Te law expressly bans slot machines in department stores, chemists, bakeries, supermarkets, petrol stations, supermarkets, shops and restaurants, as well as hospitals, offices and government facilities and banned standalone slot parlours as well. Faced with the new rules slot parlour and machine owners appealed to the courts but in 2016 the courts ruled that the PRTC was acting legally.
the law. It also provided a much clearer definition when it came to the differences between “Máquinas de Entretenimiento de Adultos” (Adult Entertainment Machines) as they are known locally and slot machines.
According to the definition in the new act Adult Entertainment Machines may not award prizes of any kind, are designed primarily for entertainment purposes and the outcome depends entirely on the player’s skill, whereas the result of slot machines depend entirely on luck and award cash prizes. Te law expressly bans slot machines in department stores, chemists, bakeries, supermarkets, petrol stations, supermarkets, shops and restaurants, as well as hospitals, offices and government
facilities and banned standalone slot parlours as well. Faced with the new rules slot parlour and machine owners appealed to the courts but in 2016 the courts ruled that the PRTC was acting legally and declared that slot machines outside of casinos were indeed illegal.
Violation of the provisions of the Act now carry fines ranging from US$5,000 up to US$10,000 per violation. In addition, criminal penalties may also now be imposed upon those found to be breaking the law. Raids have been carried out by a task force made up of staff from the Gaming Division and the Legal Division of the Tourism Company as well as agents of the Special Investigations Bureau of the Department of Justice.
Raids have continued apace and in April 2015 it was announced that the government had filed criminal charges against 32 people found to have been breaking Puerto Rico’s gaming laws. In addition the new measures are having a positive effect on gaming revenues. According to the Director of the PRTC Ingrid I.Rivera Rocafort, seizures in conjunction with other efforts by the Tourism Company, caused slot machine casino revenues to increase in February 2015 by 7.76 per cent compared with February 2014.
Unfortunately, these measures have done little to prevent the overall decline in the industry. Tere are still around 7,000 legal slots compared to around 25,000 illegal slots on the island according to some estimates. In addition casinos
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