Procedures for Acceptance of Tips or Gratuities from Patrons

(1) In accordance with M.G.L. c. 23K, § 25(g), no key gaming employee or any other gaming employee who serves in a supervisory position shall solicit or accept a tip or gratuity from a player or patron in the gaming establishment where the employee is employed. (2) In accordance with M.G.L. c. 23K, § 25(g), a dealer may accept tips or gratuities from a patron at the table game where such dealer is conducting play provided, however, that such tips or gratuities shall be placed in a pool for distribution among other dealers. A system of internal controls submitted by a gaming licensee in accordance with 205 CMR 138.02 shall include policies and procedures governing the manner in which tips and gratuities shall be set aside for the dealer pool as well as the manner of distribution among dealers, which shall, at a minimum, incorporate the following principles: (a) At their election, the dealers shall be responsible for the collection, counting, and distribution of the tips and gratuities; (b) The gaming licensee shall cooperate in the collection, counting, and distribution process undertaken by the dealers, and shall provide surveillance, cashier, payroll and other systems necessary for the administration and security of the process; (c) Tips shall be calculated on a weekly basis, unless the dealers specifically elect to calculate the tips on a daily basis, and shall be distributed based on time spent dealing; (d) The policies and procedures shall be subject to approval by the dealers in a manner provided by the dealers; and (e) The policies and procedures shall be in accordance with M.G.L. c. 149, § 152A and other applicable law of the Commonwealth. (3) The policies and procedures required in accordance with 205 CMR 138.34(2) shall, at a minimum, include: (a) The method utilized by a dealer for acceptance of the tip or gratuity; (b) The physical characteristics of the transparent locked box utilized for purposes of depositing such tips or gratuities; (c) The method for ensuring that any non-value chips received as a tip at any table game, authorized by the commission to utilize non-value chips for play, is expeditiously converted into value chips and deposited in a the locked box reserved for that purpose; and (d) The method of collecting, accounting for and placing such tips and gratuities in a common pool for distribution pro-rata among all dealers in accordance with the policies and procedures established in accordance with 205 CMR 138.34. (4) If a gaming licensee offers the game of poker, the policies and procedures required in accordance with 205 CMR 138.34(2) may provide for a separate common pool for tips and gratuities received by poker dealers to be established. Provided, however, at the dealers' option, if a separate common pool is established for poker dealers, the policies and procedures may provide for distribution from the pool in accordance with the precise amount contributed. A gaming licensee, with the dealers' assent, may also designate a percentage of the prize pool or other such amounts as designated in a poker tournament submission, as approved by the commission, to be withheld for distribution to the tournament dealers on a pro-rata basis. (5) A tip or gratuity may be provided electronically to a dealer upon initiation and authorization by a patron. A gaming licensee shall include in its internal controls the method utilized for the distribution of electronic tips or gratuities and ensure that a report listing all electronic tips shall be available from the system where the transaction occurred.