‘Almost all poker operators are now compliant with law’

After four months of enforcement activities, the Department of Commerce said that almost all of the poker units in the CNMI are now compliant with local laws.

“We can say that they’re compliant now. They’ve complied with the citations we sent out,” said Commerce economic analyst and press information officer Glenn Manglona.

As of June this year, the department said it had inspected 1,427 poker units in 110 poker establishments on Saipan. It cited 39 establishments and 128 units for alleged nonpayment of poker fees.

On Tinian, the department had inspected 132 units in 11 establishments. Eight of the shops and 56 poker units were cited for nonpayment violations. It said that one of the eight cited shops was found with 13 poker units illegally operating, without a poker license at all.

On Rota, the department said that it found zero violations. It inspected nine poker establishments operating 89 poker units, which were found to be in compliance with the appropriate laws.

Those operators who were cited for violations were required to attend hearings to settle their cases accordingly.

The department said it did not close poker establishments but allowed them to pay their outstanding dues.

The Commerce earlier launched an enforcement operation against illegal poker operators CNMI-wide to enhance collections and discourage the proliferation of unlicensed poker arcades in the Commonwealth.

This came after the Commerce signed a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Finance for the temporary transfer of the enforcement function to the former.

The Commerce-Finance MOA, which is said to expire in November this year, mandates Commerce to enforce the following:

* all poker machines are to have a numbered tag on the top right-hand corner;

* licensed establishments, except hotels and motels, must segregate poker machines in a separate room;

* no admission of minors (under 18 years old) and no alcohol use in poker shops;

* operation of poker arcades must be from 10am to 10pm daily unless the shop has a uniformed security guard on duty.

Finance said it saw the need to transfer the functions to Commerce due to the lack of enforcement personnel.

Total revenues from poker establishment reach some $14 million a year.

Collections from Rota and Saipan are divided between the local and General Funds.