Minnesota Pull-Tabs: How Paper and Electronic Tabs Work, What They Pay Out and Where the Money Goes [2026]

The pull-tab box behind a Minnesota bar is part of a bigger business than most players guess. In the fiscal year to June 2025, the state's licensed charities took in about $4.91 billion in gross receipts from lawful gambling. Six months into that year, the electronic version lost its most popular feature, the "open all" button. This guide covers how a pull-tab works, what the rules say about payouts, what changed for e-tabs, and where the money ends up.

How a paper pull-tab works

A paper pull-tab is a folded, banded ticket with perforated tabs. Some tickets in each game are printed as winners before the box ever reaches the bar, so nothing you do changes the result; you are buying a ticket from a fixed pool.

Each game, called a deal, arrives with a flare: a printed card carrying a bar code and the Minnesota boundary symbol, listing the prizes and the winning symbols. The flare has to be fixed to the dispenser or posted at the point of sale, fully visible to players. Before paying out, the seller checks the winning ticket's serial number against the flare, then defaces the ticket so it cannot be cashed twice.

Three rules shape every game:

• Ticket price. No pull-tab may be sold for more than $5.
• Payout ceiling. A charity may not put a pull-tab game into play that pays out more than 85% of the deal's ideal gross. It is an upper limit only; the flare shows the prize table for the game in front of you.
• Big prizes are tracked. A "major prize" is one worth at least 50 times the ticket's face value, and charities may have to post major prizes as they are won, which a flare marked off as prizes go also satisfies.

Some games add a last sale prize for whoever buys the final ticket in the deal, shown by a sticker on the flare.

Electronic pull-tabs and the open-all ban

E-tabs arrived in September 2012, when the first electronic games went live in a handful of bars. They were authorised that year as a funding source for the state's share of the new Vikings stadium. They now dominate: the Department of Revenue puts electronic pull-tabs at 53% of combined net receipts in fiscal 2025.

They also became the centre of a fight. In February 2023 the Minnesota Court of Appeals found that the Gambling Control Board had approved games beyond the limits of the law that created e-tabs. A 2023 law followed, banning the open-all feature, free play and bonus games, and the new e-tab games took effect on 1 January 2025. Revenue fell 13% from January to March 2025 before recovering through the year; e-tab sales finished the year down 4.6% while paper pull-tab sales rose 4.5%.

Only fully licensed organisations may run electronic pull-tabs.

Where the money goes

The fiscal 2025 figures, as reported from the Gambling Control Board's annual report, run like this:

Net receipts are taxed on a rising scale: 8% on the first $87,500, then 17%, 25% and 33.5% on higher bands. Charities lobby hard over those rates; the American Legion alone holds 188 licensed posts. Getting into the game takes paperwork too: a nonprofit needs a licence from both the Gambling Control Board and the city where it plays, which can take up to three months.

Who can play?

You must be 18 to buy a pull-tab in Minnesota, and the same floor applies to tipboards, paddlewheels and raffles. Licensed organisations and their staff may not let anyone younger take part.

Pull-tabs versus sweepstakes sites

Pull-tabs are lawful charitable gambling: a licensed nonprofit sells them, the prize is paid in cash from a posted table, and part of the margin funds the charity's cause. Online sweepstakes casinos work on a different basis. They run a no-purchase-necessary promotional model with a mandatory free entry route, play is with coins, and only Sweeps Coins can be redeemed, typically at one dollar each. No Minnesota charity sells them and the Gambling Control Board does not license them. Our Minnesota sweepstakes law guide covers that side, and our guide to pack opening sites compares the tear-and-reveal moment of a pull-tab with digital card packs.

If you want a full casino floor instead of a bar box, see the complete list of Minnesota tribal casinos.

Frequently asked questions

When did electronic pull-tabs start?

September 2012, in a handful of bars, the same day regulators approved the first games.

What does the flare tell me?

The prizes, the winning symbols and the game's identifying bar code. Compare it with the box before you buy.

Do pull-tab winnings go to charity?

Prizes go to winners. The charity's share comes from net receipts after prizes, taxes and allowable expenses.