| 1 | The Business Regulation Committee recommends the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Council/Committee Substitute |
| 4 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 5 | A bill to be entitled |
| 6 | An act relating to cardrooms; amending s. 849.086, F.S.; |
| 7 | providing for cardrooms to conduct games of dominoes; |
| 8 | revising definitions; defining "dominoes"; revising |
| 9 | rulemaking authority to provide for review and approval of |
| 10 | the play and wagering in a game or series of games of |
| 11 | poker or a game of dominoes; providing for dominoes game |
| 12 | supervisors; restricting wagers on games; providing an |
| 13 | effective date. |
| 14 |
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| 15 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 16 |
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| 17 | Section 1. Paragraphs (a), (c), and (e) of subsection (2), |
| 18 | paragraph (a) of subsection (4), paragraph (a) of subsection |
| 19 | (6), paragraph (c) of subsection (7), and paragraph (a) of |
| 20 | subsection (8) of section 849.086, Florida Statutes, are |
| 21 | amended, present paragraphs (h), (i), (j), and (k) of subsection |
| 22 | (2) of that section are redesignated as paragraphs (i), (j), |
| 23 | (k), and (l), respectively, and a new paragraph (h) is added to |
| 24 | that subsection, to read: |
| 25 | 849.086 Cardrooms authorized.-- |
| 26 | (2) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section: |
| 27 | (a) "Authorized game" means a game or series of games of |
| 28 | poker or dominoes which are played in a nonbanking manner. |
| 29 | (c) "Cardroom" means a facility where authorized card |
| 30 | games are played for money or anything of value and to which the |
| 31 | public is invited to participate in such games and charged a fee |
| 32 | for participation by the operator of such facility. Authorized |
| 33 | games and cardrooms do not constitute casino gaming operations. |
| 34 | (e) "Cardroom distributor" means any business that |
| 35 | distributes cardroom paraphernalia such as card tables, betting |
| 36 | chips, chip holders, dominoes, dominoes tables, drop boxes, |
| 37 | banking supplies, playing cards, card shufflers, and other |
| 38 | associated equipment to authorized cardrooms. |
| 39 | (h) "Dominoes" means a game of dominoes typically played |
| 40 | with a set of 28 flat rectangular blocks, called bones, marked |
| 41 | on one side, which is divided into two equal parts, with from |
| 42 | zero to six dots, called pips, in each part. There are larger |
| 43 | sets of blocks that contain a correspondingly higher number of |
| 44 | pips. The term "dominoes" also refers to the set of blocks used |
| 45 | to play the game. |
| 46 | (4) AUTHORITY OF DIVISION.--The Division of Pari-mutuel |
| 47 | Wagering of the Department of Business and Professional |
| 48 | Regulation shall administer this section and regulate the |
| 49 | operation of cardrooms under this section and the rules adopted |
| 50 | pursuant thereto, and is hereby authorized to: |
| 51 | (a) Adopt rules, including, but not limited to: the |
| 52 | issuance of cardroom and employee licenses for cardroom |
| 53 | operations; the operation of a cardroom; the review and approval |
| 54 | of the play and wagering in a game or series of games of poker |
| 55 | or a game of dominoes; recordkeeping and reporting requirements; |
| 56 | and the collection of all fees and taxes imposed by this |
| 57 | section. |
| 58 | (6) BUSINESS AND EMPLOYEE OCCUPATIONAL LICENSE REQUIRED; |
| 59 | APPLICATION; FEES.-- |
| 60 | (a) A person employed or otherwise working in a cardroom |
| 61 | as a cardroom manager, floor supervisor, pit boss, dealer, or |
| 62 | any other activity related to cardroom operations while the |
| 63 | facility is conducting card playing or games of dominoes must |
| 64 | hold a valid cardroom employee occupational license issued by |
| 65 | the division. Food service, maintenance, and security employees |
| 66 | with a current pari-mutuel occupational license and a current |
| 67 | background check will not be required to have a cardroom |
| 68 | employee occupational license. |
| 69 | (7) CONDITIONS FOR OPERATING A CARDROOM.-- |
| 70 | (c) A cardroom operator must at all times employ and |
| 71 | provide a nonplaying dealer for each table on which authorized |
| 72 | card games which traditionally utilize a dealer are conducted at |
| 73 | the cardroom. A cardroom operator must at all times employ and |
| 74 | provide a nonplaying supervisor for each table on which an |
| 75 | authorized game of dominoes is conducted in the cardroom. Such |
| 76 | dealers or dominoes game supervisors may not have any |
| 77 | participatory interest in any game other than the dealing of |
| 78 | cards or the supervision of a game of dominoes and may not have |
| 79 | an interest in the outcome of the game. The providing of such |
| 80 | dealers or dominoes game supervisors by a licensee shall not be |
| 81 | construed as constituting the conducting of a banking game by |
| 82 | the cardroom operator. |
| 83 | (8) METHOD OF WAGERS; LIMITATION.-- |
| 84 | (a) No wagering may be conducted using money or other |
| 85 | negotiable currency. Games may only be played utilizing a |
| 86 | wagering system whereby all players' money is first converted by |
| 87 | the house to tokens or chips which shall be used for wagering |
| 88 | only at that specific cardroom. No wager of money or any other |
| 89 | property or thing of value may be made on the outcome of an |
| 90 | authorized game other than by the persons who are playing in |
| 91 | such a game or in a series of such games. Any wager must be in |
| 92 | strict compliance with this section. |
| 93 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006. |