How much do pull tabs pay out?

It varies by deal, but pull-tab deals commonly return 60 to 80 percent of total ticket sales as prizes. The exact figure is set when the deal is printed and posted on the flare, so you can calculate it before you buy.

What is a good pull-tab payout percentage?

Higher is better for the player. A deal returning 75 to 80 percent of sales as prizes is generous; one returning closer to 60 percent keeps more for the charity and expenses. Because the numbers are posted, you can compare two deals and simply pick the higher one.

How do I know a pull tab's payout before I buy?

Read the flare. It lists every prize and how many of each exist, plus the ticket price and the number of tickets in the deal. Total prize money divided by total ticket sales is the payout percentage. An odds calculator does the arithmetic for you.

Where does the money that isn't paid out go?

The share not returned as prizes covers the nonprofit's cause and its expenses. That gap is the house edge, and it is the entire reason charitable gaming exists: your play funds a local organization.

The math

Pull tab payouts explained

How much do pull tabs actually pay? Unlike a slot machine, a pull-tab deal has to tell you. The payout is fixed when the deal is printed and posted right on the flare, so with a little arithmetic you can know a game's payout before you spend a dime.

How a payout is set

A pull-tab deal is a finite batch of tickets with a fixed prize structure. When it is manufactured, the maker decides how many winners of each amount to include. Add up all those prizes, and you have the total the deal will ever pay. Divide that by the total the deal takes in when every ticket sells, and you have the payout percentage. It is baked in, not decided as you play.

What is a typical payout percentage?

Pull-tab deals commonly return somewhere around 60 to 80 percent of sales as prizes. A $1 deal that takes in $1,000 and pays out $750 in prizes has a 75 percent payout. The remaining 25 percent is the house edge: the money that funds the charity running the deal and covers its costs. Higher payout means more goes back to players, so between two similar deals, the higher percentage is the better play.

Let the calculator do it

You do not have to work the ratio by hand. Enter a deal's flare numbers into the pull-tab odds calculator and it returns the payout percentage, the house edge, and your odds of winning anything.

Payout is not the same as your odds of winning

These two get confused constantly. Payout percentage is how much of all sales comes back as prizes over the whole deal. Your odds of winning on a single tab is a different number: how many winning tickets exist out of the total. A deal can have a high payout because of one big top prize while most tabs still lose, or a modest payout spread across many small winners. The flare shows both, so you can pick the profile you like.

Reading it off the flare

Everything you need is on the flare: the prize tiers, the count of each, the ticket price, and the deal size. Learning to scan one quickly is the single most useful pull-tab skill, and it is covered step by step in how to read a flare. Once you can, you will never play a picked-over, low-payout deal by accident again.

Want the practical version of using all this at the bar? See how to win at pull tabs.

Pull tab payouts FAQ

How much do pull tabs pay out?: It varies by deal, but pull-tab deals commonly return 60 to 80 percent of total ticket sales as prizes. The exact figure is set when the deal is printed and posted on the flare, so you can calculate it before you buy.
What is a good pull-tab payout percentage?: Higher is better for the player. A deal returning 75 to 80 percent of sales as prizes is generous; one returning closer to 60 percent keeps more for the charity and expenses. Because the numbers are posted, you can compare two deals and simply pick the higher one.
How do I know a pull tab's payout before I buy?: Read the flare. It lists every prize and how many of each exist, plus the ticket price and the number of tickets in the deal. Total prize money divided by total ticket sales is the payout percentage. An odds calculator does the arithmetic for you.
Where does the money that isn't paid out go?: The share not returned as prizes covers the nonprofit's cause and its expenses. That gap is the house edge, and it is the entire reason charitable gaming exists: your play funds a local organization.

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