§ 20-435 Definitions.
AC § 20-435
As used in this subchapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings: 1. "Board" shall mean New York state gaming commission.
2."Games of chance" shall mean and include only the games known as "merchandise wheels", "coin boards", "merchandise boards", "seal cards", "event games", "raffles", and "bell jars" and such other specific games as may be authorized by the board, in which prizes are awarded on the basis of a designated winning number or numbers, color or colors, symbol or symbols determined by chance, but not including games commonly known as "bingo or lotto" which are controlled under article fourteen-H of the general municipal law and also not including "slot machines", "bookmaking", "lottery", and "policy or numbers games" as defined in section 225.00 of the penal law. No game of chance shall involve wagering of money by one player against another player.
3."Authorized organization" shall mean and include any bona fide religious or charitable organization or bona fide educational or service organization or bona fide organization of veterans or volunteer firefighters, which by its charter, certificate of incorporation, constitution, or act of the legislature, shall have among its dominant purposes one or more of the lawful purposes as defined in this subchapter, provided that each shall operate without profit to its members, and provided that each such organization has engaged in serving one or more of the lawful purposes as defined in this subchapter for a period of three years immediately prior to applying for a license under this subchapter. No organization shall be deemed an authorized organization which is formed primarily for the purpose of conducting games of chance and the distribution of the proceeds thereof to itself or any other organization and which does not devote at least seventy-five percent of its activities to other purposes set forth in this subdivision. No political party shall be deemed an authorized organization.
4."Lawful purposes" shall mean one or more of the following causes, deeds or activities: (a) Those which shall benefit needy or deserving persons indefinite in number by enhancing their opportunity for religious or educational advancement, by relieving them from disease, suffering or distress, or by contributing to their physical well-being, by assisting them in establishing themselves in life as worthy and useful citizens, or by increasing their comprehension of a devotion to the principles upon which this nation was founded and enhancing their loyalty to their governments.
(b)Those which shall initiate, perform or foster worthy public works or shall enable or further the erection or maintenance of public structures; (c) Those which shall otherwise lessen the burdens borne by government or which are voluntarily undertaken by an authorized organization to augment or supplement services which government would normally render to the people, including, in the case of volunteer firefighters or voluntary emergency medical service activities, the purchase, erection or maintenance of a building for a firehouse or a volunteer ambulance corps building, activities open to the public for the enhancement of membership and the purchase of equipment that can reasonably be expected to increase the efficiency of response to fires, accidents, medical emergencies, public calamities and other emergencies.
(d)Those which shall initiate, perform or foster the provisions of services to veterans by encouraging the gathering of such veterans and shall enable or further the erection or maintenance of facilities for use by such veterans which shall be used primarily for charitable or patriotic purposes, or those purposes which shall be authorized by a bona fide organization of veterans, provided however that such proceeds are disbursed pursuant to section 189 of the general municipal law.
5."Net proceeds" shall mean (a) in relation to the gross receipts from one or more occasions of games of chance, the amount that shall remain after deducting the reasonable sums necessarily and actually expended for supplies and equipment, prizes, stated rental if any, bookkeeping or accounting services according to a schedule of compensation prescribed by the board, janitorial services and utility supplies if any, license fees, and the cost of bus transportation, if authorized by the board and (b) in relation to the gross rent received by an organization licensed to conduct such games for the use of its premises by another licensee, the amount that shall remain after deducting the reasonable sums necessarily and actually expended for janitorial services and utility supplies directly attributable thereto if any.
6."Net lease" shall mean a written agreement between a lessor and lessee under the terms of which the lessee is entitled to the possession, use or occupancy of the whole or part of any premises from any non-commercial or non-profit authorized games of chance lessor for which the lessee pays rent to the lessor and likewise undertakes to pay substantially all of the regularly recurring expenses incident to the operation and maintenance of such leased premises.
7."Authorized games of chance lessor" shall mean an authorized organization which has been granted a lessor's license pursuant to the provisions of this subchapter.
8.Reserved.
9."Authorized supplier of games of chance equipment" shall mean any person, firm, partnership or organization licensed by the board to sell or lease games of chance equipment or paraphernalia which meets the specifications and regulations established by the board. Nothing herein shall prevent an authorized organization from purchasing common articles, such as cards and dice, from normal sources of supply of such articles or from constructing equipment and paraphernalia for games of chance for its own use. However, no such equipment or paraphernalia constructed by an authorized organization shall be sold or leased to any other authorized organization without written permission from the board.
10."One occasion" shall mean the conducting of any one type of game of chance during any one license period. Except for raffles conducted during professional and collegiate sporting competitions, no series of prizes on any one occasion shall aggregate more than one thousand dollars. For purposes of raffles conducted during professional and collegiate sporting competitions, "one occasion" shall mean the successive operations of any one such raffle for which the limit on a series of prizes provided by subdivision 6 of section 189 of the general municipal law shall apply.
11."Licensed period" shall mean a period of time not to exceed 14 consecutive hours and, for purposes of the game of chance known as a raffle, "license period" shall mean a period of time running from January first to December thirty-first of each year.
12."Sports venue" shall mean a building, structure, or place with a permanent seating capacity of more than five thousand in which professional sporting competitions are held.
13."Raffle" shall mean and include those games of chance in which a participant pays money in return for a ticket or other receipt and in which a prize is awarded on the basis of a winning number or numbers, color or colors, or symbol or symbols designated on the ticket or receipt, determined by chance as a result of: (a) a drawing from among those tickets or receipts previously sold; or (b) a random event, the results of which correspond with tickets or receipts previously sold.
14."Single type of game" shall mean the games of chance known as merchandise wheels, coin boards, merchandise boards, event games, raffles and bell jars and each other specific game of chance authorized by the board.
15."Operation" shall mean the play of a single type of game of chance necessary to determine the outcome or winners each time wagers are made. A single drawing of a winning ticket or other receipt in a raffle shall be deemed one operation.
16."Single prize" shall mean the sum of money or fair market value of merchandise or coins awarded to a participant by a games of chance licensee in any one operation of a single type of game of chance in excess of their wager.
17."Series of prizes" shall mean the total amount of single prizes minus the total amount of wagers lost during the successive operations of a single type of game of chance, except that for merchandize wheels and raffles, "series of prizes" shall mean the sum of cash and the fair market value of merchandise awarded as single prizes during the successive operations of any single merchandise wheel or raffle. In the game of raffle, a series of prizes may include a percentage of the sum of cash received from the sale of raffle tickets. (Am. 2020 N.Y. Laws Ch. 243, 10/7/2020, eff. 10/7/2020; Am. L.L. 2023/060, 5/25/2023, eff. 5/25/2023)
