Minnesota Appeals Court Deals Blow to Electronic Pull Tab Industry

The Minnesota Appeals Court determined that the state Gambling Control Board made an incorrect decision by allowing the implementation of “open-all” electronic pull-tabs (EPTs) in bars, restaurants, and other locations.

A customer is playing an “open-all” electronic pull-tab (EPT) game in Minnesota. These machines have raised millions for charitable causes in the state, but there is still some disagreement over whether or not they are legal. Like ordinary printed pull-tabs, EPTs reveal a set of symbols or numbers with each play. However, unlike slots, they don’t utilize a random number generator to give results. Each result is predetermined, as it would be if purchasing printed tickets, one by one, from a box. Tribal gaming operators believe these are still too much like slot machines, making the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) sue the Minnesota Gambling Control Board in 2019.

The tribe contended that the “open all” style of EPTs, which show all symbols with a single press of a button, contradicted the state’s description of the machines when they were approved in 2012 – a situation which put both sides in a difficult position.

Caught in Two Minds

In 2019, the Minnesota gambling control board sent an email to vendors indicating that it would no longer approve games that revealed more than one symbol at a time on their Electronic Pull-Tab (EPT) tickets. This change was in response to pressure from the local tribes and sparked the filing of a lawsuit by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC). However, after vendors objected, the control board changed its stance within a week. In 2020, an administrative law judge decided that electronic pull-tab tickets with the “open-all” feature were legal. This ruling was not overturned at a later date, however, the appellate court determined that the control board’s original email constituted an “unpromulgated rule” that these games were not allowed. EPTs were legalized in Minnesota to help raise money for US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis in 2017, and the machines have continued to serve as an important revenue source for many charitable causes in the area. The development requires that players “must activate or open each electronic pull-tab ticket and each individual line, row or column of each electronic pull-tab ticket.”

The appeals court decided that the 2012 law was open to interpretation, creating the potential for the legislature to reconsider it. This statute has an immense impact on a $2 billion sector.

$2B Industry

The SMSC Monday reaffirmed its conviction that the legislation related to electronic pull-tabs (EPTs) is definite. In their statement they noted, “The Minnesota Gambling Control Board has failed to consider the plain meaning and legislative intent of the law in allowing games which resemble slot machines.” The SMSC is preaching for the Minnesota Legislature to take action to ensure that EPTs are helping nonprofit organizations increase funds for noble community causes without negatively impacting tribal gaming. The numbers demonstrate that these gaming machines have been a hit, as the gaming control board’s most current report acknowledged that the total money generated by EPTs in 2022 was $1.9 billion, missing the anticipated $2.1 billion, but still remarkable. All of the generated profits go to charities and nonprofits. Sam Krueger, executive director of the Electronic Gaming Group, brought these numbers to light in an interview with 5 Eyewitness News, also sharing that there is outlandish support for EPTs, regardless of the “constant attempts of the tribal casinos to end electronic charitable gaming in Minnesota.”