{"id":261875,"date":"2023-02-28T17:09:54","date_gmt":"2023-02-28T23:09:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=261875"},"modified":"2023-03-01T11:20:56","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T17:20:56","slug":"minnesota-appeals-court-deals-blow-to-electronic-pull-tab-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/minnesota-appeals-court-deals-blow-to-electronic-pull-tab-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota Appeals Court Deals Blow to Electronic Pull Tab Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Minnesota appeals court has ruled that the state gambling control board erred when it permitted \u201copen-all\u201d electronic pull-tabs (EPTs) at bars, restaurants, and other venues.<\/p>\n

\"Electronic
A customer playing an \u201copen-all\u201d EPT in Minnesota. The machines have helped raise millions for good causes in the state, but there is confusion about whether they\u2019re actually legal. (Image: Arrow International\/YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like traditional printed pull-tab<\/a>s, EPTs reveal a set of symbols or numbers with each play. But they transplant the action into a gaming cabinet, along with a digital visual presentation that apes slot machines.<\/p>\n

Unlike slots, they don\u2019t use a random number generator to produce results. Each result is predetermined, as it would be if you were buying printed tickets, one by one, from a stack in a store.<\/p>\n

But they\u2019re still way too much like slots, according to local tribal gaming operators, who have a monopoly on that vertical.<\/p>\n

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) sued the Minnesota Gambling Control Board in 2019. The tribe argued that the \u201copen all\u201d variety of EPTs, which reveal all symbols with one the touch of a button, conflicted with how the state defined the machines when they legalized them in 2012.<\/p>\n

Caught in Two Minds<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The statute required that players \u201cmust activate or open each electronic pull-tab ticket and each individual line, row, or column of each electronic pull-tab ticket.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minnesota legalized EPTs as part of an initiative to raise money for the US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The machines continue to raise<\/a> a lot of cash for charitable causes in the state.<\/p>\n

\n

In 2019, following pressure from the tribes, the control board sent emails to vendors stating that it would no longer approve games that revealed more than one symbol at a time. But it flip-flopped within a week after vendors pushed back, which sparked the SMSC lawsuit. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In 2020, an administrative law judge ruled that \u201copen-all\u201d EPTs were legal. That decision was not completely reversed Monday. But the appellate court determined that the control board\u2019s 2019 emails to vendors essentially created an \u201cunpromulgated rule\u201d that the games were not allowed.<\/p>\n

The appellate panel determined that the 2012 statute itself was ambiguous, which could lay the ground for the legislature to revisit it.<\/p>\n

$2B Industry <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The SMSC Monday doubled down on its belief that the statute is clear cut.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Minnesota Gambling Control Board has ignored the plain meaning and legislative intent of the law authorizing electronic pull-tabs in its approval of games which mimic slot machines,\u201d read the statement. \u201cWe hope the Legislature will pass needed clarifications to ensure that electronic pull-tabs help charities raise money for worthy community causes while not undermining tribal gaming.\u201d<\/p>\n

EPT\u2019s generated $1.9 billion in 2022, according to the gaming control board\u2019s most recent report, although that\u2019s slightly shy of the $2.1 billion the printed version pulled in. All profits go to nonprofits and charities.<\/p>\n

Sam Krueger, executive director of the Electronic Gaming Group, told 5 Eyewitness New Mondays that EPTs were hugely popular, despite \u201crelentless efforts of the tribal casinos to destroy electronic charitable gaming in Minnesota.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Minnesota appeals court has ruled that the state gambling control board erred when it permitted \u201copen-all\u201d electronic pull-tabs (EPTs) at bars, restaurants, and other venues. Like traditional printed pull-tabs, EPTs reveal a set of symbols or numbers with each play. But they transplant the action into a gaming cabinet, along with a digital visual […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":261876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,13592,69293],"tags":[85265,81918],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMinnesota Appeals Court Deals Blow to Electronic Pull Tab Industry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Open-all electronic pull tabs should not have been OK\u2019d by Minnesota Gaming Control Board, as appeals court rules for Shakopee.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/minnesota-appeals-court-deals-blow-to-electronic-pull-tab-industry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Minnesota Appeals Court Deals Blow to Electronic Pull Tab Industry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Open-all electronic pull tabs should not have been OK\u2019d by Minnesota Gaming Control Board, as appeals court rules for Shakopee.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/minnesota-appeals-court-deals-blow-to-electronic-pull-tab-industry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-28T23:09:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-01T17:20:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/pull.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"684\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/minnesota-appeals-court-deals-blow-to-electronic-pull-tab-industry\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/minnesota-appeals-court-deals-blow-to-electronic-pull-tab-industry\/\",\"name\":\"Minnesota Appeals Court Deals Blow to Electronic Pull Tab Industry\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/minnesota-appeals-court-deals-blow-to-electronic-pull-tab-industry\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/minnesota-appeals-court-deals-blow-to-electronic-pull-tab-industry\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/pull.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-28T23:09:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-01T17:20:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Open-all electronic pull tabs should not have been OK\u2019d by Minnesota Gaming Control Board, as appeals court rules for Shakopee.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/minnesota-appeals-court-deals-blow-to-electronic-pull-tab-industry\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/minnesota-appeals-court-deals-blow-to-electronic-pull-tab-industry\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/minnesota-appeals-court-deals-blow-to-electronic-pull-tab-industry\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/pull.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/pull.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":684,\"caption\":\"A customer playing an \u201copen-all\u201d EPT in Minnesota. 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