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Iowa was the first state to legalize riverboat gambling. The boats began operating on April Fools Day in 1991 and passengers were originally limited to $5 per bet with a maximum loss of $200 per person, per cruise. Because of these restrictions several boats later moved to Mississippi which offered 24-hour, no-limit, dockside gambling.

In September 1991 the first riverboats began operating in the bordering state of Illinois and these boats didn’t have Iowa’s restrictive bet or loss limits. The increased competition from these boats cut deeply into the profitability of the Iowa boats and in early 1994 the Iowa legislature voted to eliminate the gambling restrictions. Additionally, gaming machines were legalized at three of the state’s four pari-mutuel facilities. In mid-2004 a provision was added to allow table games at those three tracks. That same year the state also legalized casinos on moored barges that float in man-made basins of water and no longer required the casinos to be on boats. 

Here's information, as supplied by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, showing the electronic gaming machine payback percentages for all non-Indian locations for the one-year period from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008:

LOCATION

PAYBACK %

Dubuque Greyhound
92.94

Diamond Jo Dubuque

92.66

Prairie Meadows

92.51

Mississippi Belle II

92.07

Rhythm City

92.01

Isle of Capri - Marquette

92.00

Isle of Capri - Bettendorf

91.95

Isle Of Capri- Water Loo

91.74

Wild Rose- Emmetsburg

91.59

Catfish Bend

91.54

Riverside

91.38

Argosy Sioux City

91.30

Diamond Jo Worth
91.01

Terrible's Lakeside

90.96

Ameristar

90.75

Harrah's

90.44

Horseshoe Council Bluffs

90.08

These figures reflect the total percentages returned by each riverboat casino or pari-mutuel facility for all of its electronic machines including: slots, video poker, video keno, etc.

Iowa also has three Indian casinos and there is no public information available regarding payback percentages at Iowa indian casinos.

Admission to all Iowa casinos is free and,  unless otherwise noted, all casinos are open 24 hours.

All Iowa casinos offer: blackjack, roulette, craps, slots and video poker. Some casinos also offer: mini-baccarat (MB), poker (P), pai gow poker (PGP), Caribbean stud poker (CSP), let it ride (LIR), big 6 (B6), bingo (BG), keno (K), three card poker (TCP), four card poker (FCP) and Spanish 21 (S21). The minimum gambling age is 21.

NOTE: If you happen to win a jackpot of $1,200 or more in Iowa, the casino will withhold 5% of your winnings for the Iowa Department of Revenue. If you want to try and get that money refunded, you will be required to file a state income tax return and, depending on the details of your return, you may get some of the money returned to you. The $1,200 threshold would also apply to any cash prizes won in casino drawings or tournaments.

For more information on visiting Iowa call the state’s tourism department at (800) 345-4692 or visit their web site at www.traveliowa.com.

Shown below is a list of all Iowa casinos. Click on a casino name to see a page of detailed information about that particular casino.

 

 
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Did You Know

The FBI estimates that more than $2.5 billion is illegally wagered annually on March Madness each year. Comparatively, sports book operators estimate $80 million to $90 million – less than 4 percent of the illegal take – is wagered on the tournament legally through Nevada’s 187 sports books. According to the NCAA, more than 10 percent of Americans participate in March Madness “office pools.”

The top 7 gaming markets in the U.S. and their annual revenues in 2007 were

  1. Las Vegas Strip  $6.750 billion 
  2. Atlantic City, N.J.   $4.921 billion
  3. Chicagoland, Ind./Ill.   $2.602 billion
  4. Connecticut  $1.685 billion
  5. Detroit  $1.335 billion 
  6. Tunica/Lula, Miss.  $1.243 billion
  7. Biloxi, Miss.   $1.007 billion

More bets are placed on the Super Bowl than on any other sporting event of the year, including March Madness.

Coming in at #2 last year was the Kentucky Derby

The 2007 Super Bowl marked the second biggest Super Bowl revenue for the Nevada Sports Books ever, with gross revenue for the weekend reaching $12.9 million.  Approximately $93 million was wagered on the Super Bowl in the state’s sports books in 2007, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

In the 12 states with commercial casinos in operation in 2007, casinos contributed $5.79 billion in tax revenue to state and local governments, a 11.3 percent increase over 2006

In 1989 The Mirage Hotel & Casino Resort opened in Las Vegas and it began the tradition of the destination casino resort. When it opened, the Mirage was the most expensive hotel casino ever built, with construction costs of $630 million. It featured more than 3,000 rooms and headliner attractions such as Siegfried and Roy's magic show.

Slots and other electronic gaming machines generate about 65% of the gaming revenues for the average U.S. casino.

Blackjack is the most popular table game in U.S. casinos.

There are 11 states with "racinos" - racetracks with a casino - Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana , Maine, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia.

Of the total amount bet on the Super Bowl, only about 1.5 percent is wagered legally; these bets are made by those over age 21 and physically present in the state of Nevada.