If you are looking for charitable pull tabs in Arkansas, the short answer is that you will not find them. Arkansas legalized charitable gaming in a narrow way in 2006, allowing only bingo and raffles run by licensed nonprofit organizations. The state's rules go a step further and specifically say bingo may not be played through a pull-tab ticket, which puts the classic paper pull-tab game outside the law. Here is how the framework works and why pull tabs are not part of it.
What Arkansas Actually Allows
Charitable gaming in Arkansas rests on Amendment 84 of the state constitution, approved by voters in 2006, which lets the legislature authorize bingo and raffles by nonprofit organizations. The legislature followed with the Charitable Bingo and Raffles Enabling Act (Act 388 of 2007), found at Arkansas Code Annotated section 23-114-101 and following, and the Department of Finance and Administration adopted Rule 2007-4 to run the program.
Notice what is on that list and what is not. The law names bingo and raffles, and nothing else. There is no separate license category, tax stamp, or game type for pull tabs, break-opens, or Nevada tickets. Any net proceeds above the actual cost of a game must go to charitable, religious, or philanthropic purposes for it to stay lawful.
Why Pull Tabs Are Off the Table
Arkansas does not simply leave pull tabs unmentioned, it rules them out directly. The state's charitable gaming rule provides that bingo equipment shall not be construed to permit participants to play the game through any electronic device or machine or a pull-tab bingo ticket. In plain terms, you cannot turn a licensed bingo operation into a pull-tab operation.
The same rule prohibits the play of bingo or a raffle through any electronic device or machine. That closes the door on electronic or tablet pull tabs as well. So neither paper pull tabs nor electronic e-tabs are authorized here.
Who Runs Charitable Gaming and the Basic Rules
The organizations that may run the bingo and raffles Arkansas does allow are nonprofit, tax-exempt groups such as religious, educational, veterans, fraternal, service, civic, medical, and volunteer rescue, firefighter, and police organizations. A group generally must have been in continuous existence in Arkansas for at least five years and must be licensed by the Department of Finance and Administration before holding games.
Games are run by the organization's own volunteer officers and members, who receive no compensation for their gaming work, and not through an outside agent or third party. No one under 18 may play bingo or buy raffle tickets. Because pull tabs fall outside this system entirely, none of these licensed groups may lawfully offer them.
Where can I play pull tabs in Arkansas?
Pull tabs are not offered anywhere in Arkansas; licensed nonprofits may run only charitable bingo sessions and raffles, and even those may not include pull-tab tickets.
Find a spot170 places to play pull tabs in Arkansas