(Figured somebody would have blogged this here already, but search shows nothing, so here goes...)
By now we've all heard of this: Mitt Romney offers Rick Perry $10,000 bet
And here were "Newt Romney's" exact words:
Rick, I'll tell you what, ten thousand bucks? Ten thousand dollar bet?
Just a friendly bet among two friendly millionaires, right? But here's what the Iowa Code has to say about that:
725.7 Gaming and betting — penalty.
1. Except as permitted in chapters 99B and 99D , a person shall not do any of the following:
a . Participate in a game for any sum of money or other property of any value.
b . Make any bet.
[...]
2. A person who violates this section is guilty of the following:
[...]
d . Illegal gaming in the first degree if the sum of money or value of other property involved exceeds five thousand dollars. Illegal gaming in the first degree constitutes a class “C” felony.
(In the unlikely event this question ever made it into court, I assume this would come down to the question of whether a bet is "made" even if the counterparty has failed to accept it. So, class C felon or only attempted class C felon? I'll leave that to our resident lawyers...)