Center for Gaming Research
UNLV
Iowa Gaming Summary
Background

Casino Gaming

In 1989, Iowa became the first state in the United States to legalize riverboat gaming. Drawing equally on the mythic past and the economic realities of the late 1980s, riverboat gaming was a compromise between those who wanted to use gambling to boost tourism to slumping areas of the state and those who were loath to permit full-fledged casinos.

Iowa's initial gaming laws provided for wager and loss limits and limited gambling operation to cruising periods. With the success of casinos under less stringent restrictions in neighboring Illinois, Iowa eventually loosened its own requirements.

In 1994, Iowa began allowing its race tracks to install slot machines. Table gaming in racinos was introduced in 2005.

Taxation: Maximum 22% on gross gaming revenue at riverboats and land-based casinos and 24% at racetracks with slots and table games with over 100 million in revenues.

More information on Iowa's gambling history can be found here.

More revenue data can be found at the Iowa Gaming and Racing Commission website.

Lottery

Development: Legislation creating Iowa's lottery was signed into law in April 1985 and the lottery began sales on Aug. 22, 1985.

The Lottery sells tickets in three general categories: instant-scratch, pull-tab and lotto games. Lottery products are sold at more than 2,500 retail locations in Iowa.

The Iowa Lottery Board is made up of five Iowa citizens appointed by the governor. The board oversees the lottery and its operations. Each department at the lottery formally reports to the board at meetings held throughout the year. According to Iowa Code, the Lottery Board must have a member with an accounting background, a member with experience in marketing, a member with law enforcement experience and another member who has or is currently practicing law. The State Treasurer serves as an ex-officio member of the board.

Beneficiaries: When legislation authorizing the Iowa Lottery was signed into law in 1985, lottery profits were earmarked for the Iowa Plan, a long-term economic development program. In 1991, lottery profits were designated for environmental and cultural programs. But after one year, lottery proceeds were directed to the state general fund.

Today, lottery proceeds are used for three main purposes in Iowa. They provide support for veterans; help for a variety of significant projects and backing for the Vision Iowa program. A portion of revenues are also directed to the Iowa Department of Public Health's Gambling Treatment Fund.

For more information see the Iowa Lottery website.
Casino data (fiscal year)

This section has annual comparative data for several metrics of Iowa casino performance between 2003 and the present. The top set of tables summarizes data for all Iowa casinos. The ones below it contain information for riverboat casinos, and the last trio of tables details racetrack casinos (racinos).

ALL INFORMATION IS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING IN JUNE OF THE YEAR IN QUESTION.

The data include:

Admissions

Win per capita (WPC)

Number of slot machines

Number of table games

Slot revenue: amount retained by the facility that is not paid out to players upon cashing out or in winnings

Slot win percentage (hold percentage)

Average daily win per machine per day (WMD)

Table drop

Table revenue (win)

Table win percentage (hold percentage)

Average daily win per table per day (WPT)

Adjusted Gross Casino Revenue (AGR)

All Casinos

Year

Admissions

Coin In

Slot Win

Hold%

Keno Drop

Keno Win

Keno %

Total Win

1999

8,192,768

5,370,373,003

296,354,065

5.52%

2,220,661

432,087

19.46%

296,786,152

2000

7,724,577

5,155,339,225

294,930,021

5.72%

-

-

-

294,930,021

2001

6,813,653

5,082,876,239

307,402,471

6.05%

-

-

-

307,402,471
2002

6,808,325

5,096,529,941

316,120,229

6.20%

-

-

-

316,120,229
2003

6,678,206

5,094,469,648

330,312,332

6.48%

-

-

-

330,312,332
2004

6,401,808

4,893,401,866

336,660,705

6.88%

4,651,584

816,218

17.55%

337,476,924
2005

6,456,114

4,792,220,670

341,494,760

7.13%

89,722,230

17,246,371

19.22%

358,741,131
2006

7,467,712

5,335,865,693

397,181,809

7.44%

190,883,367

41,975,681

21.99%

439,157,489
2007

6,933,707

5,121,327,828

409,189,174

7.99%

213,773,242

46,048,677

21.54%

455,237,855
2008

6,655,561

4,900,082,148

419,877,050

8.57%

215,918,360

47,054,752

21.79%

466,931,805
2009

6,315,677

4,374,753,634

392,847,115

8.98%

203,695,748

42,777,737

21.00%

435,624,849
2010

6,283,367

4,332,225,104

392,502,431

9.06%

207,186,704

45,538,895

21.98%

438,041,326
2011

5,864,586

4,325,871,677

398,433,891

9.21%

223,376,758

49,088,732

21.98%

447,522,603
2012

6,335,316

4,436,210,207

407,571,643

9.19%

224,182,729

52,908,702

23.60%

460,480,327
2013

5,887,667

4,248,531,797

390,170,581

9.18%

217,168,179

51,537,272

23.73%

441,707,853
2014

5,919,290

4,021,629,885

374,660,465

9.32%

210,914,329

51,121,227

24.24%

425,781,692

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Riverboat casinos

Year

Admissions

WPC

Slots

Slot Rev

Hold %

WMD

Tables

Table ($)

Hold %

WPT

AGR ($)
2003
12,653,593
53
8,708
584,168,363
6.78%
184
243
80,923,971
20.33%
912
665,092,334
2004
12,896,295
55
8,845
630,500,668
7.01%
195
228
85,009,668
20.47%
1,022
715,510,336
2005
13,398,755
56
8,988
659,744,958
7.39%
201
241
86,253,104
21.21%
981
745,998,062
2006
13,427,449
57
10,164
678,055,799
7.89%
183
279
81,147,190
22.01%
797
759,202,990
2007
15,085,924
57
12,527
779,141,564
8.33%
170
330
80,934,964
21.50%
672
860,076,528
2008
16,991,583
56
12,949
868,246,460
8.61%
183
360
84,157,765
20.71%
639
952,404,225
2009
16,455,523
58
12,830
879,558,609
8.85%
188
353
80,643,755
21.39%
626
960,202,364
2010
15,773,647
59
12,861
856,242,750
8.96%
182
343
73,250,738
21.41%
585
929,493,488
2011
15,713,515
60
12,745
868,010,529
9.06%
187
332
71,920,500
21.34%
594
939,931,029
2012
16,690,125
60
13,365
927,980,212
9.15%
190
343
80,085,122
21.50%
638
1,008,065,334
2013
15,721,892
61
13,354
910,169,564
9.18%
215
327
81,111,262
21.69%
801
991,280,826

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Racetrack casinos

Year
Admissions
WPC
Slots
Slot Rev
Win %
Tables
Table ()
Hold %
AGR ()

2003

19,233,711

51

12,213

899,066,135

6.61%

243

80,923,979

20.33%

979,990,103

2004

19,509,166

54

12,422

966,506,047

6.89%

235

85,009,675

20.47%

1,051,515,709

2005

19,793,161

55

12,722

1,000,588,897

7.28%

287

95,848,113

20.96%

1,096,437,007

2006

20,315,854

57

14,310

1,042,294,193

7.64%

348

106,765,326

21.54%

1,149,059,505

2007

22,519,786

59

16,882

1,190,995,870

8.12%

471

128,968,263

21.67%

1,319,964,125

2008

23,735,176

60

17,629

1,284,265,643

8.49%

499

131,112,208

21.08%

1,415,377,851

2009

22,955,618

62

17,480

1,286,933,157

8.83%

491

125,88,4087

21.40%

1,412,817,244

2010

22,107,596

57

17,552

1,247,487,728

8.99%

490

116,742,764

21.49%

1,364,230,492

2011

21,709,291

64

17,431

1,259,850,224

9.08%

480

119,321,009

21.66%

1,379,171,233

2012

22,828,398

64

18,059

1,335,573,371

9.18%

492

130,390,605

21.84%

1,465,963,976

2013

21,860,285

66

18,079

1,309,404,649

9.17%

469

134,803,865

22.59%

1,444,208,514

2014

21,115,210

-

16,418

1,258,507,828

9.15%

-

137,500,195

-

1,396,008,023

2015

21,651,881

-

16,720

1,282,345,322

9.03%

-

142,006,148

-

1,424,351,470

2016

21,774,455

-

16,967

1,299,290,428

8.85%

-

146,873,287

-

1,446,163,715

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Annual Data

Iowa 2003 statistics - Iowa 2004 statistics - Iowa 2005 statistics - Iowa 2006 statistics - Iowa 2007 statistics
Lottery data (fiscal year)
Year
Total Revenues
Prize Liabilities
Prize %
Net Revenue
Net %
2000
178,229,996
98,392,253
55.20%
43,707,898
24.5%
2001
176,694,136
96,712,105
54.73%
43,141,423
24.4%
2002
184,121,382
99,996,233
54.3%
46,266,324
25.1%
2003
189,021,664
104,199,159
55.1%
46,779,943
24.7%
2004
209,905,452
114,456,963
54.5%
54,841,494
25.9%
2005
211,006,243
113,455,673
53.7%
51,635,965
24.4%
2006
340,906,293
122,258,603
35.8%
81,609,734
23.9%
2007
235,154,990
133,356,860
56.7%
58,092,413
24.7%
2008
249,270,580
144,669,575
58.0%
57,269,065
22.9%
2009
243,406,230
138,425,341
56.87%
58,927,064
24.20%
2010
256,281,759
150,453,787
58.70%
57,376,107
22.38%
2011
271,534,755
158,961,078
58.54%
67,880,793
24.99%
2012
311,068,684
182,442,447
58.65%
79,676,549
25.61%
2013
339,268,251
200,801,768
59.19%
85,902,328
25.32%
2014 314,159,736 186,948,985 59.51% 77,155,645 24.56%
2015 324,777,436 196,882,288 60.62% 76,369,200 23.51%
2016 366,948,164 221,767,401 60.44% 88,557,329 24.13%

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Total revenue is total ticket sales sales plus interest earned on the lottery fund balance and miscellaneous revenue sources . Prize liability is the total amount of prize money paid back to winners. Net Revenue is the total revenue minus vendor and retailer commissions and prize payouts and operating expenses; it is equal to "operating income." Prize and net revenue percentages are taken from the total revenues.

Iowa Gaming Timeline

1983: Iowa legalizes pari-mutuel (horserace) betting

1985: On April 18, Governor Terry Branstad signs bill creating the Iowa Lottery

1989: Voters legalize riverboat gaming

1991: Riverboat gaming begins

2003: Iowa Lottery introduces TouchPlay machines

2004: Gambling on TouchPlay machinesbegins statewide

2006: TouchPlay machines are banned, effective May 4

 

 

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Last modified Tuesday, 06-Dec-2022 10:30:30 PST