2014 Iowa Code
TITLE III - PUBLIC SERVICES AND REGULATION
SUBTITLE 4 - GAMBLING
CHAPTER 99B - GAMES OF SKILL OR CHANCE, AND RAFFLES
SECTION 99B.11 - Bona fide contests.

99B.11  Bona fide contests.

1.  It is lawful for a person to conduct any of the contests specified in subsection 2, and to offer and pay awards to persons winning in those contests whether or not entry fees, participation fees, or other charges are assessed against or collected from the participants, but only if all of the following are complied with:

a.  The contest is not held at an amusement concession.

b.  No gambling device is used in conjunction with, or incident to the contest.

c.  The contest is not conducted in whole or in part on or in any property subject to chapter 297, relating to schoolhouses and schoolhouse sites, unless the contest and the person conducting the contest has the express written approval of the governing body of that school district.

d.  The contest is conducted in a fair and honest manner.  A contest shall not be designed or adapted to permit the operator of the contest to prevent a participant from winning or to predetermine who the winner will be, and the object of the contest must be attainable and possible to perform under the rules stated.

2.  A contest is not lawful unless it is one of the following contests:

a.  Athletic or sporting contests, leagues or tournaments, rodeos, horse shows, golf, bowling, trap or skeet shoots, fly casting, tractor pulling, rifle, pistol, musket, muzzle-loader, pool, darts, archery, and horseshoe contests, leagues, or tournaments.

b.  Horse races, harness racing, ski, airplane, snowmobile, raft, boat, bicycle and motor vehicle races.

c.  Contests or exhibitions of cooking, horticulture, livestock, poultry, fish or other animals, artwork, hobbywork or craftwork, except those prohibited by chapter 717A.

d.  Cribbage, bridge, chess, checkers, dominoes, pinochle and similar contests, leagues or tournaments.  The provisions of this paragraph are retroactive to August 15, 1975.

e.  A video machine golf tournament game which is an interactive bona fide contest.  A player operates a video machine golf tournament game with a trackball assembly which acts as the golfer’s swing and determines the results of play and tournament scores.  A video machine golf tournament game is capable of receiving program and data information from an off-site location.  A tournament operator shall prominently display all tournament rules.

3.  A poker, blackjack, craps, keno, or roulette contest, league, or tournament shall not be considered a bona fide contest under this section.

[C75, §99B.11, 726.13; C77, 79, 81, §99B.11]

2000 Acts, ch 1231, §36; 2002 Acts, ch 1068, §13; 2004 Acts, ch 1056, §1, 10; 2004 Acts, ch 1175, §365; 2005 Acts, ch 106, §9

Referred to in §99B.9, 99B.12, 99B.17