Lawmakers in North Dakota, who are involved in a year-long study on charitable gaming, are looking into the recent boom in electronic pull-tab machines, or E-tabs, devices that computerize the selection of pull-tab numbers in presentations that resemble slot machines.
The questions the lawmakers have concern where the machines can be located, such as gas stations and convenience stores, and what organizations can conduct the gambling. E-tabs first appeared in 2018 after approval by the Republican-controlled legislature.
“I think we’ve seen certain things go astray a little bit, where the cattle have gotten out of the corral, and it’s beyond what the intent of our laws are,” said Republican state Sen. Janne Myrdal, who chairs an interim legislative panel that launched the study, according to the Associated Press.
Myrdal told the AP she’d like the study to produce “palatable answers” for the next legislative session in 2025, including where the machines can be located.
Lawmakers have raised concerns about specific establishments where the machines can be accessed by minors. There are around 4,700 machines spread across the state, generating nearly $2 billion in gross proceeds, including $72 million tagged for specific charitable purposes.
“This has become huge, and they need to understand how it works,” state Gaming Division Director Deb McDaniel told the AP.
State law does not dictate where charitable gambling takes place, but traditionally it’s been in bars. In recent years, a loose interpretation of “alcoholic beverage establishment” led to the machines appearing in a handful of gas stations and convenience stores.
