Code of Massachusetts Regulations
205 CMR - MASSACHUSETTS GAMING COMMISSION
Title 205 CMR 138.00 - Uniform Standards of Accounting Procedures and Internal Controls for Gaming
Section 138.24 - Cashiers' Cage; Satellite Cages; Master Coin Bank; Coin Vaults

Universal Citation: 205 MA Code of Regs 205.138

Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024

The system of internal controls submitted by a gaming licensee in accordance with 205 CMR 138.02 shall include policies and procedures relative to the cashiers' cage, satellite cages, master coin banks (if any), and coin vaults (if any) that incorporate, at a minimum, the following:

(1) Each establishment shall have on or immediately adjacent to the gaming area a physical structure known as a cashiers' cage (cage) to house the cashiers and to serve as the central location in the gaming area for the main bank, the marker bank, the kiosk bank, and the chip bank, which shall be responsible for the following pursuant to 205 CMR 138.29 and 205 CMR 138.24:

(a) The custody of the cage inventory comprising currency including cash, patrons' deposits, coin, patron checks, gaming chips and plaques, and of forms, documents, and records normally associated with the operation of a cage;

(b) The approval, exchange, redemption, and consolidation of patron checks received for the purposes of gaming;

(c) The receipt, distribution, sale and redemption of gaming chips and plaques;

(d) The issuance, receipt and reconciliation of imprest funds used by slot attendants in the acceptance of currency and coupons from patrons in exchange for currency;

(e) The issuance, receipt and reconciliation of imprest chip funds and currency used by chippersons in the acceptance of coin, currency, slot tokens and coupons from seated poker patrons in exchange for chips; and

(f) Such other functions normally associated with the operation of a cage.

(2) If a gaming establishment will make use of coins or tokens in its gaming operation it shall have within the cage or in such other approved by the commission, a physical structure known as a master coin bank to house master coin bank cashiers. The master coin bank shall be designed and constructed to provide maximum security for the materials housed therein and the activities performed therein and serve as the central location in the gaming establishment for the following:

(a) The custody of currency, coin, prize tokens, slot tokens, forms, documents and records normally generated or utilized by master coin bank cashiers, slot cashiers, changepersons, and slot attendants;

(b) The exchange of currency, coin, coupons, prize tokens and slot tokens for supporting documentation;

(c) The responsibility for the overall reconciliation of all documentation generated by master coin bank cashiers, slot cashiers, changepersons, and slot attendants;

(d) The receipt of coin and slot tokens from the hard count room; and

(e) Such other functions normally associated with the operation of the master coin bank.

(3) The cage shall be designed and constructed to provide maximum security for the materials housed therein and the activities performed therein; such design and construction shall, at a minimum, include the following features and specifications:

(a) It shall be fully enclosed except for openings through which materials such as gaming chips and plaques, slot tokens and prize tokens, patron checks, cash, records, and documents can be passed to service the public, gaming tables, and slot booths;

(b) It shall have a manually triggered silent alarm system for the cage, ancillary office space, and any related vault, which systems shall be connected directly to the monitoring rooms of the closed circuit television system, IEB office and the security department office;

(c) It shall have double door entry and exit system (MAN-TRAP) that will not permit an individual to pass through the second door until the first door is securely locked. In addition:
1. The first door adjacent to the gaming floor of the double door entry and exit system shall be controlled by one department (electronically and manually). The second door of the double door entry and exit system shall be controlled by a separate department from the first;

2. The system shall have closed circuit television coverage which shall be monitored by the security department or surveillance department; and

3. Any entrance to the cage that is not a double door entry and exit system shall be an alarmed emergency exit door only.

(d) It shall have separate locks on each door of the double door entry and exit system, the keys to which shall be different from each other.

(4) Each master coin bank located outside the cage shall meet all the requirements of 205 CMR 138.24(3).

(5) Each gaming establishment may have separate areas for the storage of coin, prize tokens and slot tokens (coin vaults) in locations outside the cage or master coin bank.

(6) Each coin vault shall be designed, constructed and operated to provide maximum security for the materials housed and activities performed therein, and shall include at least the following:

(a) A fully enclosed room, located in an area not open to the public;

(b) A metal door with one key that shall be maintained and controlled by the main bank or master coin bank, which shall establish a sign-in and sign-out procedure for removal and replacement of that key;

(c) An alarm device that signals the monitors of the gaming licensee's close circuit television system whenever the door to the coin vault is opened; and

(d) Closed circuit television cameras capable of accurate visual monitoring and taping of any activities in the coin vault.

(7) Each gaming establishment may also have one or more "satellite cages" separate and apart from the cashiers' cage, but in or adjacent to a gaming area or simulcasting facility or Sports Wagering Area, established to maximize security, efficient operations, or patron convenience and comfort and designed and constructed in accordance with 205 CMR 138.00. Subject to commission approval, a satellite cage may perform any or all of the functions of the cashiers' cage. The functions which are conducted in a satellite cage shall be subject to the applicable accounting controls set forth in 205 CMR.

(8) Each gaming licensee shall file with the commission the names of all persons possessing the combination or keys to the locks securing the entrance to the cage, any satellite cages, master coin bank and coin vaults; as well as all persons possessing the ability to operate alarm systems for the cage, any satellite cages, master coin bank and coin vaults.

(9) Notwithstanding 205 CMR 138.24(2), each gaming licensee may, with prior commission approval, operate its cashiers' cage without the master coin bank, provided that the main bank serves as the central location in the gaming establishment for the transactions enumerated in 205 CMR 138.24(2)(a) through (e), and provided further, that the references therein and elsewhere in 205 CMR 138.00 to:

(a) Master Coin Bank Cashiers shall apply instead to the main bank cashiers assigned the duties and performing the functions that would otherwise be assigned to or performed by master coin bank cashiers; and

(b) The Master Coin Bank shall apply instead to the main bank, but only insofar as it is authorized to perform master coin bank functions.

(10) Whenever the approved internal controls of a gaming licensee require or authorize documents to be transported from the cashiers' cage to a satellite cage or from a satellite cage to the cashiers' cage or another satellite cage, the gaming licensee shall, unless specified otherwise, transport the documents through the use of a pneumatic tube system or a security department representative.

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