Those changes are now included in the tax bill, and those who rely on charitable gambling are livid.

Minnesota’s tribal nations have long argued that the electronic pull-tabs violated their exclusive rights to operate slot machines.Ī recent appeals court ruling that said the Gambling Control Board improperly made rules regarding e-tab approval added questions about their legality.īut the ruling did not explicitly say the e-tabs had to change. 'If what the state’s trying to tell us now is that the games that we offered for the last 11 years were illegal, that seems hard to believe,' said Allen Lund, Osseo American Legion Gambling Manager. In 2022, according the Minnesota Gambling Control Board, electronic pull tabs took in nearly 46 percent of all charitable gambling revenue in the state, right behind their paper cousins. Initially just virtual replicas of paper pull tabs, they were slow to take off.īut as more slot machine type features were added, their popularity grew and the revenue with it. 'This bill could virtually destroy not only our current games, but any future that charities have in electronic gambling,' said Rachel Jenner, Allied Charities of Minnesota Executive Director.Įlectronic pull-tabs were introduced in 2012, partly as a funding source for US Bank Stadium. And they worry their popularity would plummet. But e-tab proponents say other language would require a much more significant overhaul of the games, which could take more than a year to complete.

Pulling tabs gambling