Pull tab games are legal in California only as a form of charitable bingo. They have to be run by a qualifying nonprofit, under a local ordinance that authorizes bingo, with paper cards and prize limits set by state law. Run outside those rules, they’re illegal gambling.
Why Pull Tabs Count as Bingo Under California Law
California bans most gambling. Penal Code Section 330 makes it a misdemeanor to operate or play a banking or percentage game for money or anything of value.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 330 Charitable bingo is one of the narrow exceptions, authorized by the state constitution and implemented through Penal Code Section 326.5.2Justia Law. California Constitution Article IV Section 19
The reason pull tabs are allowed at all is in how Section 326.5 defines bingo. The definition reaches beyond the caller-based game to include “tangible cards having numbers or symbols that are concealed and preprinted in a manner providing for distribution of prizes.”3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 326.5 That’s a pull tab. So in California, pull tabs aren’t a separate thing from bingo; they are bingo, and the same statute controls them.
Two features of that definition shape everything else. The cards must be tangible, and electronics and video displays can’t be used in connection with the game, with a narrow exception for a caller drawing and publicly displaying numbers. Every card must also carry the printed legend “for sale or use only in a bingo game authorized under California law and pursuant to local ordinance.”
Who Can Run Pull Tab Games
You can’t open a pull tab booth as a private business or a for-profit side event. Two things have to be true before a game is lawful: the city or county has to have passed an ordinance authorizing bingo, and the organization has to be licensed under that ordinance.
Section 326.5 limits authorized operators to organizations holding specific California tax exemptions, plus mobilehome park associations and senior citizens organizations named in the statute.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 326.5 In practice, that covers charitable, religious, scientific, literary, and educational organizations; fraternal lodges; veterans’ organizations; and charitable organizations affiliated with a school district.
Three operational rules apply on top of eligibility. The games have to take place on property the organization owns, leases, or has been given the use of. They must be open to the public rather than limited to members. And only the organization’s own members can operate and staff them.
Rules That Keep a Pull Tab Game Legal
Violating the operating rules turns a lawful charitable game into a criminal one, so the details matter.
Nobody Can Be Paid
No one involved in running the game may receive a profit, wage, or salary from the operation. Paying or taking such a wage carries a fine of up to $10,000.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 326.5 The one exception is security personnel, who can be paid from bingo revenues even if they aren’t members.
Prize Cap of $500
The total value of prizes for a single bingo game can’t exceed $500 in cash or kind.4California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 326.5 Because pull tabs are bingo under the statute, the same cap applies to each pull tab game or deal.
Money Has to Stay Separate and Go to Charity
All proceeds from the games have to go into a separate fund and can’t be mixed with the organization’s other money.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 326.5 Those proceeds may only be spent on charitable purposes, with limited carve-outs for prizes, local license fees, and overhead. Overhead and administrative costs are capped at the lower of 20% of gross proceeds (measured before prizes) or $3,000 per month, with the monthly dollar cap adjusted annually for inflation starting in 2025.
If monthly gross receipts top $5,000, the local ordinance may require that a minimum percentage of proceeds go to charitable purposes unrelated to running the game itself.
No Minors
The statute bars minors from participating in any bingo game, pull tabs included.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 326.5
Electronic Pull Tab Machines Are Not Legal
Paper pull tabs are the only version Section 326.5 authorizes. The bingo definition excludes electronics and video displays from the game.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 326.5 A machine that takes money and dispenses prizes by chance falls within Penal Code Section 330a’s ban on slot machines and similar devices.5California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 330a
The California Department of Justice reached that conclusion when it looked at the Tab Force device, which generated pull tab cards on a video screen. The Division of Gambling Control found the device was prohibited under the state’s gambling device statutes regardless of whether the underlying cards could be called bingo.6State of California Department of Justice. Tab Force Gambling Device Advisory The statute itself backs that up, stating the bingo definition “applies exclusively to this section and shall not be applied in the construction or enforcement of any other provision of law.”
Tribal Lands Are a Separate System
The rules change on tribal land. Under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, pull tabs are Class II gaming, in the same category as traditional bingo.7Legal Information Institute. 25 USC 2703(7) – Class II Gaming Definition Class II games are regulated by the tribe and the National Indian Gaming Commission rather than the state, and electronic versions are allowed. That’s why tribal casinos in California can offer electronic pull tab games that would be illegal anywhere else in the state. Class III gaming such as slot machines still requires a tribal-state compact, but Class II pull tabs do not.
Penalties for Running an Illegal Game
Operating an unauthorized gambling game under Section 330 is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $100 to $1,000, up to six months in county jail, or both.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 330
Within the charitable bingo scheme, taking a wage or profit draws the $10,000 fine. Any other violation of Section 326.5 is a misdemeanor, and the local government that authorized the ordinance can also sue to shut the operation down.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 326.5 Possessing an illegal electronic gambling device under Section 330a is its own misdemeanor on top of that.5California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 330a Someone running electronic pull tab machines off tribal land could be charged under both.