What Are Charity Game Ticket Games (or Pulltabs)?

Ever play scratch tickets at a gas station or a grocery store? Charity Tickets (Pulltabs) are a gaming instrument similar to scratch tickets except instead of scratching off a fine dust all over your fingers, you simply snap open the die-cut ‘windows’ and see if your symbols match any of the winning combos on the front of the ticket. Typically the window combo you want will be horizontal, but there are occasional tickets that allow for vertical or even diagonal wins as well. Pulltabs are most often sold by nonprofit or charitable organizations at carnivals, bingos, or in club rooms.

There are many styles of games to choose from, though most include instant winners in one way or another. Here’s a quick summary of the most common types of charity tickets:

Instant Win Games

These are self-explanatory. You play, look for a winning pattern, and if you win you can redeem your ticket for your winnings immediately.

Seal Card Games

Seal Card Games are similar to the instant win games, but they include a few cards within the deal that a player can hold on to for a chance to win a bigger prize later on. Players who receive one of these ‘hold cards’ will hold onto it until the tickets are sold out and the caller calls out the winning numbers from the ‘seal card.’

A deal could have one winner or several, depending on the game. Games that offer more than one might have those players with hold cards write their names on the signature list on the seal card.

On a single big winner deal, the dealer will simply call out the number of the winning hold card after the tickets are all sold. On a multiple winner deal, the seal card will have several lines of possible winners, the first with one window, the second with two, the third with three, etc. Only one window can be opened on each line, with the prizes getting better as the odds get more difficult.

Bingo Event Games

Bingo Event Games basically take the instant win games and incorporate them into an actual bingo game. For example, a player who ends up purchasing one of the elusive bingo ball tickets in a deal will hold onto that ticket until the entire deal is sold. Then those tickets can be played as a separate game within the bingo game for yet another opportunity to win big.

One such game that is popular in some areas contains 25 tickets within each deal that have three bingo ball numbers on them. The player who daubs all three numbers on his ticket calls out “Balls!” Just like in regular bingo, this needs to be called out on the last number called! Once “Balls” is called, the game is temporarily stopped until both the winning numbers and the serial number on the ticket can be verified. Then the bingo game continues on as usual.

One Final Note: If you plan on selling pulltabs, be sure that you consult with your state lottery or other regulatory agency for charitable gaming before your organization sells charity tickets. Rules and regulations can vary, and in most states sellers must be licensed. Some states don’t allow them at all.