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Chapter 349

Section 349.17

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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    Subdivision 1.[Repealed, 2005 c 166 art 1 s 38]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    Subd. 2a.[Repealed, 2002 c 386 art 1 s 12]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 a bingo paper sheet or facsimile of a bingo face that
bears 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 the numbers when bingo numbers are randomly selected, 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; and
(3) no rent may be paid for a bar bingo occasion.
    Subd. 8. Linked bingo games. (a) A licensed organization may conduct or participate in
not more than two linked bingo games per occasion, one of which may be a progressive game in
which a portion of the prize is carried over from one occasion to another until won by a player
achieving a bingo within a predetermined amount of bingo numbers called.
    (b) Each participating licensed organization shall contribute to each prize awarded in a linked
bingo game in an amount not to exceed $300.
    (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.
History: 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; 2006 c 205 s 19-21; 2007 c 145 s 6

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