Why is Minnesota the top state for pulltab gambling?

Curious Minnesota

Why is Minnesota the top state for pulltab gambling? Most states allow pulltabs. But the game has become a unique part of our bar culture.

The Minnesota Star Tribune September 27, 2024 at 12:40PMMary Tharp grabbed some pull tabs out of a box for a customer at the Fridley American Legion in 2012. (Carlos Gonzalez) That makes Minnesota the biggest spender for pulltab gambling, according to the St. Paul-based National Association of Fundraising Ticket Manufacturers, a trade group for companies that make pulltabs. It is also popular in Alaska and North Dakota, which have much smaller populations.

A customer purchased pull tabs at the Fridley American Legion in 2012. (Carlos Gonzalez) In Minnesota, the game is typically played in bars. And it is overseen by nonprofit groups that raise money for charitable causes.

"You don't feel bad about losing because the money's going to charity," said Mary Magnuson, president of the association.

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How did Old Dutch potato chips get started in St. Paul? Other states take a different approach. In New York and Pennsylvania, pulltabs are generally sold only at fraternal clubs, membership groups (like VFWs) or nonprofit fundraisers (like church picnics), Magnuson said. In Texas, pulltabs are usually played only between bingo games.

Wisconsin laws are more restrictive about who can sell pulltabs. The state-run lottery sells them in convenience stores, and some bars have pulltab vending machines.

The game's origins The inventor of paper pulltab tickets is unknown, Magnuson said. But the game was developed in the 1950s.

A pulltab seller sat inside a plexiglass booth, often called a "jar bar." A steady stream of customers purchased the games, which support Minneapolis youth hockey.

Groups pooled money to buy rounds of tabs — which is the custom — then opened them and discarded the losers into plastic baskets. Winners traditionally share the proceeds with their group, often buying a pitcher and tipping the seller.

The wood-paneled tavern owned by the husband-and-wife team of Doug Flicker and Amy Greeley was designed to evoke the small-town bar that Flicker's uncles once ran in Pierz, Minn., south of Brainerd. It is one of the 3,026 permitted locations that host pulltabs across Minnesota.

For the couple, hosting nightly pulltab events was part of getting the vibe of the place right.

A basket of opened pull tabs at the Schooner Tavern in Minneapolis. (Jeff Wheeler) "You get the pulltab regulars, like you do up north, too. Folks sitting at the bar or in a booth, and there are just like, stacks and stacks of the pulltabs piling on the table," Greeley said. "We're pretty pleased with it. We think it adds quite a bit to the bar."

The state last year issued charitable gambling permits to 1,144 nonprofit organizations, including veterans groups, fraternal groups like the Elks or Lions, youth sports, firefighter relief groups and others. Each organization has a gambling manager, who supervises operations. Sellers are employed by the groups, not the bar.

Each group secures a "premises permit" and pays monthly rent for the locations where they run pulltab games. They are usually in neighborhood taverns and sports bars.

"You typically don't see them in fancy restaurants," Magnuson said.

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about the writer Erica PearsonErica Pearson is a reporter and editor at the Star Tribune.