2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIFTEEN - Sports and Parks (§§ 1 — 2020) › Subtitle 1 - Generally (§§ 1 — 915) › Chapter 5 - Games of Chance (§§ 71 — 91) › § 71 - Games of chance in licensed gambling rooms, authorized

(a) Any person who plays, takes part in, establishes, opens, prompts the opening of, or directs, as principal or employee, through lease or otherwise, any game of faro, monte, roulette, fan tan, poker, seven-up, Blackjack, hokey pokey or any game of chance played with cards, dice or of any other kind, for money, checks, credit or chips representing value, as well as any person who plays or bets in favor of or against any of said prohibited games shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
However, the games of chance of roulette, craps, cards, and bingo are hereby authorized in gambling rooms operated under a license issued according to the terms of §§ 71—79 and 85—89 of this title, subject to the conditions and limitations thereof and the regulations prescribed hereunder.
(b) In addition, notwithstanding the provisions of § 82 of this title and pursuant to § 2 of the act known as the “Federal Gambling Devices Act of 1962”, as amended, the acquisition and/or leasing, transportation to, introduction, possession, use, maintenance and operation of the machines known as slot machines, are hereby exempted from the corresponding restraints, and are authorized and legalized in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico solely and exclusively when introduced by:
(1) The Tourism Company, or
(2) a concessionaire who:
(A) Holds a license in force and effect duly issued by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico to operate games of chance, and
(B) holds a license issued by the Tourism Company as provided in § 76a of this title, to operate all slot machines to be placed and operated solely and exclusively in the gambling rooms authorized by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico, as provided in §§ 71—79 and 85—89 of this title, and subject to the regulations promulgated by the Tourism Company which do not contravene the provisions of §§ 71—79 and 85—89 of this title.
(c) It shall be an unavoidable requirement for all licensees who have slot machines owned or leased by the Tourism Company and who wish to introduce slot machines to be used in their gambling rooms, that they, prior to the introduction of the latter:
(1) Acquire, at their book value, those slot machines from the Tourism Company that are located at that time in their gambling rooms.
(2) Assume each and every obligation of the Tourism Company regarding those slot machines located in their gambling rooms and possessed by the Tourism Company on lease under any existing lease contract so that:
(A) The Tourism Company be exempted by the lessor from each and every obligation under said contract, and/or
(B) the Tourism Company be compensated, to its entire satisfaction, for any liability that may have arisen or may arise under the latter.
(3) Offer employment to the slot machines service attendants and technicians under the following conditions:
(A) Offer employment and contract at least one service attendant for every forty-seven (47) slot machines located in their gambling rooms as of May 31, 1997 or at said time, whichever is greater;
(B) offer employment and contract at least one slot machine technician for every two hundred ninety (290) slot machines located in their gambling rooms as of May 31, 1997 or at said time, whichever is greater;
(C) two (2) or more licensees may share the services of the slot machine technicians provided said licensees contract said slot machine technicians in a proportion not lower than that provided in the preceding paragraph (B) of this clause;
(D) the job offers made by the licensees to the slot machine service technicians and attendants employed by the Tourism Company must include a basic salary at least equal to, or greater than the salary earned by said employees as an employee of the Tourism Company at that moment;
(E) the licensee shall require that the slot machine service attendant and slot machine technician contracted under this provision comply with the same regulations and norms that apply to the rest of his/her employees; Provided, That said employees shall be deemed as new employees of the licensee, and
(F) the licensee shall only discharge or lay off said slot machine service attendant or technician for just cause, as this term is defined in §§ 185a et seq. of Title 29, during the first year of employment of the slot machine service attendants or technicians. Should a licensee discharge a slot machine service attendant or technician without just cause, a competent court may provide as remedy, in addition to the month’s pay provided by the aforementioned §§ 185a et seq. of Title 29, the payment of the salaries unearned by the employee for the first year of unemployment; Provided, That under no circumstance shall this remuneration exceed the salary for one year.
(4) Prove, to the satisfaction of the Tourism Company, that any person contracted to operate, provide maintenance services or any other service related to the slot machines, holds or shall hold the necessary licenses duly issued by the Tourism Company to work with said slot machines.
(d) No licensee shall alter the number of slot machines located in his/her gambling rooms as of May 31, 1997, unless the Tourism Company, at its discretion, decides to remove any of its slot machines from any gambling room.
(e) The Tourism Company, at its discretion, and at any time, may remove any slot machine, owned or leased by the Tourism Company, located in any licensed gambling room, if after the date of effectiveness of this act the licensee of the gambling room has not acquired all the slot machines of the Tourism Company located in his/her gambling room or has failed to assume the obligations of the Tourism Company under any lease contract thereof, as the case may be.
(f) Once a licensee acquires or leases the slot machines of the Tourism Company located in his/her gambling room pursuant to the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, the licensee shall be solely and exclusively liable for the maintenance and repair of any slot machine thus acquired or leased and of those slot machines the licensee may decide to acquire or lease in the future; Provided, That the Tourism Company shall under no circumstance be liable for, nor assume any cost whatsoever related to the maintenance, repair or operation of a slot machine owned or leased by a licensee.
(g) The introduction and use of slot machines with a maximum denomination of up to twenty-five dollars ($25) is hereby authorized. The Tourism Company shall submit to the Legislature annually, within the first thirty (30) days of each Regular Session, a report and an evaluation regarding the impact of the slot machine legislation on the hotel sector and the tourist industry; Provided, That said report and evaluation shall include the impact, if any, caused by measures such as the extension of the gambling hours, the sale of alcoholic beverages in the gambling rooms and the permission to advertise and promote the gambling rooms, among others, as these have been authorized.
(h) The holding of raffles, draws, and bingos by aspirants, candidates, elected officials, political parties, their respective committees, and other political committees for the purpose of supplementing their political campaign funding, pursuant to §§ 71—79 and 85—89 of this title and any orders, resolutions, or guidelines issued thereunder is hereby authorized.
History —May 15, 1948, No. 221, p. 750, § 2; June 7, 1948, No. 21, p. 64, § 1; July 30, 1974, No. 2, Part 2, p. 587, § 2; July 2, 1985, No. 46, p. 166, § 1; Sept. 3, 1996, No. 185, § 1; June 26, 1997, No. 24, § 1; Sept. 15, 2004, No. 318, § 1; Aug. 9, 2016, No. 166, § 2.