Are raffle draws considered gambling?

[Emjay24]

Yesterday I was at a youth convention in a church setting and part of the program events was the raffle draw, I watched as people who bought varying quantities of tickets were seated waiting for the outcome of random picks by selected people from a pool of tickets which decides the winners of certain categories of rewards. The pool was always reshuffled before each pick and the persons that does the pick looks away before picking to ensure fairness.

Personally, I bought 4 of such tickets and won nothing but I watched another girl who bought only 1 ticket win both a smart phone and a 25kg bag of rice and this got me wondering if we were actually gambling.

Now reconnecting it to gambling,

• A lot of people bought these tickets with varying amounts of money which can be considered the staking power
• Lots of rewards were available of which most of them were X100 - X1000 of the worth of money used by people for ticket purchases
• The tickets sales generated a lot of money of which the prize rewards were only about 30% of the total sales which can be considered 30% RTP
• Tickets were bought for the possibility of winning various rewards and it was tied to a random outcome
• More ticket buys doesn't not guarantee winning, just like throwing more money into the casino doesn't validate your winning anything

Funny enough my priest who always condemns gambling was there enjoying the raffle draw session.

NB: I knew about the RTP since I was among the organizers of the event.

here are the questions
- Can raffle draws be considered a form of gambling?
- Is it right that a Religious house speaks against gambling, but allows raffle draws?

[Fivestar4everMVP]

here are the questions
- Can raffle draws be considered a form of gambling?
- Is it right that a Religious house speaks against gambling, but allows raffle draws?

Yes, what you explained above is a clear gambling, what ever you engage yourself in that requires you risking any amount of money for a potential/possible reward if you win, or nothing if you lost, is considered as gambling regardless of the settings or place where the event is being organised or held.

A church known to preach against gambling should not have gotten into such type of event because they clearly promoted gambling, but maybe the priest realising this later may say "well, we are all humans and no one is holy and above mistakes no matter their level in the Christian faith".

But the church would have done instead is launch a freewill donation that should be used to buy the items for the reward, then make the ticket free to pick by all members of the church with no one allowed to pick more than one ticket, whoever won is lucky, and who didn't win will still go home happy because they didn't buy the ticket, and this would have still generated the same level of fun experienced in the event..but unfortunately, they church used their members to make more money, obviously practising something they preach against.

[_act_]

You have to pay money before you can be part of the people, just like lotttery. Anything that you pay money and expecting more money in return within a short period of time are gambling. Just to make this to be short, what you explained is just gambling. But it is fun, not often and no addiction and it is recreational and social.

[rachael9385]

To participate in a raffle draw one must spend an amount of money or do some tasks and also winning is also based on luck, this is what makes it more about gambling. If you have to pay money to be part of those that qualifies for it then you are automatically gambling. The answer is yes, it's gambling.

[Smartprofit]

Yes, in my opinion, this is pure gambling. This lottery has all the elements of gambling. The prize? Yes, an iPhone and rice. A random selection of the winner? Yes. A fee to enter the lottery? Yes. Verdict: it's gambling! 🙋

Why did the priests allow this? Perhaps they thought the ends justified the means in this situation. However, in my country, there's a saying: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." This lottery is essentially gambling, and the fact that the church blesses it, in my opinion, makes it dangerous for young people. Because young people will have a misunderstanding of the line between good and evil (between good deeds and bad deeds).

At the same time, I don't want to condemn the priests who organized this lottery. Condemning others is a sin. But in my opinion, publicly condemning gambling while simultaneously running such lotteries is wrong.  It would be much better if priests simply collected voluntary donations. 🤷

[AmoreJaz]

You have to pay money before you can be part of the people, just like lotttery. Anything that you pay money and expecting more money in return within a short period of time are gambling. Just to make this to be short, what you explained is just gambling. But it is fun, not often and no addiction and it is recreational and social.

That is true, not only money but any valuable items at stake. So yeah, raffle draws can be considered gambling so long it involves some valuable amount. It won't be if there's nothing used to get into the raffle. Just pure luck. So when it comes to raffle or lottery, as long as someone used valuable material can be considered gambling.

[Fiatless]

I have also been in a religious gathering where we bought tickets to compete in different games. The funniest part of it is that the teachings of this organisation forbid gambling. Most people didn't see it as gambling. They saw it as a means of raising funds for projects. So I would have to assume that the mindset of participants will determine if an activity is gambling or not.

[Sandra_hakeem]

• A lot of people bought these tickets with varying amounts of money which can be considered the staking power
• Lots of rewards were available of which most of them were X100 - X1000 of the worth of money used by people for ticket purchases
• The tickets sales generated a lot of money of which the prize rewards were only about 30% of the total sales which can be considered 30% RTP
• Tickets were bought for the possibility of winning various rewards and it was tied to a random outcome
• More ticket buys doesn't not guarantee winning, just like throwing more money into the casino doesn't validate your winning anything

Funny enough my priest who always condemns gambling was there enjoying the raffle draw session.
NB: I knew about the RTP since I was among the organizers of the event.
here are the questions
- Can raffle draws be considered a form of gambling?

Yes. It doesn't have to be an arranged session in a lottery house for it to be considered gambling. Infact, what you just described can date back to be one of the oldest forms of gambling, when there wasn't a thing like odds, favourite, handicap, underdog--- just scatter-and-pick, if you're lucky to get prize attached, it's a win for you.

I think it can be fun since it's not a regular practice and was done in a different setting. The kids should also be cautioned to avoid any of those practices without the supervision of, say an organizer like you.

- Is it right that a Religious house speaks against gambling, but allows raffle draws?

That's left for the Religious house to decide, not for me.

[Doan9269]

I will say raffle draw is not gambling but games we play during leisure time that could be found under the category of contest, once we are not staking money on a bet in playing raffle, then we can see it as an entertainment and this is not what we can call gambling by the nature of how we engage it, raffles are mostly administered freely for people to participate and also stand a chance of winning something by luck, this is not what you are will have to subscribe for or stake your money to participate in it.

[acroman08]

here are the questions
- Can raffle draws be considered a form of gambling?

If we are talking about the raffle draw you mentioned on this thread, then yeah, I mean, as you said, you bought a ticket, and you are expecting a prize by being picked randomly. That being said, this is just my opinion, but if the raffle doesn't require you to buy anything in order to participate in the raffle and win a prize, then it is not gambling.

- Is it right that a Religious house speaks against gambling, but allows raffle draws?

I don't really care, but it's hypocritical on their part. Also, I doubt the religious people who did the raffle would see what they did as gambling, they would even say that it was for a good cause, so it's okay to do.

[Orpichukwu]

That’s gambling no matter what or how they want to describe it to fit in their religious belief; as long as money is involved and the winning chance is based on probability, there is nothing dissociating it from what makes up an activity to be seen as gambling.

At the end of the day some people's money will be used to settle for the prize being won in that place, and there might be profit made. if the raffle continues and the tickets buying keeping on coming.

[Fortify]

Yesterday I was at a youth convention in a church setting and part of the program events was the raffle draw, I watched as people who bought varying quantities of tickets were seated waiting for the outcome of random picks by selected people from a pool of tickets which decides the winners of certain categories of rewards. The pool was always reshuffled before each pick and the persons that does the pick looks away before picking to ensure fairness.

Personally, I bought 4 of such tickets and won nothing but I watched another girl who bought only 1 ticket win both a smart phone and a 25kg bag of rice and this got me wondering if we were actually gambling.

here are the questions
- Can raffle draws be considered a form of gambling?
- Is it right that a Religious house speaks against gambling, but allows raffle draws?

It depends on the country you're in really, as each is free to define them as they like. Some might legally consider raffles gambling and others might regulate them to some degree but not label them as gambling. You can look at the UK for example, which has much more lenient rules towards raffles - probably because they're often used in charities and similar events, but this can allow some unscrupulous companies to exploit it. As you say, it can also depend on the prize structure, because if only 5% or a low number is taken for expenses, maybe break even, then you might consider it fairly harmless because no third party is making big gains from offering it to people but it should be transparent.

[allfriends88]

In my opinion, based on your explanation, this activity constitutes gambling, as it requires you to spend money to buy tickets in the hope of winning a larger prize. There are winners and losers in this activity. And of course, in my area, this kind of activity exists, especially at major events.

[PostQuantumBTC]

I will say raffle draw is not gambling but games we play during leisure time that could be found under the category of contest, once we are not staking money on a bet in playing raffle, then we can see it as an entertainment and this is not what we can call gambling by the nature of how we engage it, raffles are mostly administered freely for people to participate and also stand a chance of winning something by luck, this is not what you are will have to subscribe for or stake your money to participate in it.

The raffle that is talked about on this thread is gambling. You could have done some that might not require money, but if it requires money as usual, it is gambling. I saw on the post of the person that started the topic that they paid money. This is it, you can read it:

A lot of people bought these tickets with varying amounts of money which can be considered the staking power.

With what I think, this is just gambling.

[o48o]

-cut-
here are the questions
- Can raffle draws be considered a form of gambling?
- Is it right that a Religious house speaks against gambling, but allows raffle draws?

Obviously you can find religious loopholes to anything when you interpret them in favorable way, just you can in real life. But it's not my call to say how people should practice their form of religion.

But personally, i don't even understand why someone would NOT consider raffle as gambling. They are by dictionary definition a form of gambling, so you would need to do some mental gymnastic to disagree with a meaning of a word in that ancient text. And wouldn't allowing it look like an obvious search of a loophole?

Some could argue that it's not based on skill, like some "real" gambling, but i could argue that skill doesn't matter in most gambling. Because gambling isn't a competition, it's just predicting the outcome of a competition while accepting that odds won't likely favor your insight, or "skills" you have.

[coin-investor]

here are the questions
- Can raffle draws be considered a form of gambling?

Yes, because these two elements are present: chance and prize. These two elements are also present in gambling: you put money with the expectation of winning a prize.

- Is it right that a Religious house speaks against gambling, but allows raffle draws?

It's not right, but here in our country, they only talk about addiction since gambling is legal in our country, and about the raffle draw, they do it in a fun way, and usually to raise funds, but of course it's still gambling.

[Sticky Bomb]

I have also been in a religious gathering where we bought tickets to compete in different games. The funniest part of it is that the teachings of this organisation forbid gambling. Most people didn't see it as gambling. They saw it as a means of raising funds for projects. So I would have to assume that the mindset of participants will determine if an activity is gambling or not.

Mindset doesn't replace truths, the truth is that it is gambling whether they see it as that or not. Such a thing if practiced outside by an independent person would be heavily condemned by the church, so it is more like some religions puts their members into mental slavery and as long as those stuffs are done in the church, it is good, but done outside it becomes bad. That is double standard to me.  Raffle draws are pure gambling not minding the purpose it is intended or the setting it is conducted.

The same way some churches forbids doing businesses on Sundays but goes ahead to sell religious items and conduct funds raising in the church on the same Sundays, Who is fooling who?

[len01]

- Can raffle draws be considered a form of gambling?

You've actually answered your own question. But I'd like to add that anything that relies on luck and involves risking money, such as buying any number of tickets without a guarantee of a refund, can be considered gambling.

- Is it right that a Religious house speaks against gambling, but allows raffle draws?

Sometimes, when something isn't in a religious institution's best interest, they'll oppose it no matter what. Unless there's money behind the scenes. 

[Doan9269]

I will say raffle draw is not gambling but games we play during leisure time that could be found under the category of contest, once we are not staking money on a bet in playing raffle, then we can see it as an entertainment and this is not what we can call gambling by the nature of how we engage it, raffles are mostly administered freely for people to participate and also stand a chance of winning something by luck, this is not what you are will have to subscribe for or stake your money to participate in it.

The raffle that is talked about on this thread is gambling. You could have done some that might not require money, but if it requires money as usual, it is gambling. I saw on the post of the person that started the topic that they paid money. This is it, you can read it:

A lot of people bought these tickets with varying amounts of money which can be considered the staking power.

With what I think, this is just gambling.

You are absolutely right then, this is gambling indeed because one has to pay for betting the raffle, unlike the random once we often participate without having to stake, I think I miss that aspect of it that specify on the gambling raffle then, while on this note, I don't think I will be able to develop much interest in offers like this when I know that we are all competing against each other to find a winner for the raffle play, I would rather appreciate more of my normal gambling games on the casino, especially sportsbet and stake for it than staking for raffle.

[Ronsbit]

I will say raffle draw is not gambling but games we play during leisure time that could be found under the category of contest, once we are not staking money on a bet in playing raffle, then we can see it as an entertainment and this is not what we can call gambling by the nature of how we engage it, raffles are mostly administered freely for people to participate and also stand a chance of winning something by luck, this is not what you are will have to subscribe for or stake your money to participate in it.

I disagree with your point here, as far as I know, the tickets bought for raffles are the staking power under the probability of one winning the game or not. As long as one has bought the ticket, there is no refund of money, which is still equivalent to the gambling methods. It is either you win something, or you lose it, which is why it is called a risky game, and the ratio in winning and losing expectancy is a 50/50 basis. This is similar to gambling; no matter how the name is twisted or sugar-coated, winning the game is always a matter of luck.