CONSOLIDATED ACTS OF SAMOA 2009

GAMING ACT 1978

Arrangement of Provisions

TITLE
PART I
PRELIMINARY

1. Short title
2. Interpretation

PART II
GAMING

3. Gaming houses
4. Advancing money for a gaming house 
5. Gaming in a public place

BOOKMAKING

6. Repealed
7. Repealed
8. Repealed

PART III
HORSE RACING

9. Racing licences
10. Offences relating to horse racing

TOTALISATORS

11. Repealed
12. Repealed

LOTTERIES

13. Lottery permits
14. Offences relating to lotteries
15. Sales of tickets in illegal lotteries

BINGO

16. Application for permit
17. Appointment of organisers
18. Particulars required by police
19. Conditions of play
20. Statement of receipts and payments
21. Lapse of permit
22. Records and evidence of conduct of bingo
23. Offences relating to bingo

PART IV
MISCELLANEOUS

24. Persons duly authorised under Part III not to be found guilty
25. Head of State may make regulations
26. Repeals and savings
27. Fees for Lottery and Bingo Permits
Schedule

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THE GAMING ACT 1978
1978 No. 17

AN ACT to make provision for gaming, bookmaking, horse racing, totalisators, lotteries and bingo.
(21 August 1978)
(Commencement date: 21 August 1978)

PART 1
PRELIMINARY

1. Short title - This Act may be cited as the Gaming Act 1978.

2. Interpretation - (1) In this Act unless the context otherwise requires:

"Bingo" means a game of chance in which the players match a series of numbers on all or part of a card which bears on its face a series of numbers, with those called as a result of random selection, the winner being the first person who completes the series and publicly signifies that the series is complete; and includes tombola, housie, and any other variety of gaming (by whatever name it is known) which is played in a similar fashion.

"Caller" means the person who announces to the players the numbers selected in a game of bingo.

"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Police.

"Gaming" means playing for money or other valuable thing at any game of chance or any game of mixed chance and skill, not authorised under the provisions of this Act including the Chinese games of fan-tan, pakapoo and other similar games.

"Gaming house" means any house, room or place of any kind whatsoever kept or used as a place of resort for gaming.

"Illegal lottery" means a lottery for which no permit has been granted under section 13.

"Implements or appliances for gaming" include all articles which are used for gaming.

"Jackpot" means a money-prize which accumulates from deductions made from the permitted prize limits of games of bingo and is offered from time to time by the organisers as a prize additional to a prize for a game of bingo.

"Licensee" means a person duly authorised under section 11 to set up, keep and operate a totalisator at race meetings.

"Lottery" includes any game, method or device whereby money or some other valuable thing is distributed or allotted in any manner depending on, or to be determined by chance or lot, or the result of any race or contest, but does not include games of bingo or national lotteries conducted in accordance with the provisions of the National Lotteries Act 1978.

"Lottery ticket" or "ticket" includes any paper, figure, writing, symbol or other article whatsoever, which either expressly or impliedly entitles or purports to entitle the holder or any other person to receive any money or money's worth on the happening of any event or contingency connected with any lottery.

"Occupier" in relation to premises means any person having the management, care or control of such premises.

"Organiser" means an organiser appointed under section 17.

"Owner" in relation to any premises means the person for the time being entitled to receive the rent of such premises, or who would be so entitled if the premises were let at a rent.

"Person" includes any organisation, whether corporate or unincorporate.

"Premises" means any building, and includes every cellar, yard, garage, shed or other place belonging or in any other manner appertaining to any such building.

"Public place" includes any public way or any building, place or conveyance which for the time being is open to or used by the public whether on the payment of money or otherwise.

(2) A public place shall be deemed to be used for a purpose under the provisions of this Act if it is used for that purpose even on one occasion only:

PROVIDED THAT a place other than that public place shall not be deemed to be used for gaming unless it is used, or intended to be used, habitually, whether at regular or irregular intervals.

PART II
GAMING

3. Gaming houses - (1) Any person who keeps a gaming house commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 1 year or to a fine not exceeding 20 penalty units or both.

(2) Anyone who acts as a person having the management, care or control of a gaming house shall be deemed to be a keeper thereof whether he is in fact a keeper or not.

(3) Any person found in any gaming house commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding 5 penalty units unless he or she proves that he or she was there for some lawful purpose.

(4) Where any implements or appliances for gaming are found on any premises suspected to be used as a gaming house, and entered under a warrant issued under the provisions of any enabling enactment, or about the person of any of those who are found therein, it shall be evidence, until the contrary is proved, that such premises are used as a gaming house and that the persons found in the part of the premises where implements or appliances for gaming have been found were gaming therein, although no gaming is actually going on in the presence of the constable or other person entering the same under that warrant.

(5) In any proceeding for an offence against this section the Court may direct that all implements or appliances for gaming found on any premises suspected as aforesaid shall be forthwith destroyed.

4. Advancing money for a gaming house - Any person who advances or furnishes money for the purpose of establishing or conducting the business of a gaming house or who profits from the establishment or conduct of such business commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 1 year or to a fine not exceeding 20 penalty units or both.

5. Gaming in a public place - (1) Any person gaming in any public place shall be guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 2 penalty units.

(2) Any constable may arrest without warrant any person found gaming in any public place and may seize all implements or appliances for gaming found in such public place or on the persons of those arrested under the provisions of this section.

(3) In any proceeding for an offence against this section the Court may direct that all implements or appliances seized under subsection (2) shall be forthwith destroyed.

(4) Where any money or other valuable thing is used in the game of chance or mixed chance and skill in any public place, the players shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, to be, or to have been, gaming.

BOOKMAKING

 6-8. Repealed by section 4 of the Gaming Amendment Act 1988.

PART III
HORSE RACING

9. Racing licences - (1) Any racing club may make an application to the Commissioner for a licence to conduct horse races and the Commissioner may in the Commissioner's discretion grant or refuse the licence.

(2) In granting a licence under subsection (1), the Commissioner may impose such conditions as the Commissioner thinks fit.

(3) The Commissioner may at any time revoke any licence granted under subsection (1).

10. Offences relating to horse racing - Any person who conducts or assists in conducting any horse race except in accordance with the conditions of a licence granted under section 9 commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to a fine not exceeding 10 penalty units or both.

TOTALISATORS

11&12 Repealed by section 5 of the Gaming Amendment Act 1988.

LOTTERIES

13. Lottery permits - (1) Any authorised member of an organisation may make an application to the Commissioner on behalf of the organisation for a permit to organise and control a lottery and the Commissioner may in the Commissioner's discretion grant or refuse the permit.

(2) The Commissioner shall not grant a permit under subsection (1) unless the Commissioner is satisfied that the profits of the lottery concerned are to be applied only for religious, charitable, cultural or sporting purposes or other purposes beneficial to the community.

(3) The Commissioner, in granting a permit under this section may impose such conditions as the Commissioner thinks fit.

(4) The Commissioner may at any time revoke any permit issued under this section.

14. Offences relating to lotteries - (1) Any person who organises or promotes, or assists in the organisation or promotion of an illegal lottery commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 1 year or to a fine not exceeding 20 penalty units or both.

(2) Any person who fails to comply with the conditions stipulated in a permit granted under section 13 commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to a fine not exceeding 10 penalty units or both.

15. Sales of tickets in illegal lotteries - No action shall be maintained in respect of any sale or contract for sale of a ticket in an illegal lottery by any person except the purchaser for the return of the money or other consideration paid for the ticket.

BINGO

16. Application for permit - (1) Any authorised member of an organisation may make an application to the Commissioner on behalf of the organisation for a permit to conduct games of bingo in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the Commissioner may in the Commissioner's discretion grant or refuse such permit.

(2) The Commissioner shall not grant a permit under subsection (1) unless the Commissioner is satisfied that the profits from the games of bingo are to be applied only for religious, charitable, cultural or sporting purposes or other purposes beneficial to the community.

(3) The Commissioner may at any time revoke any permit granted under subsection (1).

(4) No person shall conduct or assist in conducting games of bingo except pursuant to a permit granted under subsection (1).

(5) Nothing in this Act shall authorise games of bingo to be conducted on any premises in respect of which a licence to resell liquor has been granted under the Liquor Act 1971.

17. Appointment of organisers - An organisation which has been granted a permit under section 16 shall, before conducting any game or session of bingo, appoint one or more of its members as organisers and callers to conduct the game or session:

PROVIDED THAT any organisation may use an unpaid and voluntary caller who is not a member of the organisation.

18. Particulars required by police - (1) The organisers shall give to the officer in charge of the nearest police station not less than 7 clear days notice of:

(a) The date, time and premises fixed for the conduct of games of bingo; and

(b) The hours during which the games will be conducted; and

(c) The charges proposed to be made for each card; and

(d) The maximum prizes, including the prizes of jackpots, proposed to be given and the maximum commission proposed to be levied; and

(e) The names and addresses of the person or the persons who will be responsible for conducting the games and furnishing the statement of receipts under section 20; and

(f) The name and address of the caller or callers to be used.

(2) In the case of a series of sessions of bingo extending over a period of not more than 6 months, it shall be sufficient compliance with the requirements of subsection (1) if one notice giving the required particulars in respect of all the sessions is given not less than 7 clear days before the date of the first session.

19. Conditions of play - All persons conducting or taking part in any game or games of bingo permitted under the provisions of this Act shall comply with the conditions of play specified in the Schedule.

20. Statement of receipts and payments - The organisers shall, within 14 days after the game or session of games is played, furnish to the Commissioner, in the manner and form prescribed by the Commissioner, a statement of the receipts and payments in respect thereof.

21. Lapse of permit - Any permit to play bingo shall lapse:

(a) Where no statement is furnished to the Commissioner within 2 months of the due date pursuant to section 20; or

(b) Where no game of bingo is played pursuant to that permit within any period of 6 months.

22. Records and evidence of conduct of bingo - (1) The organisers shall in respect of each game of bingo maintain a written record of the number of cards issued, the amount which each person has been called upon to contribute as a consideration for each card, the amount of prizes paid, including any jackpot, and the commission received.

(2) Such written records shall be kept by the organisers for a period of not less than 12 months from the date the game was conducted, or, in the case of a series of games to which section 18 (2) applies, for a period of not less than 12 months from the date the last game of the series was conducted, and shall be available for inspection by the Commissioner.

(3) Any constable authorised in writing by the Commissioner may for the purposes of inspection enter into any premises (other than a dwelling-house) in which bingo is being played, or within a reasonable time after the completion of the games, and may during such inspection examine any equipment or any books, accounts, records or other documents and may demand from any persons conducting such games such information relative to those games as the constable considers necessary.

23. Offences relating to bingo - (1) Any person who conducts or assists in the conducting of any game of bingo except in accordance with this Act or who otherwise fails to comply with the provisions of this Act commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 1 year or to a fine not exceeding 20 penalty units.

(2) Any owner or occupier of premises and any organiser who knowingly permit liquor to be sold or served for consumption on the premises during any day upon which bingo is played there commit an offence and are each liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 5 penalty units.

PART IV
MISCELLANEOUS

24. Persons duly authorised under Part III not to be found guilty - No person shall be found guilty of an offence under the provisions of Part II in respect of activities:

(a) For which that person holds a permit or licence issued under the provisions of Part III; or

(b) In which that person participates lawfully, in accordance with the conditions of a permit or licence issued under the provisions of Part III.

25. Head of State may make regulations - The Head of State, acting on the advice of Cabinet, may make regulations for giving effect to the provisions of this Act and in particular:

(a) Prescribing the percentage of the stakes on a totalisator which may be deducted by a licensee and the proportion of the sum so deducted which may be retained by him or her;

(b) The keeping of accounts and the submission of returns by a licensee;

(c) Regulating and controlling the advertisement and sale in Samoa of tickets or chances in lotteries held or drawn outside Samoa.

26. Repeals and savings - (1) The Gaming Ordinance 1960 is repealed:

PROVIDED THAT any licence granted under the provisions of section 7 of that Ordinance shall remain in force until such time as the Minister cancels such licence:

PROVIDED ALSO THAT any consent given by the Commissioner of Police Service under the provisions of section 4 of that Ordinance shall remain in force unless that consent is withdrawn.

(2) No person who has obtained and complied with the terms of the consent of the Commissioner of Police Service under section 4 of the Gaming Ordinance 1960 or who holds and complies with the terms of a licence under section 7 of that Ordinance shall be found guilty of an offence under this Act in respect of activities permitted or licensed under that Ordinance.

(3) Section 58P of the Crimes Act 1961 (as inserted by the Crimes Amendment Act 1969) is repealed.

27. Fees for Lottery and Bingo Permits – (1) The fee for a lottery of bingo permit issued under this Act shall be $200 per annum.

(2) The fee payable under this section shall be paid before the lottery or bingo is conducted of played.

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (1), fees for particular lotteries of bingo operations may be prescribed by Regulation under this Act and such fees shall be paid in substitution of the fee payable under subsection (1).

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SCHEDULE

BINGO RULES

Conditions of Play

1. Subject to clause 5 of this Schedule, the total prize money for any individual game shall not exceed the sum of $200.

2. The persons conducting the game shall, before the commencement of each game, notify all players of the number of cards sold, the charge made for each card, and the amount of the prize or prizes proposed to be paid in respect of that game.

3. The right to play in any game shall be secured by the purchaser of a card only and no charge shall be made for attendance at a game or session and no other compulsory charge in relation to any game or games of bingo shall be levied against players or other persons.

4. Every person conducting bingo under this Act shall ensure that all cards in every game bear on their faces a series of not more than 25 numbers. The number of cards which may be issued for any individual game shall not exceed 800 at 40 sene each, or 400 at 80 sene each, or 200 at $1.60 each, and each card so issued shall be part of a series consecutively numbered from 1 to a number not exceeding 800.

5. A jackpot may be offered, subject to the following conditions:

(a) The amount of any jackpot shall not exceed the amount of $1,000;

(b) Before the commencement of a game at which a jackpot is offered the amount of the jackpot shall be announced by the person conducting the game;

(c) Only one jackpot shall be offered at each session;

(d) The approved organisation conducting the session shall receive no commission from the jackpot prize, and in any game where the jackpot is won the total sum shall be paid to or divided between the winner or winners immediately after the conclusion of the game.

6. No session of games shall be carried on for a longer period than 4 consecutive hours and not more than 40 sessions shall be conducted by any organisation within the period of 1 year.

7. Not more than 2 sessions of bingo shall be conducted on any premises on any day.

8. No game of bingo shall be played before 6 p.m. or after 12 midnight on any day except Saturday when it may be played after 2 p.m., and no games of bingo shall be conducted on Christmas Day, Good Friday, Independence Day or any Sunday.

9. No person who conducts, organises, or assists in conducting or organising bingo for any organisation shall conduct, organise, or assist in conducting or organising bingo for any other organisation, whether or not there is any form of affiliation between the 2 organisations:

PROVIDED THAT this clause shall not apply to a caller appointed under section 17 of this Act.

10. No person who conducts, organises, or assists in conducting or organising bingo shall appropriate any part of the contributions to any game for his own private gain.

11. The commission deducted from the total contributions made by players to any individual game shall not exceed 1/3 of the total contributions.

12. The total contributions by the players in any individual game, less the commission provided for in clause 11 of this Schedule, shall be paid or given to or divided between the winner or winners of that game immediately after the conclusion of that game:

PROVIDED THAT a proportion of the sum to be paid out may be retained for the provision of jackpot prizes, pursuant to clause 5 of this Schedule.

13. No part of the contributions to any game of bingo shall be appropriated for the private gain of the owner or occupier of any premises in which the game is being conducted:

PROVIDED THAT where any game is conducted in premises owned or normally occupied by a person or persons other than the organisation organising the games or the person or persons conducting the games, a reasonable amount may be paid by way of rent for the hire of those premises.

14. Every person conducting games of bingo under this Act shall ensure that a copy of the rules in this Schedule is conspicuously displayed on the premises in which those games are conducted.

REVISION NOTES 1997

The Gaming Act 1978 appearing in this reprint comprised that Act together with the amendments contained in the Gaming Amendment Act 1983 and the Gaming Amendment Act 1988 as set out below:

Section 2: The interpretation of "Betting and bet" "Bookmaker," "Racing Club" and "Totalisator" were deleted, and "Lotto" was deleted from the interpretation of "Bingo", by section 3 of the 1988 Amendment Act.

Sections 6,7,&8: were repealed by section 4 and sections 11 and 12 of 1988 Amendment Act. 

Sections 11&12: were repealed by section 5 of the 1988 Amendment Act.

Schedule: The Schedule was amended by section 7 of the 1988 Amendment Act by increasing the maximum amounts for prize money and costs of cards and jackpot prizes. The number of hours during which a bingo session can be conducted were increased to 4 to be finished by midnight. Rule 8 of the Schedule was amended by the 1983 Amendment Act by inserting after the words "any day" the words "except Saturday when it may be played after 2:00pm".

REVISION NOTES 2008

This law has been generally edited as provided for by section 5 of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008. The following general revisions have been made –

(a) References to Western Samoa have been amended to Samoa in accordance with an amendment to the Constitution of Samoa in 1997.

(b) The fines have been amended and are stated as penalty units as provided for by the Fines (Review and Amendment) Act 1998.

(c) All references to the male gender have been made gender neutral.

(d) Amendments have been made to conform to modern drafting styles and to use modern language as applied in the laws of Samoa.

(e) Other minor editing has been done in accordance with the lawful powers of the Attorney General.

The following amendments have been made to specific sections of the Act to incorporate amendments made by Act of Parliament passed since the publication of the Western Samoa Statutes Reprint 1978-1996 –

Section 27 A new section was inserted by the Miscellaneous Fees Amendment Act 1998 (No. 16).

All fines have been revised as provided for by the Fines (Review and Amendment) Act 1998 (No. 24)

This law has been consolidated and revised by the Attorney General under the authority of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 and is an official version of this Act as at 31 December 2007. It is an offence to publish this Act without approval or to make any unauthorised change to an electronic version of this Act.

Revised and consolidated by Graham Bruce Powell
Under the supervision of Teleiai Lalotoa Sinaalamaimaleula Mulitalo (Parliamentary Counsel)

REVISION NOTES 2008 No. 2

The commencement date has been inserted after the date of assent. 

This law has been consolidated and revised by the Attorney General under the authority of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 and is an official version of this Act as at 31 December 2008. It is an offence to publish this Act without approval or to make any unauthorised change to an electronic version of this Act. 

Revised and consolidated by the Legislative Drafting Division under the supervision of Teleiai Lalotoa Sinaalamaimaleula Mulitalo (Parliamentary Counsel)

REVISION NOTES 2009

There were no amendments made to this law since the publication of the Consolidated and Revised Statutes of Samoa 2007.

This law has been consolidated and revised by the Attorney General under the authority of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 and is an official version of this Act as at 31 December 2009. It is an offence to publish this Act without approval or to make any unauthorised change to an electronic version of this Act.

Revised and consolidated by the Legislative Drafting Division under the supervision of Papalii Malietau Malietoa (Parliamentary Counsel).

The Gaming Act 1978 is administered by the Ministry of Police, Prison and Fire Service