Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 44, November 2, 2024
(a) A
player session is started when a player logs in to the interactive gaming
system.
(1) A player must be provided with
the electronic identifier created by the interactive gaming certificate holder
or interactive gaming operator, if applicable, and a password to start a
session.
(2) The interactive gaming
system must allow players to change their passwords.
(3) When a player has forgotten his password
or PIN, the interactive gaming system must provide a secure process for the
reauthentication of the player and the retrieval or resetting, or both, of the
password or PIN. Processes for dealing with lost player user IDs or passwords
must be clearly described to the player.
(4) When a player logs in to the interactive
gaming system, the date and time of his prior player session must be
displayed.
(5) Each player session
must have a unique identifier assigned by the interactive gaming system which
distinguishes the current session from previous and future sessions.
(b) During a peer-to-peer game,
the software must permit a player to set an away from computer status (that is,
self-imposed session inactivity). This functionality must be fully described in
the help screens or applicable terms and conditions.
(1) The away from computer status must
disallow all play and also cause the player's turn to be automatically skipped
during any round of play which takes place while this status is
active.
(2) If a player sets an
away from computer status during the middle of a round of play, he
automatically forfeits play for that round (for example, for a round of poker,
the software must automatically fold the player's hand during the next round of
betting).
(3) If a player performs
any game action within the game window while in an away from computer status,
the status must be removed and the player will be enrolled into the next round
of play. Nongame sensitive actions, such as accessing the help menu from the
game window do not require this status to be removed.
(4) If action has not been taken by the
player within the time period specified in the help screens or the terms and
conditions, or both, the player must be automatically placed into the away from
computer status.
(5) If a player
has been in the away from computer status for over 30 minutes, the player must
be automatically logged out of the game or player account, or both.
(c) Interactive gaming systems
must employ a mechanism that detects session inactivity and terminates a player
session when applicable.
(1) If the
interactive gaming system fails to receive a response from the interactive
gaming device within 30 minutes, whether the player has been in away from
computer mode or not, the interactive gaming system must implement a user
inactivity timeout and terminate the player session.
(2) If a player session is terminated due to
player inactivity timeout, the interactive gaming device must display to the
player the player session termination (that is, the user inactivity timeout)
upon the player's next attempted action on the interactive gaming
system.
(3) Further game play is
not permitted until the interactive gaming system and the interactive gaming
device establish a new session.
(d) A player session ends when:
(1) The player notifies the interactive
gaming system that the session is finished (for example, logs out).
(2) A session inactivity timeout is
reached.
(3) The interactive gaming
system terminates the session.
(i) When the
interactive gaming system terminates a player session, a record must be written
to an audit file that includes the termination reason.
(ii) The interactive gaming system must
attempt to send a session finished message to the interactive gaming device
each time a session is terminated by the interactive gaming system.
(e) The Board's
Responsible Gaming logo linking to a responsible gaming page shall be placed at
the top of the interactive gaming web site. The responsible gaming page must
contain, at a minimum, all of the following:
(1) Information about potential risks
associated with gambling and where to get help for a gambling
problem.
(2) A list of the
responsible gaming measures that can be invoked by the player, such as player
session time limits and bet limits, and an option to enable the player to
invoke those measures.
(3)
Mechanisms which detect unauthorized use of the player's account, such as
observing the Last Log in Time Display, the IP address of the last login and
reviewing financial account information.
(4) A link to the terms and conditions that
the player agreed to be bound to by entering and playing on the site.
(5) A link to the applicable privacy
policy.
(6) A link to Board's web
site.
(f) All links to
player protection services (for example, self-exclusion and other
player-imposed limits) provided by third parties are to be tested by the
interactive gaming certificate holder or interactive gaming operator
periodically as required by the Board. Game play may not occur when links used
to supply information on player protection services are not displayed or are
not operational. When the link to player protection services is no longer
available, the interactive gaming certificate holder or interactive gaming
operator shall provide an alternative support service.
(g) Players must be provided with a clear
mechanism to impose self-limitations for gaming parameters including deposits,
wagers, losses and player session durations as required by the Board. The
self-limitation mechanism must provide all of the following functionality:
(1) Any decrease to self-limitations for
gaming must be effective no later than the player's next login. Any increase to
these limits must become effective only after the time-period of the previous
limit has expired and the player reaffirms the requested increase.
(i) For example, a player sets a $1,000
monthly deposit limit on the 1st day of the month. The player may not increase
this limit to more than $1,000 until the 1st day of the following month. The
same player may decrease the limit to less than $1,000 at any point, and shall
be effective at the player's next login.
(2) A deposit limit as determined by the
player must be offered on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, and must specify
the maximum amount of money a player may deposit into his interactive gaming
account during the designated period of time.
(3) A spend limit as determined by the player
must be offered on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, and must specify the
maximum amount of player deposits that may be put at risk during a designated
period of time.
(4) A single wager
limit as determined by the player must be offered and must specify the maximum
amount of any single wager a player may put at risk in a single wager in an
interactive game.
(i) This single wager limit
is not applicable for peer-to-peer poker games offered by interactive gaming
certificate holders or operators.
(ii) Notwithstanding the provisions of
paragraph (1), a requested increase in the player's single wager limit (that
is, from $50 to $100) shall not take effect for 24 hours after the request is
made.
(5) A time-based
limit as determined by the player must be offered on a daily basis and must
specify the maximum amount of time that a player may spend playing on an
interactive gaming system, provided that if the time-based limit is reached a
player will be permitted to complete any round of play, or active or prepaid
tournament.
(6) A table limit as
determined by the player must be offered and must specify the maximum amount a
registered player may bring to a peer-to-peer interactive gaming
table.
(7) The self-limitations set
by a player may not override any system imposed limitations or contradict
information within the game rules.
(h) The interactive gaming system must be
capable of applying system-imposed limits as required by the terms and
conditions agreed to by the player upon registration and as required by the
Board. System-imposed limits must adhere to all of the following:
(1) Players must be notified in advance of
any system-imposed limits and their effective dates.
(2) Once updated, system-imposed limits must
be consistent with what is disclosed to the player.
(3) Upon receiving any system-limitation
request, the interactive gaming system must ensure that all specified limits
are correctly implemented immediately or at a specified time (that is, next
login, next day, and the like) that was clearly indicated to the
player.
(4) In cases when
system-imposed limitation values (for example, deposit, wager, loss and player
session duration) are greater than self-imposed player limit values, the
system-imposed limitations must take priority.
(i) Players must be provided with an easy and
obvious mechanism to temporarily suspend his or her interactive gaming account.
The temporary suspension mechanism must provide all of the following
functionality:
(1) The player must be
provided with the option to temporarily suspended his or her interactive gaming
account for a specified period of time as defined in the terms and conditions,
or indefinitely.
(2) In the case of
temporary suspension, the interactive gaming system must ensure that:
(i) Immediately upon processing the temporary
suspension, new bets or deposits are not accepted from that player until the
temporary suspension has expired.
(ii) During the temporary suspension period,
the player is not prevented from withdrawing any or all of his account balance,
provided that the interactive gaming system acknowledges that the funds have
cleared.
(iii) In the case of
indefinite temporary suspension, the interactive gaming system must ensure
that:
(A) The player is paid in full for his
account balance, provided that the interactive gaming system acknowledges that
the funds have cleared.
(B) All
player accounts must be closed or deactivated.
(j) The interactive gaming system
must provide a clear mechanism to advise the player of the right to make a
complaint against the interactive gaming certificate holder, interactive gaming
operator or another player (that is, when collusion is suspected or when a
player is disruptive or abusive).
