{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-528.010","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 528.010","heading":"Definitions for chapter.","body":"The following definitions apply in this chapter unless the context otherwise requires:\n(1) \"Advancing gambling activity\":\n(a) Means conduct a person engages in other than as a player that materially aids any form of gambling activity not authorized under K RS Chapter 154A, 230, or 238.\n(b) Includes but is not limited to conduct directed toward the:\n1. Establishment of the particular game, contest, scheme, device, or activity involved;\n2. Acquisition or maintenance of premises, paraphernalia, equipment, or apparatus therefor;\n3. Solicitation or inducement of persons to participate therein;\n4. Actual conduct of the playing phases thereof; or\n5. Arrangement of any of its financial or recording phases or toward any other phase of its operation.\n(c) A person who gambles at a social game of chance on equal terms with other participants does not otherwise advance gambling activity by performing acts, without remuneration or fee, directed toward the arrangement or facilitation of the game, such as inviting persons to play, permitting the use of premises therefor and supplying equipment used therein;\n(2) \"Bookmaking\" means advancing gambling activity by unlawfully accepting bets upon the outcome of future contingent events from members of the public as a business not authorized under KRS Chapter 230;\n(3) \"Charitable gaming\" means games of chance conducted by charitable organizations licensed and regulated under the provisions of KRS Chapters 230 and 238;\n(4) (a) \"Coin-operated amusement machine\" means a lawful machine or device that requires the direct or indirect payment of consideration, including but not limited to the insertion of a coin, currency, tic ket, token, or similar object, or the depositing of funds with the operator or owner of the device, and that contains no material element of chance and automatically, by or through some mechanical operation, affords music or amusement of some character wit h or without vending any merchandise, but in addition to any merchandise.\n(b) A coin -operated amusement machine shall not deliver or entitle the person playing or operating the game to receive cash, cash equivalents, gift cards, or vouchers, billets, ticke ts, tokens, electronic credits or any item that can be exchanged for cash, cash equivalents, gift cards, merchandise, or something of value, unless otherwise provided under this section.\n(c) A coin -operated amusement machine may entitle the person playing to a noncash, merchandise prize or a voucher, billet, ticket, token, or electronic credit redeemable only for a noncash, merchandise prize under the following rules:\n1. The wholesale value of a merchandise prize awarded as a result of the single play of a machine, either directly or as a result of redemption of a redeemable voucher, does not exceed twenty-five dollars ($25);\n2. Redeemable vouchers are not redeemable for any merchandise prize that has a wholesale value of more than twenty -five dollars ($25) times the fewest number of single plays necessary to accrue the redeemable vouchers required to obtain that prize; and\n3. Any redeemable vouchers or merchandise prizes are distributed at the site of the coin-operated amusement machine at the time of play.\n(d) The noncash merchandise prize shall not be:\n1. An alcoholic beverage;\n2. Eligible for purchase or repurchase; or\n3. Exchangeable for any cash, cash equivalents, or something of value whatsoever;\n(5) (a) \"E-sports competition\" means a league, competitiv e circuit, tournament, or similar competition in which:\n1. Two (2) or more participants or teams of participants compete directly against each other for entertainment and prizes in the same video game at the same time, typically for spectators;\n2. Results are determined solely on the basis of the skill of the players;\n3. The number of participants is fixed before the beginning of the competition;\n4. Any fee collected to participate in the competition shall be collected from all participants before the competition begins;\n5. At least one (1) participant shall receive something of value based on the results of the competition; and\n6. The value of any prize shall be predetermined before the competition begins.\n(b) E-sports shall not include traditional casino g ames which include but are not limited to poker, roulette, craps, or blackjack;\n(6) (a) \"Gambling\" means staking or risking something of value upon the outcome of a contest, game, gaming scheme, or gaming device which is based upon an element of chance, in  accord with an agreement or understanding that someone will receive something of value in the event of a certain outcome.\n\"Gambling\" includes playing or offering for play any game, contest, or\ncompetition utilizing a gambling device.\n(b) \"Gambling\" does not include:\n1. A contest or game in which eligibility to participate is determined by\nchance and the ultimate winner is determined by skill;\n2. Charitable gaming which is licensed and regulated under the provisions\nof KRS Chapter 238;\n3. E-sports competitions;\n4. Skill-based contests;\n5. The use or operation of any devices or machines that are described in\nsubsection (7)(b) of this section;\n6. Fantasy contests regulated under KRS Chapter 230; or\n7. Fixed-odds wagering as defined in KRS 230.210;\n(7) (a) \"Gambling device\" means:\n1. Any so-called slot machine or any other machine or mechanical device\nwhich when operated may deliver, as a result of the  application of any\nelement of chance, any money or property, or by the operation of which\na person may become entitled to receive, as the result of the application\nof any element of chance, any money or property;\n2. Any mechanical or electronic device per manently located in a business\nestablishment, including a private club, that is offered or made available\nto a person to play or participate in a simulated gambling program in\nreturn for direct or indirect consideration, including but not limited to\nconsideration paid for internet access or computer time, or a\nsweepstakes entry, which when operated may deliver as a result of the\napplication of any element of chance, regardless of whether the result is\nalso partially or predominantly based on skill, any money or property, or\nby the operation of which a person may become entitled to receive, as\nthe result of the application of any element of chance, regardless of\nwhether the result is also partially or predominantly based on skill, any\nmoney or property;\n3. Any other machine or any mechanical, electronic, or other device,\nincluding but not limited to roulette wheels, gambling tables and similar\ndevices, designed and manufactured primarily for use in connection with\ngambling and which when operated may deliver, as the result of the\napplication of any element of chance, any money or property, or by the\noperation of which a person may become entitled to receive, as the\nresult of the application of any element of chance, any money or\nproperty; or\n4. Any electronic, computerized, or mechanical contrivance, terminal,\nmachine, or other device that:\na. Requires the direct or indirect payment of consideration which\nmay include and shall not be limited to the insertion of a coin,\ncurrency, ticket, token, or similar object,  or by depositing funds\nwith the operator or owner of the device, to operate, play, or\nactivate a game; and\nb. Offers games the outcomes of which are determined by any\nelement of skill of the player and may deliver or entitle the person\nplaying or operatin g the device to receive cash, cash equivalents,\nor gift cards or vouchers, billets, tickets, tokens, or electronic\ncredits to be exchanged for cash or to receive merchandise or\nsomething of value, whether the payoff is made automatically\nfrom the device or manually.\n(b) The following shall not be considered gambling devices within this definition:\n1. Devices used in wagering on live races at licensed racetracks during\nraces on said tracks;\n2. Devices used in wagering on historical races at licensed, regular\nracetracks as lawfully authorized by the Kentucky Horse Racing and\nGaming Corporation;\n3. Electro-mechanical pinball machines specially designed, constructed, set\nup, and kept to be played for amusement only. Any pinball machine\nshall be made to receive and react only to the deposit of coins during the\ncourse of a game. The ultimate and only award given directly or\nindirectly to any player for the attainment of a winning score or\ncombination on any pinball machine shall be the right to play one (1) or\nmore additional games immediately on the same device at no further\ncost. The maximum number of free games that can be won, registered,\nor accumulated at one (1) time in operation of any pinball machine shall\nnot exceed thirty (30) free games. Any pinball machi ne shall be made to\ndischarge accumulated free games only by reactivating the playing\nmechanism once for each game released. Any pinball machine shall be\nmade and kept with no meter or system to preserve a record of free\ngames played, awarded, or discharge d. Nonetheless, a pinball machine\nshall be a gambling device if a person gives or promises to give money,\ntokens, merchandise, premiums, or property of any kind for scores,\ncombinations, or free games obtained in playing the pinball machine in\nwhich the pe rson has an interest as owner, operator, keeper, or\notherwise;\n4. Devices used in the conduct of charitable gaming;\n5. Coin-operated amusement machines;\n6. Devices used for wagering exempted from the application of this chapter\npursuant to KRS 436.480;\n7. Devices used in e-sports competitions;\n8. Devices used in skill -based contests, provided such devices do not meet\nthe definition of gambling devices in paragraph (a) of this subsection; or\n9. Devices used for fixed-odds wagering;\n(8) \"Lottery and gift enterprise\" means:\n(a) A gambling scheme in which:\n1. The players pay or agree to pay something of value for chances,\nrepresented and differentiated by numbers or by combinations of\nnumbers or by some other media, one (1) or more of which are to be\ndesignated the winning ones;\n2. The ultimate winner is to be determined by a drawing or by some other\nmethod based upon the element of chance; and\n3. The holders of the winning chances are to receive something of value;\nand\n(b) A gift enterprise or referral sales plan which meets the elements of a lottery\nlisted in paragraph (a) of this subsection is to be considered a lottery under\nthis chapter;\n(9) \"Mutuel\" or \"the numbers games\" means a form of lottery in which the winning\nchances or plays are not determined upon the basis of a drawing or other act on the\npart of persons conducting or connected with the scheme, but upon the basis of the\noutcome or outcomes of a future contingent event or events otherwise unrelated to\nthe particular scheme;\n(10) \"Player\" means a person who engages in any form of gambling solely as a\ncontestant or bettor, without receiving or becoming entitled to receive any profit\ntherefrom other than personal gambling winnings, and without otherwise rendering\nany material assistance to the establishment, conduct, or operation of the particular\ngambling activity. A person who engages in \"bookmaking\" as defined in subsection\n(2) of this section is not a \"player.\" The status of a \"player\" shall be a defense to any\nprosecution under this chapter;\n(11) \"Profiting from gambling activity\" occurs when, other  than as a player, a person\naccepts or receives or agrees to accept or receive money or other property pursuant\nto an agreement or understanding with any other person whereby the person\nparticipates or is to participate in the proceeds of gambling activity  not authorized\nunder KRS Chapter 154A, 230, or 238;\n(12) \"Simulated gambling program\" means any method intended to be used by a person\nplaying, participating, or interacting with an electronic device that may, through the\napplication of any element of cha nce, either deliver money or property or an\nentitlement to receive money or property;\n(13) \"Skill\" means the knowledge, dexterity, or any other ability or expertise of a natural\nperson;\n(14) \"Skill-based contest\" means a live, in -person competitive event a mong two (2) or\nmore individuals or teams of individuals in which the ultimate winner is determined\nby skill and the competitive event does not utilize a gambling device; and\n(15) (a) \"Something of value\" means any money or property, any token, object, or\narticle exchangeable for money or property, or any form of credit or promise\ndirectly or indirectly contemplating transfer of money or property or of any\ninterest therein, or involving extension of a service, entertainment, or a\nprivilege of playing at a game or scheme without charge.\n(b) \"Something of value\" does not include the award of a free, extended, or\ncontinuous play which is awarded as a prize for playing a game or scheme for\na charge.","path":["KRS Chapter 528"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=58126","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T21:00:04Z","sha256":"5f3d7484570a4bc575c441e24e2a2b07fb99db922f02e20ca8cc04b3f948c35a","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-527.210","next":"us-ky/krs-528.020"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}