Section 146.03 - Value Gaming Chips(1) Each gaming chip which contains a denomination on its face shall be known as a "value chip." Value chips shall only be utilized on the gaming floor, unless otherwise authorized by the Bureau.(a) Each gaming licensee shall be authorized to issue and use value chips in denominations of $1.00, $2.50, $5.00, $10.00, $20.00, $25.00, $100.00, $500.00, $1,000, $5,000, $20,000, and $25,000 and in such quantities as the gaming licensee may deem appropriate to conduct gaming in its gaming establishment.(b) Each value chip issued by a gaming licensee shall be in the form of a disk. Value chips with a denomination of $1.00, $2.50, $5.00, $10.00, $20.00, $25.00, and $100.00, shall have a uniform diameter of one and 9/16 inches. Any value chip issued by a gaming licensee in the denomination of $500.00 shall have a uniform diameter of one and 9/16 inches or one and 11/16 inches. Any value chip issued in the denomination of $1,000, $5,000, $20,000, or $25,000 shall have a uniform diameter of one and 11/16 inches.(c) Each value chip issued in a denomination of $20,000 or $25,000, in addition to satisfying the requirements set forth in this section, shall be impressed with a unique serial number.(d) A gaming licensee may file a petition for Commission approval requesting a different denomination value chip than listed in 205 CMR 146.03(1)(a) through (c).(2) Each denomination of value chip issued by a gaming licensee shall contain a predominant color unique to that denomination to be known as the "primary color." A "secondary color" on a value chip is any color, other than that chip's primary color, that the Bureau authorizes a gaming licensee to include on the face or edge of the chip as a contrast to the chip's primary color, except that no primary color shall be used as a secondary color on a value chip of another denomination where such use on the edge is reasonably likely to cause confusion as to the chip's denomination when the edge alone is visible.(3) Each licensed gaming chip manufacturer shall submit sample color disks to the Bureau that identify all primary and secondary colors to be used for the manufacturing of gaming chips for gaming licensees in Massachusetts. Once a gaming chip manufacturer has received approval from the Bureau for a primary or secondary color, those colors shall be consistently manufactured in accordance with the approved samples. In order for a primary color to be approved for use, it must visually appear, when viewed either in daylight or under incandescent light, to comply with the following colors.(i) $1,000 - "Fire Orange;"(k) $20,000 - "Mustard Yellow;" and(4) Each value chip issued by a gaming licensee shall contain certain identifying characteristics that may appear in any location at least once on each face of the gaming chip and are applied in a manner which ensures that each such characteristic shall be clearly visible and remain a permanent part of the gaming chip. These characteristics shall, at a minimum, include: (a) The denomination of the value chip, expressed in numbers;(b) The name, trade name, or other approved identification of the gaming licensee issuing the value chip, which shall be applied in such a manner so as to be visible to surveillance employees using the closed circuit television system;(c) For each value chip with a denomination below $25.00 at least one anti-counterfeiting measure and for each value chip with a denomination of $25.00 or more at least two anti-counterfeiting measures in addition to those items specifically required to appear on the face or edge of a value chip by 205 CMR 146.01 and 146.03(1);(d) The word "Massachusetts" if the gaming licensee has gaming properties in other gaming jurisdictions; and(e) The primary color of the value chip.(5) In addition to the characteristics specified in 205 CMR 146.02(4), each value chip in a denomination of $25.00 or more shall contain a third anti-counterfeiting measure and a design or other identifying characteristic that is unique to the gaming chip manufacturer that makes the chip. Upon approval of a particular design or characteristic by the Bureau, the gaming chip manufacturer shall thereafter be precluded from using that same design or characteristic on any other denomination of value chip that it manufactures. The approved unique design or characteristic may only be changed upon a showing by the gaming chip manufacturer that, despite the change, each value chip in a denomination of $25.00 or more shall nonetheless be readily identifiable to the manufacturer.(6) Each value chip issued by a gaming licensee shall contain an identifying characteristic, to be known as an "edge spot," which shall:(a) Be applied in a manner which ensures that the edge spot shall: 1. Be clearly visible on the edge and, to the extent required by the Bureau, on each face of the value chip; and2. Remain a permanent part of the value chip.(b) Be created by using:1. The primary color of the chip; and2. One or more secondary colors.(c) Include a design, pattern or other feature that a person with adequate training could readily use to identify, when viewed through the closed circuit television system of the gaming licensee, the denomination of the particular value chip when placed in a stack of gaming chips, in the table inventory or in any other location where only the edge of the value chip is visible; provided, however, that the design, pattern or feature created by the primary and secondary colors required by 205 CMR 146.03 shall be sufficient by themselves to satisfy the requirements of 205 CMR 146.03(6)(c) if approved for that purpose by the Bureau.(7) When determining the secondary colors to be used to make the edge spot on a particular denomination of value chip, a gaming licensee shall, unless otherwise approved by the Bureau, use only those secondary colors that are reasonably likely to differentiate its value chip from the same denomination of value chip issued by any other gaming licensee.(8) In addition to any other requirement of 205 CMR 146.03, the edge spots on a value chip that has non-identical faces and a denomination of $25.00 or more shall appear uniform in design, pattern, or other feature when viewed from the perspective of the same face on any other value chip in the set. The edge spots on a value chip that has non-identical faces and a denomination below $25.00 may appear uniform in design, pattern or other feature or as an inverted mirror image thereof when viewed from the perspective of either face on any other value chip in the set.(9) Unless otherwise authorized by the Bureau, for each value gaming chip that a gaming licensee elects to issue pursuant to this section whose denomination is greater than $10.00, or equal to $1,000 or $5,000, it shall also have at least one approved set of gaming chips that may be used as a back-up for the gaming chips in active use. Each set of value chips maintained for use by a gaming licensee shall have different secondary colors. All sets of value gaming chips shall conform to the color and design requirements set forth in 205 CMR 146.03.(10) A gaming licensee may obtain Bureau approval of two or more different samples within a single set of value chips for a particular denomination with a value of $100.00 or less (commingling), provided that each sample of a particular denomination shall have the same secondary color and edge design. Any approved sample of a particular denomination of value chip within a single set of chips may be placed in or removed from active use by the gaming licensee at any time.Amended by Mass Register Issue 1356, eff. 1/12/2018.