2005 Minnesota Statutes

     349.17 Conduct of bingo. 

    Subdivision 1. Repealed, 2005 c 166 art 1 s 38 

    Subd. 2.    Bingo.  During any bingo occasion conducted 
 by an organization, the organization is directly responsible for 
 the:  

    (1) staffing of the bingo occasion; 

    (2) conducting of lawful gambling during the bingo 
 occasion; 

    (3) acquiring, storage, inventory control, and reporting of 
 all gambling equipment used by the organization; 

    (4) receipt, accounting, and all expenditures of gross 
 receipts from lawful gambling; and 

    (5) preparation of the bingo packets. 

    Subd. 2a. Repealed, 2002 c 386 art 1 s 12 

    Subd. 3.    Winners.  Each bingo winner must be 
 determined and every prize shall be awarded and delivered the 
 same day on which the bingo occasion is conducted, except that 
 prizes won in a linked bingo game must be delivered within three 
 business days of the day on which the occasion was conducted. 

    Subd. 4.    Checkers.  One or more checkers must be 
 engaged for each bingo occasion when bingo is conducted using 
 bingo hard cards.  The checker or checkers must record, on a 
 form the board provides, the number of hard cards played in each 
 game and the prizes awarded to recorded hard cards.  The form 
 must provide for the inclusion of the face number of each 
 winning hard card and must include a checker's certification 
 that the figures recorded are correct to the best of the 
 checker's knowledge.  

    Subd. 5.    Bingo cards and sheets.  (a) The board shall 
 by rule require that all licensed organizations:  (1) conduct 
 bingo only using liquid daubers on bingo paper sheets that bear 
 an individual number recorded by the distributor or linked bingo 
 game provider; and (2) use each bingo paper sheet for no more 
 than one bingo occasion.  In lieu of the requirements of clause 
 (2), a licensed organization may electronically record the sale 
 of each bingo hard card or paper sheet at each bingo occasion 
 using an electronic recording system approved by the board. 

    (b) The requirements of paragraph (a) shall only apply to a 
 licensed organization that received gross receipts from bingo in 
 excess of $150,000 in the organization's last fiscal year. 

    Subd. 6.    Conduct of bingo.  (a) Each bingo hard card 
 and paper sheets must have five horizontal rows of spaces with 
 each row except one having five numbers.  The center row must 
 have four numbers and the center space marked "free."  Each 
 column must have one of the letters B-I-N-G-O in order at the 
 top.  Bingo paper sheets may also have numbers that are not 
 preprinted but are filled in by players. 

    (b) A game of bingo begins with the first letter and number 
 called.  Each player must cover or mark with a liquid dauber the 
 numbers when bingo balls, similarly numbered, are randomly 
 drawn, announced, and displayed to the players, either manually 
 or with a flashboard and monitor.  The game is won when a player 
 has covered or marked a previously designated arrangement of 
 numbers on the card or sheet and declared bingo.  The game is 
 completed when a winning card or sheet is verified and a prize 
 awarded, except that prizes won in linked bingo games may be 
 awarded pursuant to subdivision 3.  

    Subd. 7.    Bar bingo.  An organization may conduct bar 
 bingo subject to the following restrictions: 

    (1) the bingo is conducted at a site the organization owns 
 or leases and which has a license for the sale of intoxicating 
 beverages on the premises under chapter 340A; 

    (2) the bingo is conducted using only bingo paper sheets 
 purchased from a licensed distributor; 

    (3) no rent may be paid for a bar bingo occasion; and 

    (4) linked bingo games may not be conducted at a bar bingo 
 occasion. 

    Subd. 8.    Linked bingo games.  (a) A licensed 
 organization may conduct or participate in a linked bingo game 
 in association with one or more other licensed organizations. 

    (b) Each participating licensed organization shall 
 contribute to each prize awarded in a linked bingo game in an 
 amount not to exceed $300 per occasion. 

    (c) The board may adopt rules to: 

    (1) specify the manner in which a linked bingo game must be 
 played and how the linked bingo prizes must be awarded; 

    (2) specify the records to be maintained by a linked bingo 
 game provider; 

    (3) require the submission of periodic reports by the 
 linked bingo game provider and specify the content of the 
 reports; 

    (4) establish the qualifications required to be licensed as 
 a linked bingo game provider; and 

    (5) any other matter involving the operation of a linked 
 bingo game. 

    HIST: 1976 c 261 s 7; 1979 c 166 s 1; 1984 c 502 art 12 s 11; 
 1986 c 467 s 16; 1987 c 327 s 15,16; 1988 c 596 s 3,4; 1989 c 
 334 art 2 s 26; 1990 c 590 art 1 s 28; 1991 c 336 art 2 s 24; 
 1994 c 633 art 5 s 68-71; 1995 c 186 s 69; 1995 c 261 s 23; 2001 
 c 96 s 11; 2003 c 110 s 32-35; 2005 c 166 art 1 s 26,27