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Chesapeake Amusements2/13/2001
The issue this case presents is whether a dispensing machine with a video screen that displays the contents of the tickets that it dispenses and emits a musical tone that signals when a winning ticket is being dispensed is a "slot machine" prohibited by Md. Code (1957, 1996 Repl. Vol.), Art. 27, § 264B. Seeking the answer, the appellant, Chesapeake Amusements, Inc., filed an action for declaratory judgment in the Circuit Court for Calvert County, naming the State's Attorney for Calvert County as the defendant. That court declared that such a machine is an illegal slot machine. We shall reverse the judgment of the Circuit Court for Calvert County.
I.
Maryland Code (1957, 1996 Repl. Vol.), Art. 27, § 259A (a) (2) authorizes commercial bingo in Calvert County and, in implementation of that authorization, permits the County Commissioners to issue various classes of licenses, including a "Class NG, beach license," "for the operating or conducting of games of bingo." § 259A (b). Section 259A (a) (1) provides that "`bingo' includes the game of instant bingo for a Class NG beach license.'" The holder of an NG, beach license is not limited in its seating or player capacity, see §259A (b) (1), and is not restricted in the value of the prizes or awards it may give. See §259A (b) (2).
The appellant is a for-profit Maryland corporation providing commercial bingo, including instant bingo, under a valid NG beach license, at its principal place of business, the Rod 'N Reel Restaurant, located in Chesapeake Beach, Calvert County, Maryland. At the time relevant to this action, i2t offered several ways for its customers to play bingo: (a) they could play the traditional live bingo game; (b) they could purchase instant bingo tickets, also known as "pull-tabs" or "pull-tab" tickets, from employees, who walk around the hall with large reels of tickets; (c) they could purchase paper pull-tab tickets from a dispenser, either a machine known as "Play & Win" or a machine known as "Lucky Tab II," the latter of which displays a video image of the symbols contained on the inside of each pull-tab dispensed; or (d) they could purchase the electronic version of the pull-tab ticket, using a machine known as the "Oasis."
There is no dispute on this appeal as to the traditional bingo game, and the parties are in agreement as to how instant bingo works. As to the latter, the Agreed Statement of the Case states:
"Instant bingo tickets are often referred to as `pull-tab tickets' or `pull-tabs.' A customer purchases one or more instant bingo/pull-tab tickets from a `game' or `deal' of such tickets. All the tickets in a given deal are identical in their outward appearance; some of the tickets entitle the persons who purchase them to receive prizes of specified value. Winning tickets are those that contain symbols on the inside that match designated winning combinations of such symbols. The total number of instant bingo tickets in a deal is a large but finite number [ ]; that number is determined when the deal is created or `constructed' and does not change thereafter. The number of winning tickets at each prize level in a deal is also determined and known in advance; the winning tickets are randomly placed in the deal at the time the deal is constructed. Thus, the chances of purchasing a winning ticket are precisely calculable for the deal as a whole. As tickets (including winning tickets) are purchased, the chances of purchasing a winning ticket from among the tickets remaining in the deal will vary, but because the number of tickets involved is large and the tickets are purchased by many different individuals over a period of time, it is a practical impossibility for customers to c
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