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Can I offer contests that involve skill-based games in Texas? What are the requirements?

To offer contests that involve skill-based games in Texas, you must comply with the requirements set forth in Tex. Bus. & Com. Section 621.202. The offeror must maintain records of the identity and address of each person responsible for developing, creating, sponsoring, or implementing any part of the advertising plan or program, records that show that the winning numbers have been deposited in the mail or otherwise made available to recipients in accordance with the odds statement provided under Section 621.104(a), a copy of each contest solicitation, and records adequate to determine the name and address of each contestant, the approximate date each contestant was sent the solicitation used in the contest, the number of major prizes awarded, the date each major prize was awarded, the name, brand, type, model number, and manufacturer of each prize offered, the method of computing the retail value of each prize, the method of selecting major prize winners, the name and address of each major prize winner, and the facts on which each representation or disclosure made in connection with the contest was based and from which the validity of the representation or disclosure can be determined [1.1].

Additionally, Tex. Bus. & Com. Section 621.104 requires that a person who uses a matched contest shall clearly and conspicuously disclose in writing in the offer all requirements, restrictions, qualifications, and other conditions that must be satisfied for a person to enter the contest, including any deadline by which the person must visit the location or attend the sales presentation to qualify to receive a prize and the approximate duration of the sales presentation. The offeror must also disclose the odds of winning each prize offered, expressed as a ratio in Arabic numerals, the geographical area or states in which the contest will be conducted, the beginning and ending dates of the contest period, the identity and address of each person responsible for awarding prizes, that all unclaimed prizes will be awarded by a drawing and the date of the drawing, and all other rules and terms of the contest [1.3].

Furthermore, Tex. Bus. & Com. Section 621.105 prohibits a person engaged in the preparation, promotion, sale, distribution, or use of a matched contest from using the term “prize” or a similar term in a false, misleading, or deceptive manner, representing in soliciting a person to enter or participate in the contest that the person is a “finalist,” “major award winner,” “grand prize recipient,” or “winner” or that a person has “won,” “will win,” or “will be awarded” or use words or phrases of similar meaning unless the representation is true, misrepresenting the odds of winning a prize, misrepresenting the rules or terms of participation in the contest, representing that a number, ticket, coupon, symbol, or entry form confers or will confer an advantage on a person that another person does not have or has a value that other entries do not have, or using a word or phrase that simulates or causes confusion with a document issued by an officer of a court or with the seal or name of a real or fictitious governmental entity [1.5].

Therefore, to offer contests that involve skill-based games in Texas, you must comply with the requirements set forth in Tex. Bus. & Com. Section 621.202, Tex. Bus. & Com. Section 621.104, and Tex. Bus. & Com. Section 621.105.

Source(s):
Jurisdiction

Texas