| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to cardrooms; amending s. 849.086, F.S.; |
| 3 | providing for bingo games to be offered in cardrooms; |
| 4 | revising the definition of the term "authorized game" to |
| 5 | include bingo; defining the term "bingo"; defining the |
| 6 | term "gross receipts" for purposes of bingo games; |
| 7 | providing an effective date. |
| 8 |
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| 9 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 10 |
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| 11 | Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 849.086, Florida |
| 12 | Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (h) is added to subsection |
| 13 | (7) of that section, to read: |
| 14 | 849.086 Cardrooms authorized.- |
| 15 | (2) DEFINITIONS.-As used in this section: |
| 16 | (a) "Authorized game" means a game or series of games of |
| 17 | bingo, poker, or dominoes which are played in a nonbanking |
| 18 | manner. |
| 19 | (b) "Banking game" means a game in which the house is a |
| 20 | participant in the game, taking on players, paying winners, and |
| 21 | collecting from losers or in which the cardroom establishes a |
| 22 | bank against which participants play. |
| 23 | (c) "Bingo" means and refers to the activity in which |
| 24 | participants pay a sum of money for the use of one or more bingo |
| 25 | cards. When the game commences, numbers are drawn by chance, one |
| 26 | by one, and announced. The players cover or mark those numbers |
| 27 | on the bingo cards which they have purchased until a player |
| 28 | receives a given order of numbers in sequence that has been |
| 29 | preannounced for that particular game. This player calls out |
| 30 | "bingo" and is declared the winner of a predetermined prize. |
| 31 | More than one game may be played upon a bingo card, and numbers |
| 32 | called for one game may be used for a succeeding game or games. |
| 33 | (d)(c) "Cardroom" means a facility where authorized games |
| 34 | are played for money or anything of value and to which the |
| 35 | public is invited to participate in such games and charged a fee |
| 36 | for participation by the operator of such facility. Authorized |
| 37 | games and cardrooms do not constitute casino gaming operations. |
| 38 | (e)(d) "Cardroom management company" means any individual |
| 39 | not an employee of the cardroom operator, any proprietorship, |
| 40 | partnership, corporation, or other entity that enters into an |
| 41 | agreement with a cardroom operator to manage, operate, or |
| 42 | otherwise control the daily operation of a cardroom. |
| 43 | (f)(e) "Cardroom distributor" means any business that |
| 44 | distributes cardroom paraphernalia such as card tables, betting |
| 45 | chips, chip holders, dominoes, dominoes tables, drop boxes, |
| 46 | banking supplies, playing cards, card shufflers, and other |
| 47 | associated equipment to authorized cardrooms. |
| 48 | (g)(f) "Cardroom operator" means a licensed pari-mutuel |
| 49 | permitholder which holds a valid permit and license issued by |
| 50 | the division pursuant to chapter 550 and which also holds a |
| 51 | valid cardroom license issued by the division pursuant to this |
| 52 | section which authorizes such person to operate a cardroom and |
| 53 | to conduct authorized games in such cardroom. |
| 54 | (h)(g) "Division" means the Division of Pari-mutuel |
| 55 | Wagering of the Department of Business and Professional |
| 56 | Regulation. |
| 57 | (i)(h) "Dominoes" means a game of dominoes typically |
| 58 | played with a set of 28 flat rectangular blocks, called "bones," |
| 59 | which are marked on one side and divided into two equal parts, |
| 60 | with zero to six dots, called "pips," in each part. The term |
| 61 | also includes larger sets of blocks that contain a |
| 62 | correspondingly higher number of pips. The term also means the |
| 63 | set of blocks used to play the game. |
| 64 | (j)(i) "Gross receipts" means the total amount of money |
| 65 | received by a cardroom from any person for participation in |
| 66 | authorized games. |
| 67 | (k)(j) "House" means the cardroom operator and all |
| 68 | employees of the cardroom operator. |
| 69 | (l)(k) "Net proceeds" means the total amount of gross |
| 70 | receipts received by a cardroom operator from cardroom |
| 71 | operations less direct operating expenses related to cardroom |
| 72 | operations, including labor costs, admission taxes only if a |
| 73 | separate admission fee is charged for entry to the cardroom |
| 74 | facility, gross receipts taxes imposed on cardroom operators by |
| 75 | this section, the annual cardroom license fees imposed by this |
| 76 | section on each table operated at a cardroom, and reasonable |
| 77 | promotional costs excluding officer and director compensation, |
| 78 | interest on capital debt, legal fees, real estate taxes, bad |
| 79 | debts, contributions or donations, or overhead and depreciation |
| 80 | expenses not directly related to the operation of the cardrooms. |
| 81 | (m)(l) "Rake" means a set fee or percentage of the pot |
| 82 | assessed by a cardroom operator for providing the services of a |
| 83 | dealer, table, or location for playing the authorized game. |
| 84 | (n)(m) "Tournament" means a series of games that have more |
| 85 | than one betting round involving one or more tables and where |
| 86 | the winners or others receive a prize or cash award. |
| 87 | (7) CONDITIONS FOR OPERATING A CARDROOM.- |
| 88 | (h) A cardroom operator's conduct of bingo is conditioned |
| 89 | upon the return of 80 percent of all proceeds from such games |
| 90 | during the year to the players in the form of prizes and cash |
| 91 | awards. For purposes of bingo games only, the term "gross |
| 92 | receipts" means the total amount received by the cardroom |
| 93 | operator for participating in the bingo game less the total |
| 94 | amount paid to the winners or others as prizes or cash awards. |
| 95 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011. |