Iowa Admin. Code r. 491-8.2

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 11, December 11, 2024

Rule 491-8.2 - General

(1)Wagering. Each facility shall conduct wagering in accordance with applicable laws and these rules. Such wagering shall employ a pari-mutuel system approved by the commission. The totalizator shall be tested prior to and during the meeting as required by the commission. Annually, the facility shall have an external audit, approved by the administrator, of the totalizator system. All systems of wagering other than pari-mutuel, such as bookmaking and auction-pool selling, are prohibited, and any person attempting to participate in prohibited wagering shall be ejected or excluded from facility grounds.

(2)Records. The facility shall maintain records of all wagering so the commission may review such records for any contest including the opening line, subsequent odds fluctuation, the amount and at which window wagers were placed on any betting interest and such other information as may be required. Such wagering records shall be retained by each facility and safeguarded for a period of time specified by the commission. The commission may require that certain of these records be made available to the wagering public at the completion of each contest.

The facility shall provide the commission with a list of the licensed individuals afforded access to pari-mutuel records and equipment at the wagering facility.

(3)Pari-mutuel tickets. A pari-mutuel ticket is evidence of a contribution to the pari-mutuel pool operated by the facility and is evidence of the obligation of the facility to pay to the holder thereof such portion of the distributable amount of the pari-mutuel pool as is represented by such valid pari-mutuel ticket. The facility shall cash all valid winning tickets when such are presented for payment during the course of the meeting where sold and for a specified period after the last day of the meeting as provided in paragraph 8.2(4)"g."

a. To be deemed a valid pari-mutuel ticket, such ticket shall have been issued by a pari-mutuel ticket machine operated by the facility and recorded as a ticket entitled to a share of the pari-mutuel pool and contain imprinted information as to:

(1) The name of the facility operating the meeting.

(2) A unique identifying number or code.

(3) Identification of the terminal at which the ticket was issued.

(4) A designation of the performance for which the wagering transaction was issued.

(5) The contest number for which the pool is conducted.

(6) The type(s) of wagers represented.

(7) The number(s) representing the betting interests for which the wager is recorded.

(8) The amount(s) of the contributions to the pari-mutuel pool or pools for which the ticket is evidence.

b. No pari-mutuel ticket recorded or reported as previously paid, canceled, or nonexistent shall be deemed a valid pari-mutuel ticket by the facility. The facility may withhold payment and refuse to cash any pari-mutuel ticket deemed not valid, except as provided in paragraph 8.2(4)"e."

(4)Pari-mutuel ticket sales.

a. Pari-mutuel tickets shall not be sold by anyone other than a facility licensed to conduct pari-mutuel wagering.

b. No pari-mutuel ticket may be sold on a contest for which wagering has already been closed, and no facility shall be responsible for ticket sales entered into but not completed by issuance of a ticket before the totalizator is closed for wagering on such contest.

c. Claims pertaining to a mistake on an issued or unissued ticket must be made by the bettor prior to leaving the seller's window.

d. Payment on winning pari-mutuel wagers shall be made on the basis of the order of finish as purposely posted and declared "official." Any subsequent change in the order of finish or award of purse money(s) as may result from a subsequent ruling by the stewards or administrator shall in no way affect the pari-mutuel payoff. If an error in the posted order of finish or payoff figures is discovered, the official order of finish or payoff prices may be corrected and an announcement concerning the change shall be made to the public.

e. The facility shall not satisfy claims on lost, mutilated, or altered pari-mutuel tickets without authorization from the administrator.

f. The facility shall have no obligation to enter a wager into a betting pool if unable to do so due to equipment failure.

g. Payment on valid pari-mutuel tickets shall be made only upon presentation and surrender to the facility where the wager was made within 60 days following the close of the meeting during which the wager was made. Failure to present any such ticket within 60 days shall constitute a waiver of the right to receive payment.

(5)Advance performance wagering. Rescinded IAB 2/22/23, effective 3/29/23.

(6)Claims for payment from pari-mutuel pool. At a designated location, a written, verified claim for payment from a pari-mutuel pool shall be accepted by the facility in any case where the facility has withheld payment or has refused to cash a pari-mutuel wager. The claim shall be made on such form as approved by the administrator, and the claimant shall make such claim under penalty of perjury. The original of such claim shall be forwarded to the administrator within 48 hours.

a. In the case ofa claim made for payment of a mutilated pari-mutuel ticket which does not contain the total imprinted elements required in paragraph 8.2(3)"a" of these general provisions, the facility shall make a recommendation to accompany the claim forwarded to the administrator as to whether or not the mutilated ticket has sufficient elements to be positively identified as a winning ticket.

b. In the case of a claim made for payment on a pari-mutuel wager, the administrator shall adjudicate the claim and may order payment thereon from the pari-mutuel pool or by the facility, may deny the claim, or may make such other order as the administrator may deem proper.

(7)Payment for errors. If an error occurs in the payment amounts for pari-mutuel wagers which are cashed or entitled to be cashed, and as a result of such error the pari-mutuel pool involved in the error is not correctly distributed among winning ticket holders, the following shall apply:

a. Verification is required to show that the amount of the commission, the amount in breakage, and the amount in payoffs are equal to the total gross pool. If the amount of the pool is more than the amount used to calculate the payoff, the underpayment shall be added to the corresponding pool of the next contest. If an underpayment is discovered after the close of the meeting, the underpayment shall be held in an interest-bearing account approved by the administrator until being added, together with accrued interest, to the corresponding pool of the next meet.

b. Any claim not filed with the facility within 30 days, inclusive of the date on which the underpayment was publicly announced, shall be deemed waived, and the facility shall have no further liability therefor.

c. In the event the error results in an overpayment to winning wagers, the facility shall be responsible for such payment.

(8)Betting explanation. A summary explanation of pari-mutuel wagering and each type of betting pool offered shall be published in the program for every wagering performance. The rules of racing relative to each type of pari-mutuel pool offered must be prominently displayed on facility grounds and available upon request through facility representatives.

(9)Display of betting information.

a. Approximate odds for win pool betting shall be posted on display devices within view of the wagering public and updated at intervals of not more than 90 seconds.

b. The probable payoff or amounts wagered, in total and on each betting interest, for other pools may be displayed to the wagering public at intervals and in a manner approved by the administrator.

c. Official results and payoffs must be displayed upon each contest being declared official.

(10)Canceled contests. If a contest is canceled or declared "no contest," refunds shall be granted on valid wagers in accordance with these rules.

(11)Refunds.

a. Notwithstanding other provisions of these rules, refunds of the entire pool shall be made on:

(1) Win pools, exacta pools, and first-half double pools offered in contests in which the number of betting interests has been reduced to fewer than two.

(2) Place pools, quinella pools, trifecta pools, first-half quinella double pools, first-half twin quinella pools, first-half twin trifecta pools, and first-half tri-superfecta pools offered in contests in which the number of betting interests has been reduced to fewer than three.

(3) Show pools, superfecta pools, and first-half twin superfecta pools offered in contests in which the number of betting interests has been reduced to fewer than four.

b. Authorized refunds shall be paid upon presentation and surrender of the affected pari-mutuel ticket.

(12)Coupled entries and mutuel fields.

a. Contestants coupled in wagering as a coupled entry or mutuel field shall be considered part of a single betting interest for the purpose of price calculations and distribution of pools. Should any contestant in a coupled entry or mutuel field be officially withdrawn or scratched, the remaining contestants in that coupled entry or mutuel field shall remain valid betting interests and no refunds will be granted. If all contestants within a coupled entry or mutuel field are scratched, then tickets on such betting interests shall be refunded, notwithstanding other provisions of these rules.

b. For the purpose of price calculations only, coupled entries and mutuel fields shall be calculated as a single finisher, using the finishing position of the leading contestant in that coupled entry or mutuel field to determine order of placing. This rule shall apply to all circumstances, including situations involving a dead heat, except as otherwise provided by these rules.

(13)Pools dependent upon betting interests. Unless the administrator otherwise provides, at the time the pools are opened for wagering, the facility:

a. May offer win, place, and show wagering on all contests.

b. May prohibit show wagering on any contest with five or fewer betting interests scheduled to start.

c. May prohibit place wagering on any contest with four or fewer betting interests scheduled to start.

d. May prohibit quinella wagering on any contest with three or fewer betting interests scheduled to start.

e. May prohibit quinella double wagering on any contests with three or fewer betting interests scheduled to start.

f. May prohibit exacta wagering on any contest with three or fewer betting interests scheduled to start.

g. May prohibit trifecta wagering on any contest with five or fewer betting interests scheduled to start, or as provided in subparagraph 8.2(13)"g"(1) below:

(1) Cancel trifecta. The stewards have the authority to cancel trifecta wagering at any time they determine an irregular pattern of wagering or determine that the conduct of the race would not be in the interest of the regulation of the pari-mutuel wagering industry or in the public confidence in racing. The stewards may approve smaller fields for trifecta wagering if extraneous circumstances are shown by the facility.

(2) Reserved.

h. May prohibit superfecta and pentafecta wagering on any contest with seven or fewer betting interests scheduled to start.

i. May prohibit twin quinella wagering on any contests with three or fewer betting interests scheduled to start.

j. May prohibit twin trifecta wagering on any contests with seven or fewer betting interests scheduled to start, except as provided in subparagraph 8.2(13)"g"(1).

k. May prohibit tri-superfecta wagering on any contests with seven or fewer betting interests scheduled to start.

l. May prohibit twin superfecta wagering on any contests with seven or fewer betting interests scheduled to start.

(14)Prior approval required for betting pools.

a. A facility that desires to offer new forms of wagering must apply in writing to the administrator and receive written approval prior to implementing the new betting pool.

b. The facility may suspend previously approved forms of wagering with the prior approval of the administrator. Any carryover shall be held until the suspended form of wagering is reinstated. A facility may request approval of a form of wagering or separate wagering pool for specific requirements.

(15)Closing of wagering in a contest.

a. All wagering shall stop and all pari-mutuel machines shall be locked at post time or at the actual start of the races. Machines shall be automatically locked, unless unusual circumstances dictate that the stewards act differently.

b. The facility shall maintain, in good order, a system approved by the administrator for closing wagering.

(16)Complaints pertaining to pari-mutuel operations.

a. When a patron makes a complaint to a facility regarding the mutuel department, the facility shall immediately issue a complaint report, setting out:

(1) The name of the complainant;

(2) The nature of the complaint;

(3) The name of the persons, if any, against whom the complaint was made;

(4) The date of the complaint;

(5) The action taken or proposed to be taken, if any, by the facility.

b. The facility shall submit every complaint report to the commission within five days after the complaint was made.

(17)Facility/vendor employees. All facility/vendor employees shall report immediately to the administrator any known irregularities or wrongdoings by any person involving pari-mutuel wagering and shall cooperate in subsequent investigations.

(18)Unrestricted access. The facility shall permit the commission unrestricted access at all times to its facilities and equipment and to all books, ledgers, accounts, documents and records of the facility that relate to pari-mutuel wagering.

(19)Totalizator breakdown. In the event of irreparable breakdown of the totalizator during the wagering on a race, the wagering on that race shall be declared closed and the payoff shall be computed on the sums wagered in each pool up to the time of the breakdown.

(20)Minimum wager and payoff. The minimum wager to be accepted by any licensed facility for win, place and show wagering shall be $2. The minimum payoff on a $2 wager shall be $2.10. For all other wagers, the minimum wager to be accepted by any licensed facility shall be $1. The minimum payoff for a $1 wager shall be $1.05. Any deviation from these minimums must be approved by the administrator. In cases where a minus pool occurs, the facility is responsible for the payment of the minimum payoff and no breakage shall be incurred from that pari-mutuel pool.

(21)Underage wagering prohibited. No person under the age of 21 shall be permitted by any licensed facility to purchase or cash a pari-mutuel ticket.

(22)Emergency situations. In the event of an emergency in connection with the mutuel department not covered in these rules, the pari-mutuel manager representing the facility shall report the problem to the stewards, and the stewards shall render a full report to the administrator or administrator's designee within 48 hours.

(23)Commission mutuel supervisor. The commission may employ a mutuel supervisor with accounting experience to serve as the commission's designated representative at each race meeting as provided in Iowa Code section 99D.19. In the absence of a specifically appointed commission mutuel supervisor, the board of stewards or simulcast steward will perform the functions and duties of the commission.

Iowa Admin. Code r. 491-8.2

ARC 0734C, IAB 5/15/2013, effective 6/19/2013

Amended by IAB February 18, 2015/Volume XXXVII, Number 17, effective 3/25/2015

Amended by IAB January 31, 2018/Volume XL, Number 16, effective 3/7/2018

Amended by IAB February 10, 2021/Volume XLIII, Number 17, effective 3/17/2021

Amended by IAB February 22, 2023/Volume XLV, Number 17, effective 3/29/2023