Poker Laws
16-118-103. Gambling debts and losses.
(a)(1) Any person who loses any money or property at any game or gambling device, or any bet or wager whatever, may recover the money or property by action against the person winning the money or property. The suit shall be instituted within ninety (90) days after the paying over of the money or property so lost.
(2) The heirs, executors, administrators, or creditors of the person losing any money or property at any game or gambling device, or on any bet or wager whatever, may have the same remedy as is provided in subdivision (a)(1) of this section for the person losing.
(3) Nothing in this subsection shall be so construed as to enable any person to recover any money or property lost on any turf race.
(b)(1) All judgments, conveyances, bonds, bills, notes, securities, and contracts, where the consideration or any part thereof is money or property won at any game or gambling device, or any bet or wager whatever, or for money or property lent to be bet at any gaming or gambling device, or at any sport or pastime whatever, shall be void.
(2) The assignment of any bond, bill, note, judgment, conveyance, contract, or other security shall not affect the defense of the person executing the assignment.
(c) Any matter of defense under this section may be specially pleaded or may be given in evidence under the general issue.
(d)(1) In all suits under this section, the plaintiff may call on the defendant to answer on oath any interrogatory touching the case, and if the defendant refuses to answer, the same shall be taken as confessed.
(2) The answer shall not be admitted as evidence against the person in any proceedings by indictment.
(e) It is the strong public policy of the State of Arkansas that gambling, whether regulated or unregulated, on credit is an unenforceable contract and the courts of this state shall not enforce gambling debts, regardless of whether the contract was entered into within this state or without this state.
5-2-401. Criminal liability generally.
A person may commit an offense either by his own conduct or that of another person.
5-2-402. Liability for conduct of another generally.
A person is criminally liable for the conduct of another person if:
(1) The person is made criminally liable for the conduct of another person by the statute defining the offense;
(2) The person is an accomplice of another person in the commission of an offense; or
(3) Acting with a culpable mental state sufficient for the commission of the offense, the person causes another person to engage in conduct that would constitute an offense but for a defense available to the other person.
5-2-403. Accomplices.
(a) A person is an accomplice of another person in the commission of an offense if, with the purpose of promoting or facilitating the commission of an offense, the person:
(1) Solicits, advises, encourages, or coerces the other person to commit the offense;
(2) Aids, agrees to aid, or attempts to aid the other person in planning or committing the offense; or
(3) Having a legal duty to prevent the commission of the offense, fails to make a proper effort to prevent the commission of the offense.
(b) When causing a particular result is an element of an offense, a person is an accomplice of another person in the commission of that offense if, acting with respect to that particular result with the kind of culpable mental state sufficient for the commission of the offense, the person:
(1) Solicits, advises, encourages, or coerces the other person to engage in the conduct causing the particular result;
(2) Aids, agrees to aid, or attempts to aid the other person in planning or engaging in the conduct causing the particular result; or
(3) Having a legal duty to prevent the conduct causing the particular result, fails to make a proper effort to prevent the conduct causing the particular result.
5-66-101. Construction of statutes
The judges of the several courts in this state shall, in their construction of the statutes prohibiting gaming, construe the same liberally, with a view of preventing persons from evading the penalty of the law by changing of the name or the invention of new names or devices that now are, or may hereafter be, brought into practice, in any and in all kinds of gaming, and all general terms of descriptions shall be so construed as to have effect, and include all such games and devices as are not specially named; and in all cases, when construction is necessary, it shall be in favor of the prohibition and against the offender.
5-66-103. Gambling houses.
Any person who:
(1) Keeps, conducts, or operates, or who is interested directly or indirectly in keeping, conducting, or operating any gambling house or place where gambling is carried on;
(2) Sets up, keeps, or exhibits or causes to be set up, kept, or exhibited or assists in setting up, keeping, or exhibiting any gambling device; or
(3) Is interested directly or indirectly in running any gambling house or in setting up and exhibiting any gambling device, either by furnishing money or another article, for the purpose of carrying on any gambling house, is deemed guilty of a felony and on conviction shall be confined in the Department of Correction for not less than one (1) year nor more than three (3) years.
5-66-104. Gaming devices - Prohibition.
Any person who sets up, keeps, or exhibits any gaming table or gambling device, commonly called "A. B. C.", "E. O.", roulette, or rouge et noir, or any faro bank, or any other gaming table or gambling device, or bank of the like or similar kind, or of any other description although not named in this section, be the name or denomination what it may, adapted, devised, or designed for the purpose of playing any game of chance, or at which any money or property may be won or lost, is deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction shall be fined in any sum not less than one hundred dollars ($100) and may be imprisoned any length of time not less than thirty (30) days nor more than one (1) year.
5-66-105. Gaming devices - Financial interest.
If any person is in any way, either directly or indirectly, interested or concerned in any gaming prohibited by § 5-66-104, either by furnishing money or another article for the purpose of carrying on gaming, or is interested in the loss or gain of such prohibited gaming, he or she is deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction shall be fined as in §5-66-104.
5-66-106. Gaming devices - Betting.
If any person is guilty of betting any money or other valuable thing or any representative of any thing that is esteemed of value, on any game prohibited by § 5-66-104, upon conviction he or she shall be fined in any sum not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) nor less than fifty dollars ($50.00).
5-66-107. Gaming devices - In buildings or on vessels.
If the owner or occupant of any house, outhouse, or other building or any steamboat, or other vessel shall knowingly permit or suffer any of games, tables, or banks mentioned in § 5-66-104 or shall suffer any kind of gaming under any name whatsoever, to be carried on or exhibited in their houses, or outhouses or other buildings, or on board of any steamboat, flatboat, keelboat, or other vessel on any of the waters within this state, upon conviction, the owner or occupant shall be punished as provided in § 5-66-104.
5-66-108. Gaming devices - Search warrants.
(a) It is made and declared to be the duty and required of the judges of the circuit courts, the presiding judges of the county courts, and also of the justices of the peace, on information given or on their own knowledge, or when they have reasonable ground to suspect, that they issue their warrant to the sheriff, coroner, or constable as the case may be most convenient, directing in the warrant a search for gaming tables, or devices mentioned or referred to in § 5-66-104, and, directing that on finding any, the devices shall be publicly burned by the officer executing the warrant.
(b) The officer executing a warrant, and burning, by virtue of the warrant, any gaming device, as required in subsection (a) of this section, on making his return to the judge or justice who issued the warrant, and getting the statement of the judge or justice that the warrant had been returned to the judge or justice duly executed by the burning of the gaming device, stating or describing the gaming device burnt, endorsed on the warrant, the officer is entitled to his or her fees for the service, to be paid by the person keeping the gambling table.
5-66-109. Gaming devices - Vagrants.
(a) Any keeper or exhibitor of any gaming table, bank, or other gambling device and any person who travels or remains in a steamboat, or goes about from place to place for the purpose of gaming is deemed and treated as a vagrant.
(b) Any keeper or exhibitor of either of the gaming tables, called "A. B. C." or "E. O." or any other table distinguished or known by any other name, letter, or figure, such as faro bank, rouge et noir, or any gaming bank, of the same or like kind, with, or without a name, is deemed and rated as a vagrant.
5-66-110. Keno, etc.
(a)(1) If any person sets up or exhibits, or causes to be set up or exhibited, or aids or assists in setting up or exhibiting in any county, city, or town in the state, any gaming device commonly known and designated as "keno" or any similar device, by any other name or without a name, any person so setting up or exhibiting the gaming device, or aiding or assisting in exhibiting or setting up the gaming device, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(2) On indictment and conviction before the circuit court or on conviction before a justice of the peace, the person shall be fined in any sum not less than two hundred dollars ($200) for benefit of the common school fund.
(b)(1) It is the duty of each prosecuting attorney in this state who knows or is informed of any person exhibiting or setting up, or aiding or assisting in setting up any device described in subsection (a) of this section in his or her district, to take immediate steps to have the person immediately arrested for trial, and the prosecuting attorney shall have the person arrested as provided in this subsection for each separate offense done or committed on every separate day.
(2) If any prosecuting attorney who knows or is informed of any violation of this section refuses or neglects to cause the arrest and trial of the person so offending within five (5) days next after he or she knows or is informed of the offense, upon indictment and conviction, the prosecuting attorney shall be fined in any sum not less than five hundred dollars ($500).
(c)(1) It is the duty of every justice of the peace, knowing or being informed of any violation of subsection (a) of this section, in his or her township, for which the person has not been arrested or tried under the provisions of this section, to cause the arrest and trial of the person so offending, for each separate offense done or committed against the provisions of this section.
(2) If any justice of the peace who knows or is informed of any violation of subsection (a) of this section in his or her township refuses or neglects to cause the arrest and trial of the person so violating subsection (a) of this section, within five (5) days next after he or she is informed of the same, the justice of the peace is guilty of a misfeasance in office, and, upon indictment and conviction, the circuit court shall remove him or her from office.
(d) No license granted by any city or town is a bar to any prosecution or conviction under a provision of this section or any excuse, protection, or justification for any justice of the peace or prosecuting attorney failing to carry out the same.
5-66-111. Pinball machines, etc.
(a)(1) Any coin-operated pinball machine or other device that is designed so that more than one (1) coin can be inserted so as to give the player additional odds in making a high score or winning an additional free game is unlawful.
(2) The operation of the coin-operated pinball machine or other device described in subdivision (a)(1) of this section is a misdemeanor that is punishable by the imposition of a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one (1) year, or both.
(b) It is the intent of this section to prohibit the use of so-called "bingo"-type pinball machines, the interstate transportation of which is prohibited by 15 U.S.C. § 1172.
(c)(1) A coin-operated amusement device, including a pinball machine, that takes only one (1) coin for each player for each game and that is equipped with flippers that can be activated by the player to propel a ball back onto the playing surface of the machine so as to prolong the playing time and increase the score attained by the player and upon which not more than twenty-five (25) free games can be won by the player are specifically designated as an amusement device.
(2) The use of an amusement device described in subdivision (c)(1) of this section is declared to be legal so long as all state and municipal taxes have been paid and the owner of the amusement device has obtained a permit, filed a bond, and paid the privilege tax required by § 26-57-401 et seq.
5-66-112. Card games - Betting.
If any person is guilty of betting any money or any valuable thing on any game of brag, bluff, poker, seven-up, three-up, twenty-one, vingt-et-un, thirteen cards, the odd trick, forty-five, whist, or at any other game of cards, known by any name now known to the law, or with any other or new name or without any name, upon conviction he or she shall be fined in any sum not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00).
5-66-113. Games of hazard or skill - Betting.
(a) If any person is guilty of betting any money or any valuable thing on any game of hazard or skill, upon conviction he or she shall be fined in any sum not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00).
(b) In prosecuting under subsection (a) of this section it is sufficient for the indictment to charge that the defendant bet money or another valuable thing on a game of hazard or skill, without stating with whom the game was played.
5-66-114. Sports or games - Transmission of information.
(a)(1) It is unlawful for any person, partnership, or corporation to receive or transmit information in the State of Arkansas relating to football, baseball, basketball, hockey, polo, tennis, horse racing, boxing, or any other sport or game for the purpose of gaming.
(2) This section does not apply to a radio station or newspaper disseminating such information as news, entertainment, or advertising medium.
(3) The provisions of this section do not apply to any commission conducting a legalized race meet within the State of Arkansas.
(b) Any teletype, telegraph ticker tape, or similar machine or device used in the transmitting or receiving of information relating to a game or sport as set out in subsection (a) of this section, that is used either directly or indirectly for the purpose of gaming, is defined and declared to be a "gaming device".
5-66-115. Sports or games - Bribery of participants.
Any person who:
(1) Gives, promises, or offers to any professional or amateur baseball, football, hockey, polo, tennis, or basketball player or boxer or any player who participates or expects to participate in any professional or amateur game or sport or any jockey, driver, groom, or any person participating or expecting to participate in any horse race, including owners of race tracks and their employees, stewards, trainers, judges, starters, or special policemen, or to any manager, coach, or trainer of any team or participant or prospective participant in any such game, contest, or sport any valuable thing with intent to influence him or her to lose or try to lose or cause to be lost or to limit his or her or his or her team's margin of victory in a baseball, football, hockey, or basketball game, boxing, tennis, or polo match or a horse race or any professional or amateur sport or game in which such player or participant or jockey or driver is taking part or expects to take part or has any duty or connection therewith; or
(2) Solicits or accepts any valuable thing to influence him or her to lose or try to lose or cause to be lost or to limit his or her or his or her team's margin of victory in a baseball, football, hockey, or basketball game or boxing, tennis, or polo match or horse race or any game or sport in which he or she is taking part or expects to take part or has any duty or connection therewith, being a professional or amateur baseball, football, hockey, basketball, tennis, or polo player, boxer, or jockey, driver, or groom or participant or prospective participant in any sport or game or a manager, coach, or trainer of any team or individual participant or prospective participant in any such game, contest, or sport, commits a Class D felony.
5-66-116. Horseracing - Betting.
(a) It is unlawful to directly or indirectly bet in this state, by selling or buying pools or otherwise, any money or other valuable thing, on any horse race of any kind whether had or run in this state or out of this state.
(b)(1) Any person who violates subsection (a) of this section is deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and:
(A) For the first offense, upon conviction shall be fined in any sum not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00);
(B) For the second offense, upon conviction shall be fined in any sum not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100); and
(C) For all offenses after the second, on conviction shall be fined in any sum not more than five hundred dollars ($500) and imprisoned in the county jail for a term of not less than thirty (30) days nor more than six (6) months.
(2) Every bet, wager, sale of pools, or purchase of pools is deemed a separate offense.
(c) It is the duty of circuit judges and prosecuting attorneys of this state, the grand juries and mayors of the cities and towns of this state, the police officers and marshals of the cities and towns, and the justices of the peace, sheriffs, and constables to enforce the provisions of this section when this section is violated in their presence or when the information of the violation is brought to their knowledge by affidavit or otherwise.
(d) If any sheriff, constable, or police officer refuses or neglects to immediately arrest and bring before some court of competent jurisdiction for trial any person who violates this section, when the knowledge of the violation is brought to his or her attention by the affidavit of any resident of the county where the offense is committed, the sheriff, constable, or police officer is deemed guilty of nonfeasance in office and upon conviction shall be fined in any sum not more than five hundred dollars ($500) and shall be removed from office.
5-66-117. Horseracing - Agency service wagering.
(a) Any person who, either for himself or herself or as agent or employee of another, places, offers, or agrees to place, either in person or by messenger, telephone, or telegraph, a wager on behalf of another person, for a consideration paid or to be paid by or on behalf of the other person, on a thoroughbred horse race being conducted in or out of this state is deemed guilty of a Class D felony.
(b) It is a defense to prosecution under this section if a defendant can prove that his or her wager on behalf of another person was:
(1) Of a casual nature with no profit motive; and
(2) Merely an accommodation to the other person.
5-66-118. Lottery, etc. - Tickets.
(a) It is unlawful for any person to:
(1) Keep an office, room, or place for the sale or disposition of a lottery, policy, and gift concert ticket or slip or like device;
(2) Vend, sell, or otherwise dispose of any lottery, policy, or gift concert ticket, slip, or like device;
(3) Possess any lottery, policy, or gift concert ticket, slip or like device, except a lottery ticket issued in another state where a lottery is legal; or
(4) Be interested either directly or indirectly in the sale or disposition of any lottery, policy, or gift concert ticket, slip or like device.
(b) In any prosecution or investigation under this section, it is no exemption for a witness that his or her testimony may incriminate himself or herself, but no such testimony given by the witness shall be used against him or her in any prosecution except for perjury, and the witness is discharged from liability for any violation of the law upon his or her part disclosed by his or her testimony.
(c)(1) The General Assembly recognizes that:
(A) The present laws relating to lotteries are vague in certain areas and, although designed to prohibit the operation of lotteries in the state, may be interpreted to prohibit even the printing of lottery tickets by companies in this state for distribution in other states where lotteries are legal;
(B) There are companies in this state that print various types of tickets, stamps, tags, coupon books, and similar devices and that may be interested in printing lottery tickets for states where lotteries are lawful; and
(C) It is the intent and purpose of this subsection to clarify the present law relating to lotteries to specifically permit businesses in Arkansas to print lottery tickets for use in states where lotteries are lawful.
(2)(A) The printing or other production of lottery tickets by a business located in Arkansas for use in a state where a lottery is permitted is declared to be lawful.
(B) Nothing contained in this section and § 5-66-119 or any other law shall be construed to make printing or production of lottery tickets described in subdivision (c)(2)(A) of this section unlawful.
(d) Any person who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined in any sum not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500).
5-66-119. Lottery - Promotion through sales.
(a)(1) Any person who in this state, directly or indirectly, sets up, promotes, engages in, or in any manner participates in any plan, scheme, device, or other means, either alone or in concert with any other person, firm, or corporation, either within or without the State of Arkansas, in which goods, property, or any other thing of value is sold to any person, firm, or corporation for any consideration, either cash or otherwise, and upon the further consideration that the purchaser agrees to obtain one (1) or more persons to participate in the plan, scheme, device, or other means by making a similar purchase and a similar agreement to secure one (1) or more other persons to participate in the plan, scheme, device, or other means in the same manner, each purchaser being given the right to obtain money, credits, goods, or some other thing of value, depending upon the number of persons joining in or participating in the plan, scheme, device, or other means, is declared to have set up, promoted, engaged in, or participated in a lottery, which is declared to be unlawful.
(2) The promotion, engaging in, or participation in the plan, scheme, device, or other means described in subdivision (a)(1) of this section is punishable as provided in this section.
(b)(1) Upon a complaint filed by any interested person, on relation of the State of Arkansas, the Attorney General, or any prosecuting attorney of any county where a plan, scheme, device, or other means described in subdivision (a)(1) of this section is proposed, promoted, operated, engaged in, or participated in, the circuit court of the county where the plan, scheme, device, or other means described in subdivision (a)(1) of this section is set up, proposed, operated, promoted, engaged in, or participated in may enjoin the further operation, promotion of, engagement, or participation in the plan, scheme, device, or other means.
(2) Any injunction under subdivision (b)(1) of this section may be granted without bond furnished by the plaintiff, and the circuit court may make further orders touching upon the subject matter as it may find necessary and desirable.
(c)(1) The General Assembly recognizes that:
(A) The present laws relating to lotteries are vague in certain areas and, although designed to prohibit the operation of lotteries in the state, may be interpreted to prohibit even the printing of lottery tickets by companies in this state for distribution in other states where lotteries are legal;
(B) There are companies in this state that print various types of tickets, stamps, tags, coupon books, and similar devices and that may be interested in printing lottery tickets for states where lotteries are lawful; and
(C) It is the intent and purpose of this subsection to clarify the present law relating to lotteries to specifically permit businesses in Arkansas to print lottery tickets for use in states where lotteries are lawful.
(2)(A) The printing or other production of lottery tickets by a business located in Arkansas for use in a state where a lottery is permitted is declared to be lawful.
(B) Nothing contained in this section and § 5-66-119 or any other law shall be construed to make printing or production of lottery tickets described in subdivision (c)(2)(A) of this section unlawful.
(d) Any person who violates a provision of this section commits a Class D felony.
6-2-113. Prohibition on gaming and liquor sales.
(a) To protect the youth assembled at institutions organized under the provisions of this chapter, while removed from the customary restraints of home and parental watch-care, it is declared to be a misdemeanor to entice any student of such institution into the practice of gaming or to furnish any student any device or instrument for gaming or any intoxicating liquors of any kind whatever.
(b) If the institution is located in a city or any incorporated town or village where a majority of the legal voters embraced in the territory within three (3) miles of the institution so decide by petition to the county court, then any billiard room, bowling alley, or race course, or any device or instrument for gaming, or any brothel or house of ill fame, or theatrical or circus exhibition, or public place where intoxicating liquors are either given away or sold, except for mechanical or medicinal purposes, within three (3) miles of the site of the institution shall be prohibited by the court.
(c) Any person who violates such regulation established by the court shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
23-113-201. Wagering on electronic games of skill conducted by franchise holders - Limitations.
(1) In addition to pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing and greyhound racing authorized by the Arkansas Horse Racing Law, § 23-110-101 et seq., and the Arkansas Greyhound Racing Law, § 23-111-101 et seq., respectively, any franchise holder may conduct wagering on electronic games of skill in accordance with this chapter at any time or times during the calendar year at locations on the grounds of the franchise holder's racetrack park site where the franchise holder is authorized by the Arkansas Racing Commission to conduct pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing or greyhound racing pursuant to the Arkansas Horse Racing Law, § 23-110-101 et seq., or the Arkansas Greyhound Racing Law, §23-111-101 et seq., as the case may be.
(A)(i) The franchise holder may not conduct wagering on electronic games of skill under this chapter unless the question of the wagering on electronic games of skill under this chapter has been submitted to the electors of the city, town, or county in which the franchise holder's racetrack park site is located and where the wagering on electronic games of skill is to be conducted, at any special or general election, and a majority of the electors voting on the question have approved at the election wagering on electronic games of skill under this chapter.
(ii) If the racetrack park is located within the corporate limits of a city or town, the question shall be submitted to the electors of either the city, town, or county in which the racetrack park is located, as requested by the franchise holder, and if the racetrack park is not located within the corporate limits of a city or town, then the question shall be submitted to the electors of the county in which the racetrack park is located.
(B)(i) The governing body of the city, town, or county, as the case may be, shall by ordinance submit the question to the electors if requested by the franchise holder.
(ii) If the franchise holder makes a request for an election, the franchise holder shall present to the governing body evidence of anticipated benefits to economic development, job creation, tourism, and agribusiness which may result, directly or indirectly, from the authorization of wagering on electronic games of skill at the franchise holder's racetrack park site under this chapter, if approved by the local voters at the election.
(iii) The franchise holder may make requests on one (1) or more occasions, and elections so requested from time to time by the franchise holder may be held during any one (1) or more calendar years as requested from time to time by the franchise holder, but not more than one (1) special election shall be held for such purposes by the same city, town, or county during any particular calendar year.
(iv) The cost incurred by the city, town, or county involved in conducting each special election pursuant to the franchise holder's request shall be paid by the franchise holder. The election shall be held and conducted under the general election laws of the state, except as otherwise provided in this section.
(C) The ordinance shall set forth the ballot question substantially as follows:
"For wagering on electronic games of skill conducted by
______________ [name of franchise holder] on the grounds of its racetrack park site in ______________ [city, town, or county]
Against wagering on electronic games of skill conducted by
______________ [name of franchise holder] on the grounds of its racetrack park site in ______________ [city, town, or county]
As authorized by Arkansas Code Section 23-113-201, the question presented is whether or not wagering on electronic games of skill may be conducted by ______________ [name of franchise holder] on the grounds of its racetrack park site in ______________ [city, town, or county] under the provisions of Chapter 113 of Title 23 of the Arkansas Code. Vote for or against the question by marking the appropriate box above. 'Electronic games of skill' means games played through any electronic device or machine that afford an opportunity for the exercise of skill or judgment when the outcome is not completely controlled by chance alone."
(D) Notice of the election shall be given by the clerk of the city, town, or county involved by one (1) publication in a newspaper having general circulation within the city, town, or county involved not less than ten (10) calendar days before the election. No other publication or posting of a notice by any other public official shall be required.
(E) The election shall be held no earlier than thirty-one (31) calendar days, and no later than one hundred twenty (120) calendar days, after the effective date of the ordinance in which the election is called by the governing body.
(F)(i) Within thirty (30) calendar days after completion of the tabulation of the votes, the mayor of the city or town or the county judge of the county, as the case may be, shall proclaim the results of the election by issuing a proclamation and publishing it one (1) time in a newspaper having general circulation within the city, town, or county involved.
(ii) The results of the election as stated in the proclamation shall be conclusive unless a suit contesting the proclamation is filed in the circuit court in the county where the election took place within twenty (20) calendar days after the date of publication of the proclamation.
(G) If the wagering on electronic games of skill is approved at any election as provided in this section, that approval shall be final and shall continue in effect thereafter as long as wagering on electronic games of skill at the location involved is authorized by the other provisions of this chapter, other than this section.
(b)(1) In order to conduct wagering on electronic games of skill during a calendar year, the franchise holder must have been licensed by the Arkansas Racing Commission to conduct a live racing meet within the calendar year or the immediately preceding calendar year of either:
(A) Horse racing under the Arkansas Horse Racing Law, § 23-110-101 et seq.; or
(B) Greyhound racing under the Arkansas Greyhound Racing Law, § 23-111-101 et seq.
(2) However, the commission may waive the requirement of subdivision (b)(1) of this section if the license was not issued because of events such as fire, storm, accident or other casualty, epidemic, shortages of horses or greyhounds, war, sabotage, acts of a public enemy, civil disturbances, strikes, labor disputes, work stoppages, or similar events.
(c)(1) Wagering on electronic games of skill conducted by a franchise holder in accordance with this chapter shall be lawful, notwithstanding any laws or parts of laws of the State of Arkansas to the contrary.
(2) However, this chapter is not intended to authorize a lottery or the sale of lottery tickets prohibited by Arkansas Constitution, Article 19, § 14.
(d)(1) In order to constitute an electronic game of skill under this chapter, the game must not be completely controlled by chance alone.
(2) A game is not completely controlled by chance alone if the betting public may attain through the exercise of skill or judgment a better measure of success in playing the game than could be mathematically expected on the basis of pure luck, that is, on the basis of pure random chance alone.
(e) For each electronic game of skill, the Arkansas Racing Commission shall provide by appropriate rule or regulation the specifications for establishing that patrons, in the aggregate, exercising some degree of skill or judgment, over the expected lifetime of the electronic game of skill, will obtain a payout of at least eighty-three percent (83%) of the aggregate amounts wagered on the electronic game of skill.
(f)(1) Prior to conducting wagering on an electronic game of skill, the franchise holder shall present to the Arkansas Racing Commission:
(A) A complete description of the game and the electronic device or machine to be utilized in the play of the game, the proposed rules of play, and such further information as the commission determines is necessary or appropriate in order to effectively carry out its regulatory functions in accordance with this chapter; and
(B) Evidence of anticipated economic benefits to the horse racing or greyhound racing industries in Arkansas, including Arkansas horse or greyhound farms and breeding operations and related agribusinesses, which may result, directly or indirectly, from the authorization of wagering on the electronic game of skill.
(2)(A) Within sixty (60) calendar days after the submission of the information required by subdivision (f)(1) of this section, the commission shall make a finding as to whether:
(i) The game and electronic device or machine constitutes an electronic game of skill authorized by this chapter; and
(ii) Economic benefits to the horse racing or greyhound racing industries in Arkansas, including Arkansas horse or greyhound farms and breeding operations and related agribusinesses, may result, directly or indirectly, from the authorization of wagering on the electronic game of skill.
(B) The finding shall further either approve the proposed rules of play or recommend modifications as the commission determines are necessary in the public interest in carrying out its regulatory functions in accordance with this chapter.
(3) The franchise holder may commence conducting wagering on the electronic game of skill subject to the other provisions of this chapter and other applicable rules of the commission adopted pursuant to this chapter if:
(A) The finding concludes that:
(i) Economic benefits to the horse racing or greyhound racing industries in Arkansas, including Arkansas horse or greyhound farms and breeding operations and related agribusinesses, may result, directly or indirectly, from the authorization of wagering on the electronic game of skill; and
(ii) The game and electronic device or machine constitutes an electronic game of skill authorized by this chapter; and
(B) The commission approves the rules of play or, if applicable, the franchise holder incorporates the changes recommended by the commission into the final rules of play.
(4) If the finding concludes that the game and electronic device or machine does not constitute an electronic game of skill authorized by this chapter, recommends changes in the proposed rules of play, or concludes that neither direct nor indirect economic benefits to the horse racing or greyhound racing industries in Arkansas, including Arkansas horse or greyhound farms and breeding operations and related agribusinesses, will result from the authorization of wagering on the electronic game of skill, the commission shall provide the franchise holder with the opportunity for a hearing by the commission before the finding is made final by the commission.
(g) Wagers on electronic games of skill may be made only by individuals physically present at the location on the grounds of the franchise holder's authorized racetrack park site as set forth in subsection (a) of this section where electronic games of skill are located and being operated in accordance with this chapter.
(h) No individual under twenty-one (21) years of age shall be intentionally allowed to place wagers on electronic games of skill, and the commission shall provide by rule or regulation appropriate supervisory procedures for franchise holders to follow in order to safeguard against individuals under twenty-one (21) years of age placing wagers on electronic games of skill.
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