The wacky world of bar raffles

Think meat raffles are weird? Wait till you see what other bar gambling games Minnesotans have come up with. The first two are approved raffles. The final three were denied by the state's gambling board. The reasons are not always obvious.

Participants "adopt" a rubber duck by buying a corresponding raffle ticket or a certificate of participation. The ducks, all of equal size and shape, are dropped into a moving body of water and the first duck to cross the finish line wins.

Tickets are assigned to a specific grid location on a "drop area." The winning entry is determined by the random dropping of a cow pie. The grid containing the largest amount of the cow pie as determined by independent judges would be the winner.

A vehicle is placed on a frozen body of water. Each participant submits an entry that indicates the date and time the vehicle would "enter the water." The holder of the entry with the closest prediction for when the vehicle drops into the water wins the prize.

Reason for denial: For this event to be considered a "raffle," there would need to be a random drawing. Based on the fact that each entry in the contest would need to be evaluated or judged, there is no random selection to determine the winner. Also: This event would involve "the deposit of solid waste" into a protected resource of Minnesota.

A live chicken in an enclosed cage/pen is released. Participants wait for the chicken to make a "deposit" on a grid with correlating numbers to raffle tickets.

Reason for denial: While the basic concept is similar to the approved Cow-a-bunga-bingo, the proposed use of chickens would involve different parameters. Under the approved game with a cow, the cow is allowed to be in their "natural environment" — a pasture — while the chicken(s) would be restricted in a cage. Also: The Laws of Minnesota Chapter 343 impose certain restrictions specifically on the use of chickens (for advertising purposes), including limitations and restrictions for "caging" and care of the animals.

A game board has 36 holes surrounding the perimeter. Each designated hole includes a payout limit, and four holes in each corner are considered to be "house holes." Players bet on up to five holes. A live mouse is released on the board, and whichever hole it crawls into designates the winning hole. If the mouse enters one of the "house holes," no prizes are awarded.

Reason for denial: The randomness of the game board cannot be assured (mice might generally gravitate to the corner and that is probably why the odds for those particular holes favor the "house").

Sharyn Jackson

Source: Adapted from "Information on the conduct of raffles," Minnesota Gambling Control Board