Mo. Code Regs. tit. 11 § 45-5.210

Current through Register Vol. 49, No.12, June 17, 2024

Section 11 CSR 45-5.210 - Integrity of Electronic Gaming Devices

PURPOSE: This amendment updates the class designation.

(1) Electronic gaming devices shall-

(A) As authorized by the commission, accept only electronic cards, tickets, coupons, credits, currency, or tokens as wagers;

(B) Be electronic in design and operation and not be electromechanical or mechanical in operation;

(C) Not subject a player to physical hazards;

(D) Contain a surge protector on the line that feeds power to the electronic gaming device. A battery back-up or an equivalent shall be installed on the device for the electronic meters and shall be capable of accurately maintaining all information required for thirty (30) days after power is discontinued from the electronic gaming device. The battery back-up shall be kept within the locked logic area;

(E) Have a secure and dedicated data protocol link to any central computer monitoring system, which shall be a closed system inaccessible to communication with any other computer, device or mode of telecommunications unless otherwise approved by the commission;

(F) Have an on/off switch that controls the electrical current used in the operation of the electronic gaming device and any associated equipment which shall be located in an accessible place within its interior;

(G) Be designed so that it shall not be adversely affected by magnetic, electromagnetic, electrostatic or radio frequency interference;

(H) If designed to accept physical tokens, have at least one (1) electronic token acceptor. Token acceptors must be designed to accept designated tokens and reject others. The token acceptor on an electronic gaming device must be designed to prevent the use of cheating methods such as slugging, stringing, spooning, the insertion of foreign objects, and other manipulation. All token acceptors are subject to approval by the commission. Tokens accepted but which are inappropriate token-ins must be rejected to the coin tray, returned to the player by activation of the hopper or printer or credited toward the next play of the electronic gaming device. The electronic gaming device control program must be capable of handling rapidly fed tokens or simultaneously fed tokens so that occurrences of inappropriate token-ins are prevented. Gaming devices, shall have sensors capable of determining the direction and speed of token travel in the receiver and any improper direction or coin traveling at too slow of a speed shall result in the electronic gaming device going into an error condition;

(I) Be designed so the internal space of the electronic gaming device is not readily accessible when the front door is both closed and locked;

(J) Have its locked logic area(s) within the electronic gaming device and the critical program storage media housed therein sealed with commission security seals. The security seals must be affixed by an authorized commission agent and must include the date, signature or initials and identification number of the agent. These seals may only be broken or removed by an authorized commission agent;

(K) Have a hopper contained in a locked area within the electronic gaming device if designed to dispense tokens. The electronic gaming device control program shall ensure the diverter directs tokens to the hopper or, in the alternative, to the drop compartment when the token level in the hopper makes contact with the diverter's hopper-full sensor probe. Hopperless gaming devices shall always divert tokens to the drop compartment;

(L) Contain no hardware or software switches that alter the pay-tables or payout percentages in its operation, other than as approved by the commission and which require access to a locked logic area;

(M) Have an identification plate with the following information securely affixed by the manufacturer to the exterior of the electronic gaming device cabinet:

1. Manufacturer;

2. Serial Number;

3. Model Number; and

4. Date of manufacturer;

(N) Contain the rules of play for each electronic gaming device displayed on the face or screen. Rules shall be complete, clear, and easily understood. Each electronic gaming device must also display the credits wagered and the credits awarded for the occurrence of each possible winning combination based on the number of credits wagered. All information required by this subsection must be kept under glass or another transparent substance and at no time may stickers or other removable items be placed over this information. Additionally:

1. If the game contains a bonus feature including a game within a game, the following rules shall be met:

A. The game shall display clearly to the player which game rules apply to the current game state;

B. If the game requires obtaining several events or symbols toward a bonus feature, the number of events or symbols needed to trigger the bonus feature shall be indicated along with the number of events or symbols collected at any point;

C. The game shall not adjust the likelihood of a bonus feature occurring based on the history of prizes obtained in previous games; however, the commission may allow the likelihood to be adjusted if a white paper is submitted to and approved by the commission prior to testing by an independent testing laboratory;

D. If a bonus game is triggered after accruing a certain number of events or symbols or combination of events or symbols of a different kind, the probability of obtaining like events or symbols shall not decrease as the game progresses; and

E. The game display shall make it clear to the player that the game is in a bonus mode;

2. If a bonus feature requires extra credits to be wagered and the game accumulates all winnings to a temporary win meter, the game shall:

A. Provide a means where winnings on the temporary meter can be bet to allow for instances where the player has an insufficient credit meter balance to complete the feature;

B. Transfer all credits on the temporary meter to the credit meter upon completion of the feature; and

C. Provide the player an opportunity not to participate;

3. If the game offers a menu of games to a player:

A. The methodology employed by a player to select and discard a particular game for play shall be clearly displayed on the gaming device and easily followed;

B. The gaming device shall be able to clearly display to the player, at the player's request, all games, game rules and pay-tables before the player must commit to playing any game;

C. The player shall at all times be made aware of which game has been selected for play and is being played, as applicable;

D. The player shall not be forced to play a game just by selecting that game. The player shall be able to return to the main menu;

E. It shall not be possible to start a new game before the current play is completed and all game meters have been updated;

F. The set of games offered to the player for selection or the pay-table can be changed only by a secure method approved by the commission, which includes turning on and off games available for play through a video screen interface; and

G. No changes to the set of games offered to the player for selection or to the pay-table are permitted while there are credits on the player's credit meter or while a game is in progress;

(O) Be capable of communication with a central computer system accessible to the commission, using an industry standard data protocol format approved by the commission;

(P) Be capable of continuing the current game with all current game features after a malfunction is cleared. This rule does not apply if an electronic gaming device is rendered totally inoperable. The current wager and all credits appearing on the screen prior to the malfunction shall be returned to the patron;

(Q) If designed to accept tokens, have attached a drop bucket housed within a locked compartment separate from any other compartment of the electronic gaming device to collect and retain all tokens, diverted to the drop compartment;

(R) Be capable of detecting and displaying the following error conditions which an attendant must clear:

1. Token-in jam;

2. Token-out jam;

3. Hopper empty or time-out;

4. Program error;

5. Hopper runaway or extra token paid out;

6. Reverse token-in;

7. Reel error; and

8. Door open;

(S) Use a data communication protocol which ensures that erroneous data or signals will not adversely affect the operation of the electronic gaming device;

(T) Display a Missouri Gaming Commission registration number permanently imprinted, affixed or impressed on the outside of each electronic gaming device;

(U) Have the capacity to display on the front of each electronic gaming device its rules of play, character combinations requiring payouts, and the amount of the related payouts. In addition, the holder of a Class B license shall display on each electronic gaming device either-

1. A clear description of any merchandise or thing of value offered as a payout, including the cash equivalent value of the merchandise or thing of value offered, the dates the merchandise or thing of value will be offered if the holder of a Class B license establishes a time limit upon initially offering the merchandise or thing of value and the availability or unavailability to the patron of the optional cash equivalent value; or

2. The name or a brief description of the merchandise or thing of value offered; provided, however, a sign containing the information specified in paragraph (1)(U)1. of this subsection shall be displayed in a prominent location approved by the commission near the electronic gaming device;

(V) Have a mechanical, electromechanical or electronic device that automatically precludes a player from operating the electronic gaming device after a jackpot requiring a manual payout and requires an attendant to reactivate the electronic gaming device;

(W) Be designed in such a manner that the microprocessor or equivalent which operates the electronic gaming device is assigned a unique identification code, and that the critical program storage media is subject to authentication via an external third-party verification tool approved by the commission;

(X) If designed to accept currency, tickets, or coupons, have a bill validator-acceptor device into which a patron may insert such items in exchange for an equal value of electronic gaming device credits. Electronic gaming devices containing bill validator-acceptor devices:

1. May accept any single denomination or combination of denominations of the following United States currency:

A. One dollar ($1) bills;

B. Five dollar ($5) bills;

C. Ten dollar ($10) bills;

D. Twenty dollar ($20) bills;

E. Fifty dollar ($50) bills; and

F. One hundred dollar ($100) bills;

2. May accept tickets and coupons in compliance with established commission regulations;

3. Shall have software programs that enable the validator-acceptor to differentiate between genuine and counterfeit bills to a high degree of accuracy;

4. Shall be equipped with a bill validator-acceptor drop box to collect the currency, tickets, and/or coupons inserted and accepted by the bill validator-acceptor. The bill validator-acceptor drop box shall:

A. Be housed in a locked compartment separate from any other compartment of the electronic gaming device;

B. Be accessible by a key that will access only the bill validator-acceptor drop box and no other area of the electronic gaming device;

C. Have a slot opening through which currency, tickets, or coupons can be inserted;

D. Be readily identifiable to the electronic gaming device from which it was removed; and

E. Have a separate lock to secure access to the contents of the drop box, the key to which shall not access any other area of the electronic gaming device; and

5. Shall maintain sufficient electronic metering to report the:

A. Total monetary value of all items accepted;

B. Total number of all items accepted;

C. Number of bills accepted for each bill denomination;

D. Number of items accepted for each item type; and

E. The last five (5) items accepted; and

(Y) Have a tower light or candle located conspicuously on top of the gaming device that automatically illuminates when a player has won an amount or is redeeming credits the device cannot automatically pay, an error condition has occurred, or a call attendant condition has been initiated by the player. This requirement may be substituted for an audible alarm for bar-top style devices.

(2) Any electronic gaming device manufacturer holding a supplier license under the provisions of 11 CSR 45-4 et seq. shall notify the commission of any malfunction or anomaly affecting the integrity or operation of devices or systems provided under the scope of such license regardless of the gaming jurisdiction in which the malfunction or anomaly occurred or was discovered. The notification shall occur within forty-eight (48) hours of the supplier licensee being apprised of the malfunction or anomaly and shall be in a format approved by the commission.

(3) The commission shall be provided, free of charge, forensic tools which permit the recovery of non-volatile memory of electronic gaming devices approved for use. Such recovery techniques shall be satisfactory to the commission.

11 CSR 45-5.210

AUTHORITY: sections 313.004, 313.800 and 313.805, RSMo 2000.* Emergency rule filed Sept. 1, 1993, effective Sept. 20, 1993, expired Jan. 17, 1994. Emergency rule filed Jan. 5, 1994, effective Jan. 18, 1994, expired Jan. 30, 1994. Original rule filed Sept. 1, 1993, effective Jan. 31, 1994. Amended: Filed May 13, 1998, effective Oct. 30, 1998. Amended: Filed March 31, 2005, effective Oct. 30, 2005.

Amended by Missouri Register November 1, 2019/Volume 44, Number 21, effective 12/31/2019

Amended by Missouri Register August 1, 2022/Volume 47, Number 15, effective 9/30/2022

Amended by Missouri Register January 2, 2024/volume 49, Number 01, effective 2/29/2024.

*Original authority: 313.004, RSMo 1993, amended 1994; 313.800, RSMo 1991, amended 1993, 1994; and 313.805, RSMo 1991, amended 1993, 1994, 2000.