Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 2915
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 2915.12 (2026)

Bingo games conducted for amusement only

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Effective:
September 30, 2021
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 110 - 134th General Assembly
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(A) Sections 2915.07 to 2915.15 of the Revised Code do not apply to bingo games that are conducted for the purpose of amusement only. A bingo game is conducted for the purpose of amusement only if it complies with all of the requirements specified in either division (A)(1) or (2) of this section:

(1)(a) The participants do not pay any money or any other thing of value including an admission fee, or any fee for bingo cards or sheets, objects to cover the spaces, or other devices used in playing bingo, for the privilege of participating in the bingo game, or to defray any costs of the game, or pay tips or make donations during or immediately before or after the bingo game.

(b) All prizes awarded during the course of the game are nonmonetary, and in the form of merchandise, goods, or entitlements to goods or services only, and the total value of all prizes awarded during the game is less than one hundred dollars.

(c) No commission, wages, salary, reward, tip, donation, gratuity, or other form of compensation, either directly or indirectly, and regardless of the source, is paid to any bingo game operator for work or labor performed at the site of the bingo game.

(d) The bingo game is not conducted either during or within ten hours of any of the following:

(i) A bingo session during which a charitable bingo game is conducted pursuant to sections 2915.07 to 2915.11 of the Revised Code;

(ii) A scheme or game of chance, or bingo described in division (O)(2) of section 2915.01 of the Revised Code.

(e) The number of players participating in the bingo game does not exceed fifty.

(2)(a) The participants do not pay money or any other thing of value as an admission fee, and no participant is charged more than twenty-five cents to purchase a bingo card or sheet, objects to cover the spaces, or other devices used in playing bingo.

(b) The total amount of money paid by all of the participants for bingo cards or sheets, objects to cover the spaces, or other devices used in playing bingo does not exceed one hundred dollars.

(c) All of the money paid for bingo cards or sheets, objects to cover spaces, or other devices used in playing bingo is used only to pay winners monetary and nonmonetary prizes and to provide refreshments.

(d) The total value of all prizes awarded during the game does not exceed one hundred dollars.

(e) No commission, wages, salary, reward, tip, donation, gratuity, or other form of compensation, either directly or indirectly, and regardless of the source, is paid to any bingo game operator for work or labor performed at the site of the bingo game.

(f) The bingo game is not conducted during or within ten hours of either of the following:

(i) A bingo session during which a charitable bingo game is conducted pursuant to sections 2915.07 to 2915.15 of the Revised Code;

(ii) A scheme of chance or game of chance, or bingo described in division (O)(2) of section 2915.01 of the Revised Code.

(g) All of the participants reside at the premises where the bingo game is conducted.

(h) The bingo games are conducted on different days of the week and not more than twice in a calendar week.

(B) The attorney general or any local law enforcement agency may investigate the conduct of a bingo game that purportedly is conducted for purposes of amusement only if there is reason to believe that the purported amusement bingo game does not comply with the requirements of either division (A)(1) or (2) of this section. A local law enforcement agency may proceed by action in the proper court to enforce this section if the local law enforcement agency gives written notice to the attorney general when commencing the action.

Last updated August 4, 2021 at 4:35 PM

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 10 cases, 1961–2016 · leading case: State v. Posey, 534 N.E.2d 61 (Ohio 1988).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
State v. Posey, 534 N.E.2d 61 (Ohio 1988). · cites it 2× “509(a)(1), 509(a)(2), or 509(a)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is either a governmental unit or an organization that is tax exempt under subsection 501(a) and described in subsection 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and provided that the scheme of chance is not…”
Freedom Road Found. v. Ohio Dep't of Liquor Control, 685 N.E.2d 522 (Ohio 1997). · cites it 3× “02(D)(2)(e) prohibits otherwise legal games of chance that are “conducted” during, or within ten hours of, a bingo game held pursuant to R.C. 2915.12. Nevertheless, in construing the verb “conducted” in R.”
Robb v. Ohio Dep't of Liquor Control, 642 N.E.2d 651 (Ohio Ct. App. 10th Dist. 1994). · cites it 4× “)(1), 509(a)(2), or 509(a)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is either, a governmental unit or an organization that is tax exempt under subsection 501(a) and described in subsection 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and provided that the scheme of chance is not conducted…”
State v. Watson, 192 N.E.2d 253 (Ohio Ct. App. 9th Dist. 1962). · cites it 4× “nd all appurtenances thereto and in the building or buildings thereon located, described as follows, to wit: 732 Raymond Street, Akron, Ohio; and that the unlawful possessors of the said gambling paraphernalia are John Doe and Mary Roe *335 (real names unknown), and that said…”
Jeffers v. Bumgardner, 2016-Ohio-4655. “Appellee moved to dismiss the matter with prejudice pursuant to R.C. 2915.12. The trial court then determined Appellant’s motion was a motion to dismiss, without prejudice.”
Freedom Road Found. v. Ohio Dept. of Liquor Control, 80 Ohio St. 3d 202 (1997). · cites it 3× “02(D)(2)(e) prohibits otherwise legal games of chance that are “conducted” during, or within ten hours of, a bingo game held pursuant to R.C. 2915.12. Nevertheless, in construing the verb “conducted” in R.”
Stillmaker v. Dept. of Liquor Control, 249 N.E.2d 61 (Ohio 1969). · cites it 2× “09, Revised Code) except that the promoter of a lottery or scheme of chance which is not “for his own profit” is exempted (Section 2915.12, Revised Code). Thus, the sovereign state of Ohio is in a posture of Pharisaism in its insistence on the right to eradicate, through…”
Kroger Co. v. Cook, 244 N.E.2d 790 (Ohio Ct. App. 10th Dist. 1968). · cites it 8× “I cannot agree with the concurring opinion’s suggestion that the phrase “scheme of chance” as used in Section 2915.12, Revised Code, and other sections in that chapter, is different and broader than lottery or gambling.”
State v. Drayzga, 173 N.E.2d 722 (Ohio Ct. App. 1961). · cites it 6× “” The affidavit purports to charge defendant with a violation of Section 2915.12, Revised Code. Section 2915.”
State v. Green, 199 N.E.2d 129 (Ohio Ct. App. 10th Dist. 1963). · cites it 2× “Such conduct is a crime under Section 2915.12, Revised Code. Unfortunately, appellant was not charged under that statute.”
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