwinning ticket.

3. Each dispenser shall be manufactured in such a manner that any visual animation does not simulate or display rolling or spinning reels or produce audible music or enhanced sound effects.

4. Each dispenser shall be equipped with separate locks for the instant bingo, pull-tab, or seal card supply modules and money boxes. Locks shall be configured so that no one key will operate both the supply modules and money boxes.

G. The department may require testing of a dispensing device at any time to ensure that it meets construction standards and allows for fair play. Such tests shall be conducted at the cost of the manufacturer of such dispensing devices.

H. The face value of the instant bingo, pull-tab, or seal cards being dispensed shall match the amount deposited in the currency/coin acceptor less change provided.

I. A dispensing device shall only dispense instant bingo, pull-tab, or seal cards that conform to the construction standards established in subsection B of this section and the randomization standards established in 11VAC15-40-140.

J. Suppliers and manufacturers of instant bingo, pull-tab, or seal card dispensers shall comply with the requirements of the Gambling Devices Act of 1962 (15 USC §§ 1171-1178).

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 29, Issue 03, eff. November 7, 2012; amended, Virginia Register Volume 33, Issue 04, eff. November 17, 2016.

Statutory Authority

§ 18.2-340.15 of the Code of Virginia.