Electronic pull tab machines are really slot machines. And they’re popular in North Dakota, where bettors pumped $1.3 billion into these machines in fiscal 2021, almost twice the previous fiscal year.
The state reported that gamblers wagered more than $563 million the first four months of the current fiscal year.
Deb McDaniel, North Dakota’s top gambling regulator, expects a new record when the year ends.
North Dakota boasts some 3,700 machines at over 700 bars and other locations in 51 of North Dakota’s 53 counties, according to the Associated Press.
The coronavirus pandemic had no real impact on the e-tabs but bingo, paper pull tabs, blackjack and other games dropped 26 percent.
For North Dakota, fiscal year 2021 deposited $25.5 million in gambling taxes, three times fiscal 2019.
Despite the good news, the figures cause alarm bells about gambling addiction and the impact on American tribal casinos. E-tabs and charitable gambling had to contribute $40,000 to gambling treatment programs.
Tribal casinos have seen revenues drop by 60 percent in the wake of the success of e-tabs. Attempts to limit the number of e-tab machines failed in the legislature.
