CHAPTER 693

An Act to amend and reenact § 18-290 of the Code of Virginia, relating
to the keeping and exhibition for sale or use of punch boards, slot
machines and certain other devices.

[H 676

Approved April 7, 1952

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 18-290 of the Code of Virginia be amended and reenacted
as follows:

§ 18-290. If any person:

(1) Keep or exhibit for sale or use, or be concerned in interest in
keeping or exhibiting for sale or use, any (a) punch board or similar
device of any kind or description, (b) slot machine or similar device of
any kind, or character, or (c) other device that operates on the nickel-in-
the-slot principle, in the operation of which any element of chance what-
ever may enter, or through and from which it may be possible for one
person to get any article of more value than that which any other person
could or would get, or through and from which the article or thing
vended is not the fair equivalent in value to the coin required to operate
such machine or device, or

(2) Permit any such punch board, slot machine or similar device to
be kept or exhibited for sale or use in his place of business or in any other
place in this State,

He shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and such punch board, slot
machine or other device shall be deemed a gaming apparatus and shall
be embraced within the provisions of §§ 19-29, 19-81 and 19-82, insofar
as such sections relate to gaming apparatus.

The possession of any such punch board, slot machine or other device
shall be prima facie evidence of the exhibition for sale or use thereof.

Any slot machine or device that operates on the nickel-in-the-slot
principle and which does not uniformly return to the customer in each
transaction the equivalent in value and kind of merchandise unaccom-
panied by coins, trade checks or other items of monetary value that it
returned in each preceding transaction shall be deemed to embody the
element of chance within the meaning of this section, even though the
machine or device be so constructed as to indicate in advance of each
transaction that it will dispense upon the deposit of the next coin or slug.