Pull tabs (also known as charity tickets, ripoffs, etc.) are often sold by hand at bingos. However, some bingos will purchase a pulltab dispensing machine to create another selling station, or to help augment their staff. Also, many fraternal clubs and retail locations sell their charity tickets through ticket machines. For these groups that use these machines, here are 3 quick tips to keep your pulltabs dispensing properly.

1. If you mark your pulltabs to help keep your counts correct, make sure that you do not use a permanent marker. Permanent markers can cause pulltabs to stick together causing ticket jams.

2. Some people recommend fanning their tickets to clear dust and other debris from between them. However, fanning the pulltabs can cause more problems than it's worth. Fanning can cause otherwise straight pulltabs to bend enough to create dispensing problems. We recommend that you only fan tickets that arrive bowed or bent, and then only to help straighten them.

3. Pulltabs can arrive bowed. Here's the way we recommend you load bowed tickets in some of the major brands of ticket dispensing machines.

a. Maxim Pull Tab Machines: For Maxim machines, load tickets bow side down (like this "^").

b. Technik Pull Tab Machines: For Technik machines, load tickets bow side up (like this "v").

c. King's Crown Pull Tab Machines: For King's Crown (or Nevada Gold) ticket machines, load tickets bow side up (like this "v").