No person shall keep, occupy, or control any room, shed, tenement, tent, booth, building, or other structure, or any part thereof, or occupy any place anywhere within the city, with any book, instrument, or device for the purpose of taking, recording, or registering bets or wagers or of selling pools, or take, record, or register bets or wagers, or sell pools, upon the result or alleged result of any actual, supposed, alleged, or fictitious trial or test of skill, speed, or power of endurance of man or beast, or upon the result or alleged result of any actual, supposed, alleged, or fictitious political nomination, appointment, or election. Any person, being the owner, lessee, or occupant of any room, shed, tenement, tent, booth, building, or other structure, or part thereof, who shall knowingly permit the same to be used or occupied for any such purpose or shall therein keep, exhibit, or employ any device or apparatus for the purpose of taking, recording, or registering such bets or wagers, or selling such pools, or shall become the custodian or depositary for hire or reward of any money, property, or thing of value staked, wagered, or pledged upon any such result or alleged result, shall be fined not less than $50.00 nor more than $200.00 for each offense.
In prosecutions under this section, proof of the taking, recording, or registering of such bet or wager, or pool-selling, shall be prima facie evidence of the violation of said section, and proof shall not be required that there was any actual, supposed, alleged, or fictitious trial or test of skill, speed, or power of endurance of man or beast, or that there was any actual, supposed, alleged, or fictitious political nomination, appointment, or election to which such bet, wager, or pool-selling may appertain.
(Prior code § 191-8)