Head to head
Pull tabs vs tipboards
You know the board on the bar wall with a row for each quarter of the game, where you buy a number and sweat the score? That's a tipboard, the pull tab's sports-loving cousin. Here's how it works and how the two compare.
| Pull tabs | Tipboards | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | One ticket from a printed deal | A shared board tied to a game |
| When it's decided | At the factory, before you buy | By the live score, quarter by quarter |
| How you win | Your symbols match the flare | Your number matches the quarter's score |
| Payouts | Fixed prizes, paid on the spot | A prize for each quarter and the final |
| Solo or shared | You vs the deal | A shared board of players |
| Run by | Licensed charities, at bars and posts | Licensed charities, at bars and posts |
What a tipboard actually is
A tipboard is a printed board covered in small tickets you buy for a chance at posted prizes. It goes by a lot of bar names, the board, the sports board, the quarter board, but it is the same idea. On a sports tipboard, the tickets are tied to a real game, and the board is usually laid out with a row for each quarter plus the final. You pay in, you get a number, and then the game decides.
When a quarter ends, the board matches the score, most often the last digit of each team's points, to a number on that quarter's row. Hold the matching number and you win that quarter's payout. It is social by design: everyone at the bar is watching the same scoreboard, holding their own numbers, groaning and cheering together.
Same family as pull tabs
Tipboards and pull tabs are close relatives in charitable gaming, often made by the same manufacturers and run by the same licensed nonprofits at the same bars and posts. Many tipboards even use a seal card, the same hidden-winner mechanic you see on some pull tabs. See the glossary for tipboards and seal cards.
How it differs from a pull tab
The core difference is when the outcome is decided. A pull tab is settled in advance, printed at the factory and revealed the instant you peel it. A sports tipboard is settled by the world: nobody knows the winners until the real game produces a score. A pull tab is a fast, solo, instant game. A tipboard is a slow burn you share with the whole bar across four quarters.
The money works a little differently too. Pull tabs run on a set deal with a built-in house edge that funds the charity. A tipboard posts its prizes up front, and the organization keeps the difference between what the board takes in and what it pays out. Either way, in licensed settings the proceeds go to the cause, not to a private operator.
The bar tipboard vs the take-home board
There is another board people picture here, and it is worth keeping it straight. Some folks buy or make a single take-home board, a sheet with numbers tied to each quarter, and bring it home to fill in with friends for the big game. That take-home version is usually an informal, local arrangement rather than something a licensed bar sells over the counter. The above-board, licensed version of a sports-number game is the tipboard described here, run by a charity under state rules.
The line matters because once money changes hands, whether a given board is legal comes down to who is running it and your state's rules. A licensed nonprofit tipboard at a bar is charitable gaming; a private pool passed around at home is a different thing entirely. This is a know-your-local-law situation, and nothing here is legal advice.
Where you find the licensed ones
Look for tipboards at the same places pull tabs live: neighborhood bars, VFW and American Legion posts, and clubs, especially during football season. Plenty of spots run a rack of pull tabs and a sports tipboard side by side. If you are hunting for a good pull-tab bar, you have probably found a tipboard too.
More on the game: how pull tabs work, or see pull tabs vs scratch-offs.
Tipboard FAQ
- What is a tipboard?
- A tipboard is a printed board of small sealed or pull-open tickets that a player buys for a chance at posted prizes. Sports tipboards tie those tickets to a real game, often with a row for each quarter, so winners are set by the score as the game unfolds. It is a close relative of the pull tab and part of the same charitable-gaming family.
- How does a football tipboard with a row for each quarter work?
- You buy a spot or ticket on the board and get a number. As each quarter ends, the board matches the game's score, usually the last digit of each team's points, to a number on that quarter's row, and whoever holds it wins that quarter's prize. There are typically separate payouts for each quarter and the final.
- What's the difference between a tipboard and a pull tab?
- A pull tab is a single ticket from a deal, decided at the factory and revealed the instant you open it. A sports tipboard is a shared board tied to a live game, so the winners are not known until the real-world score comes in. Both are commonly run by the same licensed charities at the same bars.