2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIFTEEN - Sports and Parks (§§ 1 — 2020) › Subtitle 1 - Generally (§§ 1 — 915) › Chapter 5 - Games of Chance (§§ 71 — 91) › § 72 - Games of chance in licensed gambling rooms, authorized—Qualifications for licenses

(a) The Commissioner of Financial Institutions is hereby empowered to issue licenses for the operation of gambling rooms for roulette, craps, cards and bingo, where the machines known as slot machines, be they owned or leased by the Tourism Company or a holder of a gambling license, may be installed and operated pursuant to the provisions of §§ 71-79 and 85-89 of this title, to such natural or juridical persons who meet to his/her full satisfaction the following conditions:
(1) Own and/or manage a hotel which allows tourists the use of its facilities, where the gambling rooms shall be established.
(2) Not having been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, and enjoy a good reputation. In the case of juridical persons, all shareholders or partners shall meet this requirement. In any case, this requirement shall be applicable to the true owners and not merely to the nominal owners of the business or of any interest or share therein.
(3) Have the means and the organization to establish a gambling room suitable for tourists at the hotel owned or managed by him/her and which allows tourists the use of its facilities.
(b) It is hereby provided that the slot machines authorized in § 71 of this title shall be located and operated by the Tourism Company or by a holder of a game[s] of chance license, authorized by law to operate in Puerto Rico. The holder of a games of chance license under this section may install and operate, or allow the Tourism Company to operate machines in their gambling halls, in exchange for a share of the profits of the operator, as provided in § 74 of this title, and subject to the payment of the license fees established in § 76 of this title. The share of the profits corresponding to the holder of a license to operate a gambling hall shall be sent by the Tourism Company to the Secretary of the Treasury during the term that may be necessary to pay off any tax debt already assessed and due for collection at the internal revenue offices, which the holder of a license to operate a gambling hall may have pending. In addition, the share of the profits from the slot machines corresponding to the holder of a license to operate a gambling hall may be withheld by the Company to pay any debt that the operator has accumulated, and pending payment, in regards to the tax on the room occupancy rates.
(c) The Tourism Company is hereby empowered to discretionally authorize, at the request of a licensee who is the owner or lessor of the slot machines in his/her gambling rooms, up to a maximum of eight (8) machines for each authorized player seated or standing in the gambling room, in proportion to the number of authorized tables used for other games of chance. Under no circumstances shall the increase in the number of machines entail the loss of tables. In such/this case, the casino shall not qualify for the increase in machines. In the case of a holder of a license to operate a gambling room where the slot machines are owned and operated by the Tourism Company, the latter is hereby empowered to discretionally authorize, at the request of the licensee, up to a maximum of one point five (1.5) slot machines for each authorized player, seated or standing in the gambling room, in proportion to the number of authorized tables used for other games of chance. The basis for computing authorized players shall be the annual average number of players authorized according to the formula described; Provided, That at present, seven (7) players are allowed in the authorized card game known as “21” or Blackjack, up to eighteen (18) players at the craps table, and seven (7) per table in roulette. The proportion established by the Tourism Company pursuant to the rules established herein shall be revised every six (6) months; Provided, That should the licensee fail to comply at any time after the authorization with the proportion required by the Tourism Company as a requirement thereof, the latter shall reduce the number of authorized slot machines until a true proportion is reached based on the average number of tables used.
The Tourism Company is hereby empowered to authorize, at its discretion, the operation of slot machines in gambling rooms located at the airport and port terminals of Puerto Rico; provided, that the same are located beyond security checkpoints.
History —May 15, 1948, No. 221, p. 750, § 3; June 7, 1948, No. 21, p. 64, § 1; June 23, 1956, No. 90, p. 582, § 3; July 30, 1974, No. 2, Part 2, p. 587, § 3; Sept. 3, 1996, No. 185, § 2; June 26, 1997, No. 24, § 3; Sept. 9, 2003, No. 272, § 66, eff. 180 days after Sept. 9, 2003; June 30, 2013, No. 48, § 2.