N.D. Admin. Code 99-01.3-06-02

Current through Supplement No. 394, October, 2024

Section 99-01.3-06-02 - Conduct and play

1. Deals of pull tabs must be commingled for a game as follows:

a. Two or more deals must be placed in a receptacle and be thoroughly intermixed. When an organization's predetermined number or range of numbers of winning pull tabs remain in a game as unredeemed, an additional deal is added. An employee shall add a deal to a game when there are about two hundred fifty pull tabs remaining and the game cannot be or is not being closed. The new pull tabs must be intermixed with the pull tabs in the receptacle before any pull tab is sold;

b. The deals must be identical except for the game serial number, and a minor difference in printing that is approved by the attorney general. Each deal must have at least two top tier winning pull tabs. If deals of a game involve folded or banded jar tickets, the color of the tickets' band must be the same; however, multiple-colored bands on a single ticket may be used. When a deal is added to a game, an employee shall compare the color of a deal's pull tabs to the color of the game's pull tabs. If the two colors are not the same, the deal cannot be used;

c. A master flare or flare for at least one deal of a game must be displayed with the game and be visible to and not easily removed by a player. An organization shall retain all original flares at a site while a game is in play. If a deal has a last sale prize feature, the deal's flare must also be displayed. Only the flare of one deal of a game may have a last sale prize feature;

d. If an indicator for adding a deal to a game has been reached and an organization does not have a deal to add, the organization shall temporarily suspend the game until it procures a deal. However, if the organization is unable to procure a deal from the distributors and all the top tier winning pull tabs have been redeemed, it may close the game;

e. If a site's total gross proceeds of pull tabs averages twelve thousand five hundred dollars or less per quarter, a game may be closed anytime if all top tier winning pull tabs have been redeemed;

f. Except as provided by subdivision g, if a site's total gross proceeds of pull tabs averages more than twelve thousand five hundred dollars per quarter, no game may be closed unless an organization discontinues gaming at the site, or all the top tier winning pull tabs have been redeemed and a game has been in play for twenty-five consecutive calendar days; and

g. An organization shall close a game by the end of a quarter. If all top tier winning pull tabs have been redeemed, an organization may close a game for the quarter within fourteen calendar days before the end of that quarter. An organization may start a new game for the next quarter within fourteen calendar days before the next quarter begins. However, an organization may not start a new game and end that game within this fourteen-calendar-day period.

2. An employee may not place a deal of pull tabs, club special, or prize board in play which has a manufacturer's or distributor's seal broken on the game's container when the game was received from a distributor. A person may not take off a deal's manufacturer's cellophane shrink wrap or break the manufacturer's or distributor's security seal on the deal's container until the deal is to be placed in a receptacle. If a distributor's or manufacturer's security seal is broken before the deal is used, an organization shall return the deal to the distributor. If a deal is packaged in two or more containers, the full deal must be placed in play at the same time.

3. The following rules, information, and policies must be posted or made available to players in the area where pull-tab activity is conducted. If made available to players, the rules, information, and policies must be in the form of a handout that is easily visible to the players and may not be a copy of the gaming law and rules:

a. Restricting the play of a game to one player or a group of players is prohibited;

b. A winning pull tab must be redeemed within a fifteen-minute time limit;

c. If a person knowingly solicits, provides, receives, or knowingly uses any inside information, from or to any person, by any means, or knowingly uses a fraudulent scheme or technique to cheat or skim involving pull tabs, regardless of the amount gained, the offense is a class C felony punishable by a five thousand dollar fine or five years in jail or both;

d. A pull tab cannot be redeemed if it has been taken from the gaming area;

e. To the best of the organization's knowledge, a prize remaining on a board relates to a winning pull tab that has not been redeemed. This rule is not required to be posted or made available to players if an organization does not conduct a prize board;

f. A deal may be added to a game at any time;

g. If a player attempts to falsify or falsifies a record of win, the prize is forfeited. This rule is not required to be posted or made available to players if an organization does not pay a prize that requires a record of win;

h. For any last sale prize, the method of determining which player is entitled to buy the last pull tab or punch for a last sale prize when two or more players desire to buy the last pull tab or punch;

i. The information, if any, authorized by subdivision a or b, or both, of subsection 5;

j. Any limit on the number of pull tabs or punches that a player may buy at a time; and

k. When a game is being closed, an employee shall:

(1) Post a notice that the game is being sold out; and

(2) Any limit on the number of pull tabs or punches that two or more players may buy at a time.

4. A player may not redeem and an employee may not knowingly pay a prize for a pull tab after fifteen minutes have elapsed since the pull tab was bought. If a player attempts to redeem a pull tab after the time limit, an employee shall, if possible, retain and void the pull tab.

5. A person may post the information referenced by subdivision a or b, or both, for a commingled game provided that the posting contains a statement that the information is correct to the best of the organization's knowledge and that the information is not guaranteed to be accurate. A posting must be visible to players in the area where jar bars are located and where the game type is conducted. If an organization does not have a policy on when to stop posting this information when a game is being closed, it shall stop posting the information when there are less than six winning pull tabs, through a level of prize value determined by the organization, that remain unredeemed. Posted information may be as described in subdivision a or b, or both:

a. The minimum number of unredeemed winning pull tabs or a range of numbers of unredeemed winning pull tabs, through a level of prize value determined by an organization, that will always be in a game unless the game is being closed. This information may be for each prize value or the total of several prize values. The level of prize value must be posted. If a pull tab has two or more winning prize patterns, the information must be based on the value of each prize pattern.

b. The number of unredeemed winning pull tabs, through a level of prize value determined by an organization, that remain in a game. This information may be for each prize value or the total of several prize values. The level of prize value must be posted. If a pull tab has two or more winning prize patterns, the information must be based on the value of each prize pattern. The information must be continually updated.

6. An organization may limit the number of pull tabs a player may buy regardless if the player is redeeming a winning pull tab.

7. An employee may not selectively pick a pull tab from a receptacle based on its game serial number or other factor. An employee shall take a handful of pull tabs from a receptacle and count off the number bought. An employee may not permit a player to physically handpick a pull tab or honor a player's request to select a specific pull tab. However, an employee may honor a player's suggestion to select a pull tab from a general area of a receptacle. In applying subsection 2 of North Dakota Century Code section 53-06.1-16, the phrase "fraudulent scheme or technique" includes an employee selecting, by any method, only certain pull tabs in a game or an employee not thoroughly intermixing pull tabs of the initial or added deals.

8. An employee may only assist a person with a disability in opening a pull tab.

9. An employee shall deface a winning number or symbol of a pull tab, including pull tabs used with a prize board, and punchboard punch when it is redeemed. If a pull tab has two or more winning prize patterns, a winning number or symbol of at least one pattern must be defaced. An employee may not knowingly pay a prize to a player who is redeeming a pull tab that has been defaced, tampered with, counterfeited, has a game serial number different from the serial numbers of the deals in the game, or is defective.

10. If a player buys a set of banded jar tickets and before opening or breaking the band of any jar ticket, determines that the set contains less than the standard number of tickets, an employee may issue the player only the number of tickets actually missing or may issue the player a new set in exchange for the defective set.

11. When a game is being closed, an organization may continue to conduct the game although all of its top tier and minor winning pull tabs have been redeemed. An employee may not permit a player to buy out a game except when a game is being closed. If an organization closes a game that has pull tabs unsold, it may not open or place the pull tabs back into play.

12. Unless an organization conducts a commingled game according to subdivision e of subsection 1 or closes a commingled game at least monthly, an employee who did not conduct the game, have sole access to the games in play, cash banks, and receipts or cash profit for the games, shall do a monthly interim audit of the game. If the percent-of-accuracy of all the games of a site for the previous quarter was less than ninety-eight and one-half percent, and a cash shortage of more than one hundred dollars, an employee who did not conduct the game, have sole access to the games in play, cash banks, and receipts or cash profit for the games, shall do a weekly interim audit of the games for that site for up to twelve continuous weeks or until the organization determines, resolves, and documents the cause. One of the weekly interim audits may be the audit required by subsection 7 of section 99-01.3-03-10. An organization shall start the weekly audits no later than the date on which its tax return for the quarter was filed with the attorney general. Percent-of-accuracy is computed as cash profit divided by adjusted gross proceeds.

13. An employee shall award the last sale cash or merchandise prize to the player who actually buys the last pull tab or punch.

14. An organization may transfer a commingled game, club special, tip board, seal board, prize board, and punchboard from a site to another site, or rotate games among sites. If an organization discontinues gaming at a site, it may close a game. If a game is in the process of being conducted through a jar bar, the game cannot be transferred to a dispensing device. A game must be reported for the site at which it was closed and on a tax return for the quarter in which it was closed.

15. An employee may not pay, from any source of funds, a prize to a player unless the player redeems an actual winning pull tab that has a game serial number from a game conducted at the site. This rule does not apply to a last sale prize.

16. Before leaving a jar bar unattended, an employee shall safeguard the games, cash, and records.

17. An organization may not publicly display a redeemed pull tab.

18. An organization or employee may not reimburse, from any source of funds, an amount to a player for play of a game that has a manufacturing defect or has an incorrect posting of information described by subsection 5, unless the attorney general approves.

19. If an organization suspects or determines that a game may be defective, the organization shall temporarily suspend the game, notify the attorney general, and follow the attorney general's instructions.

N.D. Admin Code 99-01.3-06-02

Effective May 1, 1998; amended effective July 1, 2000; July 1, 2002; July 1, 2004; July 1, 2010; July 1, 2012.

Amended by Administrative Rules Supplement 2016-360, April 2016, effective 4/1/2016.

Amended by Administrative Rules Supplement 369, July 2018, effective 7/1/2018.

Amended by Administrative Rules Supplement 2022-387, January 2023, effective 1/1/2023.

General Authority: NDCC 53-06.1-01.1

Law Implemented: NDCC 53-06.1-01.1, 53-06.1-08