§ 543.10 - What are the minimum internal control standards for card games?

§ 543.10 What are the minimum internal control standards for card games?

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 83 FR 65508, Dec. 21, 2018.

(a) Supervision. Supervision must be provided as needed during the card room operations by an agent(s) with authority equal to or greater than those being supervised.

(1) A supervisor may function as a dealer without any other supervision if disputes are resolved by supervisory personnel independent of the transaction or independent of the card games department; or

(2) A dealer may function as a supervisor if not dealing the game.

(b) Exchanges or transfers.

(1) Exchanges between table banks and the main card room bank (or cage, if a main card room bank is not used) must be authorized by a supervisor. All exchanges must be evidenced by the use of a lammer unless the exchange of chips, tokens, and/or cash takes place at the table. If table banks are maintained at an imprest level and runners are used for the exchanges at the table, no supervisory authorization is required.

(2) Exchanges from the main card room bank (or cage, if a main card room bank is not used) to the table banks must be verified by the card room dealer and the runner.

(3) Transfers between the main card room bank and the cage must be properly authorized and documented. Documentation must be retained for at least 24 hours.

(c) Playing cards.

(1) New and used playing cards must be maintained in a secure location, with appropriate surveillance coverage, and accessible only to authorized agents.

(2) Used playing cards that are not to be re-used must be properly cancelled and removed from service to prevent re-use. The removal and cancellation procedure requires TGRA review and approval.

(3) Playing cards associated with an investigation must be retained intact and outside of the established removal and cancellation procedure.

(d) Shill funds.

(1) Issuance of shill funds must be recorded and have the written approval of the supervisor.

(2) Returned shill funds must be recorded and verified by a supervisor.

(3) The replenishment of shill funds must be documented.

(e) Standards for reconciliation of card room bank. Two agents - one of whom must be a supervisory agent - must independently count the main card room bank and table inventory at the opening and closing of the table end of each shift and record the following information:

(1) Date;

(2) Shift;

(3) Table number (if applicable);

(4) Amount by denomination;

(5) Amount in total; and

(6) Signatures of both agents.

(f) Posted rules. The rules must be displayed or available for patron review at the gaming operation, including rules governing contests, prize payouts, fees, the rake collected, and the placing of antes.

(g) Promotional progressive pots and pools.

(1) All funds contributed by players into the pools must be returned when won in accordance with posted rules, and no commission or administrative fee may be withheld.

(i) The payout may be in the form of personal property, such as a car.

(ii) A combination of a promotion and progressive pool may be offered.

(2) The conditions for participating in current card game promotional progressive pots and/or pools must be prominently displayed or available for patron review at the gaming operation.

(3) Individual payouts for card game promotional progressive pots and/or pools that are $600 or more must be documented at the time of the payout to include the following:

(i) Patron's name;

(ii) Date of payout;

(iii) Dollar amount of payout and/or nature and dollar value of any non-cash payout;

(iv) The signature of the agent completing the transaction attesting to the disbursement of the payout; and

(v) Name of contest/tournament.

(4) If the cash (or cash equivalent) payout for the card game promotional progressive pot and/or pool is less than $600, documentation must be created to support accountability of the bank from which the payout was made.

(5) Rules governing current promotional pools must be conspicuously posted in the card room and/or available in writing for patron review. The rules must designate:

(i) The amount of funds to be contributed from each pot;

(ii) What type of hand it takes to win the pool;

(iii) How the promotional funds will be paid out;

(iv) How/when the contributed funds are added to the pools; and

(v) Amount/percentage of funds allocated to primary and secondary pools, if applicable.

(6) Promotional pool contributions must not be placed in or near the rake circle, in the drop box, or commingled with gaming revenue from card games or any other gambling game.

(7) The amount of the pools must be conspicuously displayed in the card room.

(8) At least once each day that the game is offered, the posted pool amount must be updated to reflect the current pool amount.

(9) At least once each day that the game is offered, agents independent of the card room must reconcile the increases to the posted pool amount to the cash previously counted or received by the cage.

(10) All decreases to the pool must be properly documented, including a reason for the decrease.

(11) Promotional funds removed from the card game must be placed in a locked container.

(i) Agents authorized to transport the locked container are precluded from having access to the contents keys.

(ii) The contents key must be maintained by a department independent of the card room.

(iii) At least once a day, the locked container must be removed by two agents, one of whom is independent of the card games department, and transported directly to the cage or other secure room to be counted, recorded, and verified, prior to accepting the funds into cage accountability.

(h) Variances. The operation must establish, as approved by the TGRA, the threshold level at which a variance must be reviewed to determine the cause. Any such review must be documented.

[77 FR 58712, Sept. 21, 2012, as amended at 83 FR 65508, Dec. 21, 2018]