What is legally considered gambling, or a raffle?
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What is legally considered gambling, or a raffle?
I want to start a personal fundraiser. Basically I want to ask for money to
invest. In exchange I will offer to randomly select from the donors to award a
of the profits each year. Is there a legal issue with making such a promise? I’m
acting as myself, and not a business.
Asked on June 19, 2017 under Business Law, Arizona
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
Yes, there is a legal issue: what you describe is illegal. Gambling is illegal in your state, other than state lotteries and tribal gaming. Any time you have consideration, chance, and a prize, you have gambling--so any time someone pays something ("consideration") for the opportunity to win something of value ("prize") based on chance (e.g. "randomly select"), that would be gambling, which again is illegal in your state, which in turn means you would be committing the crime of offering illegal gambling. You cannot offer people the chance to win money based on random selections or drawings without running afoul of the law.
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