Introduction

The following information on pull-tabs is based on pull-tabs purchased and information gathered at a pull-tab store near the airport in Anchorage, Alaska.

The browser your are currently using is old and will decrease the website usability. Please upgrade it to a newer version. IE9-10+, Chrome or FireFox are recommanded. A pull-tab is a gambling ticket that is sold as a means to play a pull-tab game.Other names for the game include Break-Opens, Nevada Tickets, Cherry Bells, Lucky 7s, Pickle Cards, Instant Bingo, Bowl Games, or Popp-Opens. Physical pull-tab tickets are multi-layered paper tickets containing symbols hidden behind perforated tabs. Tabcorp is the market leader in Australian wagering, operating under the TAB brand. TAB operates in 4,400+ venues across Australia and in FY18 delivered $1 billion in returns to industry partners. TAB takes 1.1 billion bets annually and has 57% revenue market share. Gaming Services.

A pull-tab could loosely be compared to a scratch-off lottery ticket, in that both usually cost $1, are instantly resolved by the player, and a portion of the purchase price goes towards state-run projects or charities. I was told that 30% of net profits (gross receipts less cashout from winning pull-tabs and taxes) is supposed to go towards Alaska charities.

There are two primary differences between lottery tickets and pull-tabs. First, on a lottery ticket you scratch the card to see what you won, whereas on a pull-tab you pull up flaps on the card. Second, pull-tabs are printed in batches of about 3,000 to 10,000, with a specified number of each possible prize per batch.

In Alaska, pull-tab stores can be found in some small strip malls. The store will have lots of bins from which to choose. A bin does not have to run empty before a new batch of pull-tabs is added to it. So the only information you are likely to get about the number of winners from a batch left in a bin would be based on your own purchases.

The way it works is the customer will tell the agent which kind he wishes to buy and how many. There is a counter and stools for the convenience of players. At the location by the Anchorage airport (on Spenard Rd. and Wisconsin St.) a bulletin board showed small posters of the various games, including the number of pull-tabs in each batch.

Most pull-tabs show the possible prizes, and the number of each prize per batch. Armed with that information, and the number per batch from the posters, it was very easy to calculate the return of each kind of game. The rest of this page shows the return for ten different games. There were some pull-tabs (namely Players Choice and Alaska State Wide) that I tried that did not indicate the possible prizes, nor the number printed per batch and they are omitted from this page.

Alaskan Oasis

Alaskan Oasis Return Table

Win	Number per Batch	Probability	Return
302	5	0.001116	0.337054
202	2	0.000446	0.090179
102	5	0.001116	0.113839
52	5	0.001116	0.058036
5	20	0.004464	0.022321
1	700	0.156250	0.156250
0	3743	0.835491	0.000000
Total	4480	1.000000	0.777679

Big Ass Game

Big Ass Game Return Table

Win	Number per Batch	Probability	Return
300	8	0.001253	0.375940
100	2	0.000313	0.031328
50	6	0.000940	0.046992
25	20	0.003133	0.078321
4	12	0.001880	0.007519
2	30	0.004699	0.009398
1	1375	0.215382	0.215382
0	4931	0.772400	0.000000
Total	6384	1.000000	0.764881

Cash Dash

Cash Dash Return Table

Win	Number per Batch	Probability	Return
300	6	0.000938	0.281250
100	2	0.000313	0.031250
25	6	0.000938	0.023438
5	50	0.007813	0.039063
2	10	0.001563	0.003125
1	1300	0.203125	0.203125
0	5026	0.785313	0.000000
Total	6400	1.000000	0.581250

Happy Hog

The cost of Happy Hog tickets is 25¢ each. The return column is the product of the win, probability, and 4, to show the expected return is 71.43% of money bet.

Happy Hog Return Table

Win	Number per Batch	Probability	Return
500	2	0.000105	0.210084
100	3	0.000158	0.063025
50	4	0.000210	0.042017
10	20	0.001050	0.042017
1	400	0.021008	0.084034
0.25	5200	0.273109	0.273109
0	13411	0.704359	0.000000
Total	19040	1.000000	0.714286

Kings & Silvers

Kings & Silvers Return Table

Win	Number per Batch	Probability	Return
200	10	0.001689	0.337838
100	10	0.001689	0.168919
50	5	0.000845	0.042230
20	5	0.000845	0.016892
4	20	0.003378	0.013514
2	20	0.003378	0.006757
1	1000	0.168919	0.168919
0	4850	0.819257	0.000000
Total	5920	1.000000	0.755068

Loon a Tick

Loon a Tick Return Table

Win	Number per Batch	Probability	Return
300	8	0.001333	0.400000
100	4	0.000667	0.066667
20	12	0.002000	0.040000
5	8	0.001333	0.006667
2	120	0.020000	0.040000
1	1000	0.166667	0.166667
0	4848	0.808000	0.000000
Total	6000	1.000000	0.720000

Moose on the Loose

Moose on the Loose Return Table

Win	Number per Batch	Probability	Return
300	8	0.001418	0.425532
100	4	0.000709	0.070922
20	12	0.002128	0.042553
5	20	0.003546	0.017730
2	40	0.007092	0.014184
1	1000	0.177305	0.177305
0	4556	0.807801	0.000000
Total	5640	1.000000	0.748227

Royal Stud

Royal Stud Return Table

Win	Number per Batch	Probability	Return
150	12	0.003774	0.566038
25	8	0.002516	0.062893
10	12	0.003774	0.037736
5	12	0.003774	0.018868
3	20	0.006289	0.018868
2	32	0.010063	0.020126
1	96	0.030189	0.030189
0	2988	0.939623	0.000000
Total	3180	1.000000	0.754717

Slottery

The cost of Slottery tickets is 50¢ each. The return column is the product of the win, probability, and 2, to show the expected return is 72.09% of money bet.

Slottery Return Table

Win	Number per Batch	Probability	Return
235	4	0.000402	0.188755
100	4	0.000402	0.080321
25	4	0.000402	0.020080
15	8	0.000803	0.024096
10	12	0.001205	0.024096
5	24	0.002410	0.024096
2	60	0.006024	0.024096
1	100	0.010040	0.020080
0.5	3140	0.315261	0.315261
0	6604	0.663052	0.000000
Total	9960	1.000000	0.720884

Pull Tab Gambling Tickets For Sale

War Chest

War Chest Return Table

Win	Number per Batch	Probability	Return
300	6	0.000938	0.281250
100	2	0.000313	0.031250
25	6	0.000938	0.023438
5	50	0.007813	0.039063
2	10	0.001563	0.003125
1	1300	0.203125	0.203125
0	5026	0.785313	0.000000
Total	6400	1.000000	0.581250

Zig Zag

Are Pull Tab Gambling Games Illegal

Zig Zag Return Table

Win	Number per Batch	Probability	Return
100	24	0.006316	0.631579
10	16	0.004211	0.042105
1	400	0.105263	0.105263
0	3360	0.884211	0.000000
Total	3800	1.000000	0.778947

Summary

The good news about Alaska pull-tabs is that most of them are a significantly better bet than the lottery tickets in the lower 48 states. The bad news is they are still a lousy bet compared to most forms of casino gambling. The following table shows the return of each game tested, in alphabetical order.

Alaska Pull-Tab Summary

Game	Return
Alaskan Oasis	0.777679
Big Ass Game	0.764881
Cash Dash	0.581250
Happy Hog	0.714286
Kings & Silvers	0.755068
Loon a Tick	0.720000
Moose on the Loose	0.748227
Royal Stud	0.754717
Slottery	0.720884
War Chest	0.581250
Zig Zag	0.778947

If you must play, my advice is to seek out the pull-tabs with the highest return. Of the ten I tested the best is Zig Zag at 77.89%. Note how most of them pay between 72% and 78%. The exceptions are Cash Dash and War Chest, which are significantly less at 58.13% each. Why these two games return significantly less, I have no idea. I note another thing they have in common, which the other cards don't: they were made by Specialty Mfg.

There is also an effect of non-replacement with pull-tabs. If you buy some pull-tabs of the same kind, and your results are less than expectations, then it would be likely that the pull-tabs in the rest of the bin should exceed expectations. To very marginally increase your expected return, buy tickets of a given kind one at a time until your actual results exceed expectations, and then stop. However, you could end up buying hundreds, or thousands of tickets, employing this strategy. More practical advice would be to buy as few as you need to have some fun, and then leave.

Tab Gambling App

I questioned someone named Barbara by phone with the Alaska Department of Revenue who said on average pull-tabs return 78%, but there is no minimum or maximum required, in favor of letting the free market determine the odds.

Used Pull Tab Gambling Machines

Mn Pull Tab Gambling

Written by:Michael Shackleford

Tab Gambling Australia

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Pull Tab Gambling Dispenser

Acronym	Definition
Tab	Tablature (musical notation)
Tab	Thanks A Bunch (various organizations)
Tab	Tabernacle
Tab	Tabasco (postcode, Mexico)
Tab	The Allman Brothers (band)
Tab	Tape Automated Bonding
Tab	Tabulate
Tab	Toyota Auto Body
Tab	Traffic Audit Bureau
Tab	Technical Activities Board (IEEE)
Tab	Technical Advisory Board
Tab	The Avett Brothers (Concord, NC band)
Tab	Thinking About You
Tab	Take America Back (politics)
Tab	Transportation Advisory Board (various locations)
Tab	Tape Assembly Boarding
Tab	Transfer a to B
Tab	Total Androgen Blockade
Tab	Thule Air Base
Tab	The Angry Beavers (cartoon)
Tab	Transportes Aéreos Bolivianos (Bolivian civil cargo transport airline)
Tab	Thermactor Air Bypass (Ford)
Tab	Testing, Adjusting, and Balancing
Tab	Television Advertising Bureau
Tab	Technology Advisory Board
Tab	Therapeutic Abortion
Tab	Totalisator Agency Board (betting shop)
Tab	Threatened Abortion
Tab	Total Acres Burned (statistics)
Tab	Temporal Artery Biopsy
Tab	Total Allocated Budget
Tab	Tibetan Association of Boston (Boston, MA)
Tab	Traffic and Billing
Tab	Target Acquisition Battery
Tab	Track Angle Bias
Tab	Town Advisory Board
Tab	Tax Anticipation Bill(s)
Tab	Transportation Alliance Bank Inc (Ogden, UT)
Tab	Tactical Advance to Battle
Tab	Tamil Bilingual (font)
Tab	Tape Automated Bond
Tab	Tobago, Tobago, Trinidad And Tobago - Crown Point (Airport Code)
Tab	Training Aid Booklet
Tab	Tax Administration Bill (South Africa)
Tab	Tactical Air Base
Tab	Thurrock and Basildon College (UK)
Tab	The Afternoon Blitz
Tab	Trump Asking Bid (bridge game)
Tab	Tengah Air Base
Tab	Typhoid & Paratyphoid-A + Paratyphoid-B (vaccine)
Tab	Theater Aviation Brigade (US Army)
Tab	Tone Above Band
Tab	Target Acquisition Battalion
Tab	Training Allowance Billet
Tab	The Afrigo Band (Uganda band)
Tab	Technical Abstracts Bulletin
Tab	Teaching Appropriate Behaviors
Tab	Tactical Analysis Bulletin
Tab	Towed Assault Bridge
Tab	Terminal Air Box
Tab	Timing and Acquisition Bit
Tab	Temporally Able Bodied
Tab	Technical Applications Bulletins (Sprint)
Tab	Theater Aviation Battalion

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