Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 49, December 7, 2024
Section 812a.9 - Player account controls(a) A player session is started when a player logs in to the interactive gaming system. (1) A player must be provided with the electronic identifier created by the interactive gaming certificate holder or interactive gaming operator, if applicable, and a password to start a session. (2) The interactive gaming system must allow players to change their passwords. (3) When a player has forgotten his password or PIN, the interactive gaming system must provide a secure process for the reauthentication of the player and the retrieval or resetting, or both, of the password or PIN. Processes for dealing with lost player user IDs or passwords must be clearly described to the player. (4) When a player logs in to the interactive gaming system, the date and time of his prior player session must be displayed. (5) Each player session must have a unique identifier assigned by the interactive gaming system which distinguishes the current session from previous and future sessions. (b) During a peer-to-peer game, the software must permit a player to set an away from computer status (that is, self-imposed session inactivity). This functionality must be fully described in the help screens or applicable terms and conditions. (1) The away from computer status must disallow all play and also cause the player's turn to be automatically skipped during any round of play which takes place while this status is active. (2) If a player sets an away from computer status during the middle of a round of play, he automatically forfeits play for that round (for example, for a round of poker, the software must automatically fold the player's hand during the next round of betting). (3) If a player performs any game action within the game window while in an away from computer status, the status must be removed and the player will be enrolled into the next round of play. Nongame sensitive actions, such as accessing the help menu from the game window do not require this status to be removed. (4) If action has not been taken by the player within the time period specified in the help screens or the terms and conditions, or both, the player must be automatically placed into the away from computer status. (5) If a player has been in the away from computer status for over 30 minutes, the player must be automatically logged out of the game or player account, or both. (c) Interactive gaming systems must employ a mechanism that detects session inactivity and terminates a player session when applicable. (1) If the interactive gaming system fails to receive a response from the interactive gaming device within 30 minutes, whether the player has been in away from computer mode or not, the interactive gaming system must implement a user inactivity timeout and terminate the player session. (2) If a player session is terminated due to player inactivity timeout, the interactive gaming device must display to the player the player session termination (that is, the user inactivity timeout) upon the player's next attempted action on the interactive gaming system. (3) Further game play is not permitted until the interactive gaming system and the interactive gaming device establish a new session. (d) A player session ends when: (1) The player notifies the interactive gaming system that the session is finished (for example, logs out). (2) A session inactivity timeout is reached. (3) The interactive gaming system terminates the session. (i) When the interactive gaming system terminates a player session, a record must be written to an audit file that includes the termination reason. (ii) The interactive gaming system must attempt to send a session finished message to the interactive gaming device each time a session is terminated by the interactive gaming system. (e) The Board's Responsible Gaming logo linking to a responsible gaming page shall be placed at the top of the interactive gaming web site. The responsible gaming page must contain, at a minimum, all of the following: (1) Information about potential risks associated with gambling and where to get help for a gambling problem. (2) A list of the responsible gaming measures that can be invoked by the player, such as player session time limits and bet limits, and an option to enable the player to invoke those measures. (3) Mechanisms which detect unauthorized use of the player's account, such as observing the Last Log in Time Display, the IP address of the last login and reviewing financial account information. (4) A link to the terms and conditions that the player agreed to be bound to by entering and playing on the site. (5) A link to the applicable privacy policy. (6) A link to Board's web site. (f) All links to player protection services (for example, self-exclusion and other player-imposed limits) provided by third parties are to be tested by the interactive gaming certificate holder or interactive gaming operator periodically as required by the Board. Game play may not occur when links used to supply information on player protection services are not displayed or are not operational. When the link to player protection services is no longer available, the interactive gaming certificate holder or interactive gaming operator shall provide an alternative support service. (g) Players must be provided with a clear mechanism to impose self-limitations for gaming parameters including deposits, wagers, losses and player session durations as required by the Board. The self-limitation mechanism must provide all of the following functionality: (1) Any decrease to self-limitations for gaming must be effective no later than the player's next login. Any increase to these limits must become effective only after the time-period of the previous limit has expired and the player reaffirms the requested increase. (i) For example, a player sets a $1,000 monthly deposit limit on the 1st day of the month. The player may not increase this limit to more than $1,000 until the 1st day of the following month. The same player may decrease the limit to less than $1,000 at any point, and shall be effective at the player's next login. (2) A deposit limit as determined by the player must be offered on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, and must specify the maximum amount of money a player may deposit into his interactive gaming account during the designated period of time. (3) A spend limit as determined by the player must be offered on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, and must specify the maximum amount of player deposits that may be put at risk during a designated period of time. (4) A single wager limit as determined by the player must be offered and must specify the maximum amount of any single wager a player may put at risk in a single wager in an interactive game. (i) This single wager limit is not applicable for peer-to-peer poker games offered by interactive gaming certificate holders or operators. (ii) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), a requested increase in the player's single wager limit (that is, from $50 to $100) shall not take effect for 24 hours after the request is made. (5) A time-based limit as determined by the player must be offered on a daily basis and must specify the maximum amount of time that a player may spend playing on an interactive gaming system, provided that if the time-based limit is reached a player will be permitted to complete any round of play, or active or prepaid tournament. (6) A table limit as determined by the player must be offered and must specify the maximum amount a registered player may bring to a peer-to-peer interactive gaming table. (7) The self-limitations set by a player may not override any system imposed limitations or contradict information within the game rules. (h) The interactive gaming system must be capable of applying system-imposed limits as required by the terms and conditions agreed to by the player upon registration and as required by the Board. System-imposed limits must adhere to all of the following: (1) Players must be notified in advance of any system-imposed limits and their effective dates. (2) Once updated, system-imposed limits must be consistent with what is disclosed to the player. (3) Upon receiving any system-limitation request, the interactive gaming system must ensure that all specified limits are correctly implemented immediately or at a specified time (that is, next login, next day, and the like) that was clearly indicated to the player. (4) In cases when system-imposed limitation values (for example, deposit, wager, loss and player session duration) are greater than self-imposed player limit values, the system-imposed limitations must take priority. (i) Players must be provided with an easy and obvious mechanism to temporarily suspend his or her interactive gaming account. The temporary suspension mechanism must provide all of the following functionality: (1) The player must be provided with the option to temporarily suspended his or her interactive gaming account for a specified period of time as defined in the terms and conditions, or indefinitely. (2) In the case of temporary suspension, the interactive gaming system must ensure that: (i) Immediately upon processing the temporary suspension, new bets or deposits are not accepted from that player until the temporary suspension has expired. (ii) During the temporary suspension period, the player is not prevented from withdrawing any or all of his account balance, provided that the interactive gaming system acknowledges that the funds have cleared. (iii) In the case of indefinite temporary suspension, the interactive gaming system must ensure that: (A) The player is paid in full for his account balance, provided that the interactive gaming system acknowledges that the funds have cleared. (B) All player accounts must be closed or deactivated. (j) The interactive gaming system must provide a clear mechanism to advise the player of the right to make a complaint against the interactive gaming certificate holder, interactive gaming operator or another player (that is, when collusion is suspected or when a player is disruptive or abusive).