Question about game of chance in a CA on-sale licensed location

Just doing some more research for my daughter with regard to her upcoming beer tap room. She’s brain-storming some marketing ideas and asked me if I thought it would be legal to do a game of chance (pick a card, roll dice, pick a roulette wheel number) to receive a discount on your next beer. I haven’t been able to find anything specifically straightforward in the CA ABC Code of the CA Biz/Professional Codes, but what I DO find seems to say it could be illegal based on the prohibition of giving away alcohol in an on-premise licensed location. There is also some language in the codes prohibiting gambling/games of chance in connection with alcohol sales (though there were some changes this year related to supplier-supported promotions, but no reference to retail licensees).

But… (and I hesitate to apply too much logic to this) how is discounting a beer if you pick a number on a roulette wheel different from giving a discount if you wear a pink shirt or answer a trivia question… or are they all illegal? Certainly offering a discount at Happy Hour is OK, but it’s the game of chance that seems to make this sticky, and also that it’s not discounted to everyone … only the winners.

I’d be very appreciative of specific legal references on this as well as any anecdotal info. Alcohol laws are often shrouded in a certain level of imperceptibility. In the past I’ve just called the ABC with a question like this, but found the answer can depend on who answers the phone. I know there are attorneys who specialize in this stuff, but building out a bar is going to be costly enough for her, so she’s not jumping at the idea of that cost for this early research.

Thanks for whatever you can suggest.

Peter–There might be a problem with B&P Code Section 25600.1:

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=bpc&group=25001-26000&file=25600-25622

One would have to look at the relevant Regs. and then contact the ABC to get some guidance.

Bruce

Yes, thanks. That’s the section I landed on as well. There’s also a penal code section expressly prohibiting pretty much all games of chance.