Aren’t the establishments with restricted gaming licenses supposed to draw most of their revenue from non-gambling sources? Clearly, slot parlors like Dotty’s, etc., make most of their revenue from the slot machines. So how do they get around that rule?
Actually, there’s a certain degree of subjectivity involved.
UNLV’s Anthony Cabot, a veteran gaming attorney, explains, “The Gaming Control Act does not say that a majority of a business' revenues must come from non-gaming sources. It requires that gaming be 'incidental' to the main business. The Gaming Commission adopted a regulation (3.015) to determine what is ‘incidental.’ A comparison of gaming and nongaming revenues is only one of the seven factors considered.”
The other criteria include the amount of floor space devoted to slots, “which space shall include the area occupied by the slot machines, including slot machine seating and circulation, as compared to the floor space used for the primary business,” as well as “The amount of investment in the operation of the slot machines as compared to the amount of investment in the primary business” and time spent managing the slots themselves as opposed to the primary business.
Then there are “... other factors, including but not limited to the establishment’s name, the establishment’s marketing practices, the public’s perception of the business, and the relationship of the slot machines to the primary business,” as well as the nature of the amenities provided to customers.
Thus, bars, taverns, saloons, convenience stores (seven-slot limit), grocery stores, liquor stores (four-machine limit) and pharmacies all qualify. However, other businesses may be deemed to qualify, at the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s discretion, provided there are “exceptional circumstances.”
There’s one carve-out (or fence-in) for grocery stores and druggists: “Slot machines exposed for play in grocery stores and drug stores shall be located within a separate gaming area or alcove having not fewer than 3 sides formed by contiguous walls or partial walls. For the purposes of Regulation 3.015, 'partial wall’ or ‘wall’ may include, without limitation, [one] or more gaming devices, if the gaming devices are configured together or in conjunction with other structures to create a barrier that is similar to a partial wall or wall.” No ATMs may be permitted within the alcove.
Yes, Dotty’s perhaps stretches these boundaries and the business has, to be sure, been controversial for that reason. But as we noted, there is enough wiggle room within the law for slot parlors to wriggle through.
