Judge Rules Against Tribes Over Electronic Pulltabs

Sat, May 30, 2020

Several Minnesota tribes sued the state Gambling Control Board, claiming electronic pulltabs violated their gaming exclusivity rights. But Judge Barbara Case (l.) ruled that the games, offered by charitable groups in bars, lack spinning wheels, the key element of slot machines.

Judge Rules Against Tribes Over Electronic Pulltabs

In Minnesota, State Administrative Law Judge Barbara Case recently ruled against several tribes led by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, stating single-button electronic pulltabs offered in bars by charitable organizations do not violate Native American tribes’ exclusive rights to operate video slot machines in the state. Case wrote the key element of a slot machine is the spinning wheel. “The mere push of a button is too far attenuated to constitute ‘mimicking’ of a slot machine,” she added.

Lawmakers legalized e-pulltabs in 2012 to help provide $30 million in annual payments on the state’s share of the debt and operating costs for a new Vikings stadium. In their first year, fiscal 2013, e-pulltabs produced $16 million; in the fiscal year ending last June, they generated $596 million.

In a lawsuit against the Minnesota Gambling Control Board, the tribes argued the “open-all” feature of e-pulltabs threatened their business, while each window must be ripped open with paper pulltabs.