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Are most office pools legal? You bet!
Joe Benedict/Staff Writer
It's no longer March, but that doesn't mean an end to “March Madness”, with the NCAA college basketball tournament about to hit the final four games and the championship.
So how is everyone doing in their pool at the office or at a favorite drinking establishment? Wait a minute - should that be discussed out loud? Is there law enforcement nearby? Those pools are legal, right?
Many people lay down five bucks or so to be put in a pool for the 64-team tournament that eventually gets whittled down to two teams in a championship game. The person who comes up with the winning team gets the big payoff at the end. No one has ever had to worry too much about being cuffed and stuffed after getting their reward for smart guessing or drawing a random team.
That also is unlikely to change. The police aren't going to bust up your Thursday night poker game, unless they find out the stakes are getting a bit too high, and they aren't likely to bust up an office pool for the NCAA games. But there are situations that make the pools cross the line in legality.
Fort Madison Police Chief Bruce Niggemeyer said the person organizing the pool cannot keep any of the money. That makes it illegal. All the money has to be given to winners of the pool. That means not even administrative costs for printing brackets.
Niggemeyer said he isn't too familiar with the thresholds because the Department of Criminal Investigation deals with gambling issues more than he does, but as stakes increase, there is a point where the state will say they are too high. So anyone asked to buy into a pool for $100 probably should reconsider getting involved. If poker games are getting out of the “penny” ante stage where large amounts of money are being bet, then the host needs to have a gambling license.
In fact, according to the Iowa code, if participating in a pool at a bar or business which sells alcohol, the bet is limited to $5. The most a person is allowed to win is $500. The business also should buy a social gambling license. The fee is $150 for a two-year license.
The Iowa code says sports pools in places other than establishments holding liquor licenses are not legal. Other places can obtain a social gambling license for $100 per two year license, but it does not cover sports pools.
But the gray area continues to grow. The social gambling license is for pools sponsored by these places. Lee County Attorney Mike Short said gambling between individuals is different. If employees at the Daily Democrat, for example, put together a pool which was not sanctioned by the newspaper and they did it on their own time, that would be legal under certain conditions. Short said the pay- out is limited to $50 in these cases. So if everyone puts in a dollar and there's 64 teams in the tournament, the winner will get a few dollars more than allowed.
This is the same at drinking establishments. If the bar isn't sponsoring the pool, it is gambling between individuals. Those individuals, however, are supposed to have some sort of social relationship outside of hanging out at the same bar.
He said he has never went to court over an NCAA pool.
“It's kind of like fireworks on the Fourth of July,” he said.
Fireworks are illegal in Iowa, but try to fine everyone who shoots off a bottle rocket on July 4th.
Short said the gambling cases he has worked on as county attorney usually come from spouses whose husband or wife has gambled away the utility bill or rent money and they are tired of it happening.
The charge, should police decide to bust the thousands of pools across the state, is a simple misdemeanor, usually a fine of $65. And with 64 teams in the tournament, with $1 bet on each team, the gambler once again breaks even
Are most office pools legal? You bet!
Joe Benedict/Staff Writer
It's no longer March, but that doesn't mean an end to “March Madness”, with the NCAA college basketball tournament about to hit the final four games and the championship.
So how is everyone doing in their pool at the office or at a favorite drinking establishment? Wait a minute - should that be discussed out loud? Is there law enforcement nearby? Those pools are legal, right?
Many people lay down five bucks or so to be put in a pool for the 64-team tournament that eventually gets whittled down to two teams in a championship game. The person who comes up with the winning team gets the big payoff at the end. No one has ever had to worry too much about being cuffed and stuffed after getting their reward for smart guessing or drawing a random team.
That also is unlikely to change. The police aren't going to bust up your Thursday night poker game, unless they find out the stakes are getting a bit too high, and they aren't likely to bust up an office pool for the NCAA games. But there are situations that make the pools cross the line in legality.
Fort Madison Police Chief Bruce Niggemeyer said the person organizing the pool cannot keep any of the money. That makes it illegal. All the money has to be given to winners of the pool. That means not even administrative costs for printing brackets.
Niggemeyer said he isn't too familiar with the thresholds because the Department of Criminal Investigation deals with gambling issues more than he does, but as stakes increase, there is a point where the state will say they are too high. So anyone asked to buy into a pool for $100 probably should reconsider getting involved. If poker games are getting out of the “penny” ante stage where large amounts of money are being bet, then the host needs to have a gambling license.
In fact, according to the Iowa code, if participating in a pool at a bar or business which sells alcohol, the bet is limited to $5. The most a person is allowed to win is $500. The business also should buy a social gambling license. The fee is $150 for a two-year license.
The Iowa code says sports pools in places other than establishments holding liquor licenses are not legal. Other places can obtain a social gambling license for $100 per two year license, but it does not cover sports pools.
But the gray area continues to grow. The social gambling license is for pools sponsored by these places. Lee County Attorney Mike Short said gambling between individuals is different. If employees at the Daily Democrat, for example, put together a pool which was not sanctioned by the newspaper and they did it on their own time, that would be legal under certain conditions. Short said the pay- out is limited to $50 in these cases. So if everyone puts in a dollar and there's 64 teams in the tournament, the winner will get a few dollars more than allowed.
This is the same at drinking establishments. If the bar isn't sponsoring the pool, it is gambling between individuals. Those individuals, however, are supposed to have some sort of social relationship outside of hanging out at the same bar.
He said he has never went to court over an NCAA pool.
“It's kind of like fireworks on the Fourth of July,” he said.
Fireworks are illegal in Iowa, but try to fine everyone who shoots off a bottle rocket on July 4th.
Short said the gambling cases he has worked on as county attorney usually come from spouses whose husband or wife has gambled away the utility bill or rent money and they are tired of it happening.
The charge, should police decide to bust the thousands of pools across the state, is a simple misdemeanor, usually a fine of $65. And with 64 teams in the tournament, with $1 bet on each team, the gambler once again breaks even