Pull tabs are a familiar sight in Pennsylvania social clubs and neighborhood bars, and they are legal when run under the state's charitable gaming rules. The Commonwealth authorizes them as one of several "small games of chance," a category that also covers raffles, punchboards, race night games, and daily drawings. They are conducted by nonprofit groups such as veterans and fraternal organizations, and by taverns that hold a separate tavern games license. The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue oversees the program, with county treasurers issuing licenses to most eligible organizations.
Who can run pull tabs
Pull tabs in Pennsylvania fall under the Local Option Small Games of Chance Act, first passed in 1988 and amended several times since. The law lets licensed nonprofit groups, called eligible organizations, offer pull tabs to raise money. These include charitable, religious, fraternal, and veterans organizations, along with clubs and civic or service associations. To qualify, a group generally must have existed and pursued its purpose in Pennsylvania for at least one year before applying.
Since 2013, for-profit taverns and bars can also sell pull tabs after obtaining a tavern games license through the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. Licenses for nonprofit small games of chance are typically issued at the county level by the county treasurer. The games themselves must be bought from distributors licensed by the Department of Revenue, and only pull tab deals produced by registered manufacturers may be sold in the Commonwealth.
How they work and where you find them
A pull tab is a small paper ticket with concealed numbers or symbols that you expose to determine whether you have won. If your symbols match a winning combination printed on the game's flare, you collect a prize. The whole deal is a fixed, pre-printed pool, so the odds and the number of winners are set before the first ticket is sold. Some venues use a mechanical dispensing machine that vends the paper tickets, which the law specifically allows.
In Pennsylvania you will most often come across pull tabs at veterans posts, fraternal clubs, volunteer fire companies, and licensed taverns. The state caps how much games can cost and how large prizes can be, and it limits how much an organization can award, so these are meant to stay small-stakes fundraisers rather than casino-style gambling.
Age limits, electronic tabs, and the rules
For small games of chance run by nonprofit organizations, players must be at least 18; regulations bar anyone 17 or younger from playing or selling a pull tab. When pull tabs are sold as tavern games at a licensed bar, the minimum age rises to 21, and it is unlawful for anyone under 21 to play. State rules also prohibit anyone who is visibly intoxicated from buying or selling a chance.
Electronic or tablet-based pull tabs are not currently authorized in Pennsylvania. State law defines pull tabs as paper game pieces and permits them only in paper form, including tickets vended by a dispensing machine, which may not include a video display that shows winning or losing combinations. Games played by or with the assistance of mechanical, electronic, or electrical devices are excluded from the definition of a game of chance, so as of 2026 only traditional paper pull tabs are permitted.
Where can I play pull tabs in Pennsylvania?
You will find pull tabs at VFW and American Legion posts, Elks, Moose, and other fraternal clubs, volunteer fire companies, and licensed neighborhood taverns and bars.
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