If you are looking for charitable pull-tab games in Tennessee, the short answer is that you will not find them legally. Tennessee has some of the strictest gambling laws in the country, and its charitable gaming framework allows only a narrow list of games. Pull tabs are specifically named as a prohibited game, so no organization, nonprofit or otherwise, can offer them in the state. This makes Tennessee different from many other states where licensed nonprofits sell paper or electronic pull tabs.
Are pull tabs legal in Tennessee?
No. Tennessee's charitable gaming law, known as the Tennessee Nonprofit Gaming Law and found at Tenn. Code Ann. Title 3, Chapter 17, defines the specific games that qualified nonprofits may operate. That authorized list is limited to bingo, raffles, reverse raffles, cakewalks, and cakewheels. Pull tabs are not on the authorized list.
The statute goes a step further and expressly names pull tabs among the games that are prohibited, together with punchboards, instant bingo, video lottery, keno, instant and online lottery games of the type operated by the Tennessee education lottery, and games associated with casinos such as slot machines and roulette wheels. Because the prohibition is written directly into the law, and because any game not expressly authorized is prohibited, there is no licensing path that would let a Tennessee organization run pull tabs. Offering an unauthorized game of chance can expose the operators to enforcement under the state's gambling laws.
What charitable gaming is allowed instead
Tennessee does permit a very limited form of charitable gaming, but it is tightly controlled. Only tax-exempt 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(19) organizations that have operated continuously in the state for a set number of years may apply, and each applicant must be approved by the Division of Charitable Solicitations and Gaming and then authorized by a two-thirds vote of the Tennessee General Assembly. Approved groups may hold one annual game-of-chance fundraising event using a single type of lottery game, most commonly a raffle.
Even for these approved events, the rules restrict play to the short authorized list of games. Participants must be at least 18 years old. None of this opens any door for pull tabs, which remain off-limits regardless of who wants to run them.
Note on electronic pull tabs and recent status
Electronic pull tabs, sometimes called e-tabs or tablet pull tabs, are also not authorized in Tennessee. The statute prohibits pull tabs without distinguishing the paper version from an electronic one, and it separately provides that any game of chance not on the authorized list is prohibited, so electronic pull-tab machines are not part of the state's charitable gaming program. Tennessee has expanded gambling in other areas in recent years, most notably legal online sports betting and the state education lottery, but those changes did not add pull tabs to the charitable gaming list. As always, laws can change, so it is worth checking the Secretary of State's charitable gaming resources for the current rules before planning any event.
Where can I play pull tabs in Tennessee?
Pull tabs are not offered anywhere in Tennessee, as the state's charitable gaming law prohibits them; you will not find them at bars, VFW or American Legion posts, or fraternal clubs here.
Find a spot226 places to play pull tabs in Tennessee