West Virginia Code 29-25-23 – Prohibition on unauthorized wagering; complimentary service, gift, cash or other item
(a) A gaming licensee may not permit any form of wagering except as authorized under this article or article twenty-two, twenty-two-a or twenty-two-c of this chapter.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 29-25-23
- Commission: means the State Lottery Commission created in section four, article twenty-two of this chapter. See West Virginia Code 29-25-2
- Gaming facility: means a designated area on the premises of an existing historic resort hotel in which West Virginia Lottery table games are conducted by a gaming licensee. See West Virginia Code 29-25-2
- Gaming licensee: means the licensed operator of a gaming facility. See West Virginia Code 29-25-2
- Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
- Licensee: means a gaming licensee, a licensed gaming facility supplier or a licensed gaming facility employee. See West Virginia Code 29-25-2
- Person: means any natural person, corporation, association, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company or other entity, regardless of its form, structure or nature. See West Virginia Code 29-25-2
- West Virginia Lottery table game: means any game played with cards, dice or any mechanical, electromechanical or electronic device or machine for money, credit or any representative of value, including, but not limited to, baccarat, blackjack, poker, craps, roulette, wheel of fortune or any variation of these games similar in design or operation and expressly authorized by rule of the commission, including multiplayer electronic table games, machines and devices, but excluding video lottery, punchboards, faro, numbers tickets, push cards, jar tickets, pull tabs or similar games. See West Virginia Code 29-25-2
(b) A gaming licensee may receive wagers only from an individual present in a licensed gaming facility.
(c) All gaming facility operations shall utilize a cashless wagering system whereby all players' money is converted to tokens, paper vouchers, electronic cards or chips at the request of the wagerer which can only be used for wagering in a licensed gaming facility and wagering may not be conducted with money or other negotiable currency:
(1) Wagering on West Virginia Lottery table games may not be conducted with money or other negotiable currency or with tokens, electronic cards or other electronic media or chips not issued by the gaming facility where the West Virginia Lottery table game will be played.
(2) At the request of the player, the licensee shall convert a player's tokens, electronic cards or other electronic media or chips back to money.
(3) The licensee may not charge a fee for converting a player's money to an acceptable media for playing a West Virginia Lottery table game or charge a fee for converting the acceptable media for wagering a West Virginia Lottery table game back to money.
(d) The gaming licensee is prohibited from offering any complimentary service, gift, cash or other item of value to any person unless:
(1) The complimentary consists of room, food, beverage or entertainment expenses provided directly to the patron and his or her guests by the gaming facility licensee or indirectly to the patron and his or her guests on behalf of the licensee by a third party;
(2) The complimentary consists of documented transportation expenses provided directly to the patron and his or her guests on behalf of a gaming facility licensee by a third party: Provided, That the licensee complies with the rules promulgated by the commission to ensure that a patron's and his or her guests' documented transportation expenses are paid for or reimbursed only once; or
(3) The complimentary consists of coins, tokens, cash or other complimentary items or services provided through any complimentary distribution program, the terms of which shall be filed with the commission upon implementation of the program or maintained pursuant to commission rule. Any change in the terms of a complimentary program shall be filed with the commission upon implementation of the change.
(e) Notwithstanding any provision of subsection (d) of this section to the contrary, a gaming facility licensee may offer and provide complimentary cash or noncash gifts that are not otherwise included in that subsection to any person: Provided, That any complimentary cash or noncash gifts in excess of an amount per trip to be set by interpretive rule of the commission are supported by documentation regarding the reason the gift was provided to the patron and his or her guests, including, where applicable, a patron's player rating. The documentation shall be maintained by a gaming facility licensee in accordance with commission rules. For purposes of this subsection, all gifts presented to a patron and a patron's guests directly by the gaming facility licensee or indirectly on behalf of the licensee by a third party within any five-day period shall be considered to have been made during a single trip.