What Is an Electronic Pull-Tab?

An electronic pull-tab — e-tab — is a digital version of a paper pull-tab ticket. A deal has a fixed pool of outcomes. You buy a chance, the device reveals a result, and a prize table tells you what that result is worth. The idea comes from charitable gambling, not from a casino pit. On Skill Game Radar you will meet e-tabs most clearly in Ohio (Type III electronic bingo) and mixed with paper tickets in Minnesota (Gambling Control Board sites). They are not the same product as an Illinois VGT or a Georgia skill machine, even when the cabinet happens to have a screen and buttons.

People mash these words together because the storefronts look familiar: a bar, a hall, a convenience store. The licenses do not look familiar once you read them. This explainer is the legend for the public map as of August 16, 2026. It is a directory guide, not legal advice. If you need a ruling, ask the regulator in that state. If you need a city page, use the links below.

Paper pull-tabs, then e-tabs

A paper pull-tab is a ticket with perforated windows. You peel the tabs and match the symbols to a posted card. The deal is finite: the jar has a known mix of winners and losers. An electronic pull-tab keeps that finite-deal idea and moves the reveal onto a screen. You are not playing an open-ended video slot with a different math story. You are opening a digital ticket from a deal that charitable-gaming rules know how to describe.

That is why Minnesota’s official site list can mix paper and electronic tabs at the same kinds of addresses, and why we still legend the state as pull-tabs. Ohio’s public layer is narrower: Type III electronic only, 690 sites from the 2026 Authorized Bingo list. If you want halls rather than e-tabs, Kentucky’s 41 pins are licensed charitable bingo facilities — and that list is dated June 2023.

VGT, skill, e-tab, coin-op — four public legends

VGT (video gaming terminal). Illinois. A state-licensed video terminal in a licensed establishment. Public count: 7,037 Illinois Gaming Board establishments. Browse the Illinois VGT directory or city pages such as Springfield and Rockford. A VGT is not a pull-tab deal. It is a terminal program with its own rules, taxes, and establishment licenses.

Skill / COAM. Georgia (5,566), plus smaller skill maps in Pennsylvania (~934) and Wyoming (362). These are skill-based amusement machines in ordinary storefronts. Georgia uses the COAM category — coin-operated amusement machines. Start at Georgia, Pennsylvania, or Wyoming. City examples: Atlanta, Allentown, Cheyenne. Skill is not charitable e-tabs and not an Illinois VGT.

E-tabs / Type III. Ohio’s 690 public sites are Type III electronic bingo. Minnesota’s 3,181 GCB sites mix pull-tabs and e-tabs. Use Columbus, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, and St. Paul when you want city density. Do not ask an Ohio Type III pin to behave like a Georgia convenience-store skill bank.

Coin-op amusement. Texas. We publish 582 REG_CERT storefronts from the Comptroller’s coin-operated amusement file — machines at the taxpayer’s own place of business. General business-license operator addresses stay off the public map. Open Texas coin-op locations or cities such as San Antonio and Houston. A REG_CERT pin is “this business may have coin-op amusement on site,” not “this is a VGT hall.”

Charitable bingo halls. Kentucky’s 41 public locations are licensed facilities from the June 2023 OCG list. Use Kentucky and Louisville, and treat the date as part of the answer.

A quick chooser

Bar in Illinois with video terminals → VGT → Illinois.
Convenience store in Georgia with skill cabinets → skill / COAM → Georgia.
Ohio location on the Type III list → e-tabs → Ohio.
Minnesota bar that sells tickets or e-tabs → GCB site → Minnesota.
Texas business with coin-op amusement on site → REG_CERT storefront → Texas.
Wyoming or Pennsylvania skill stop → Wyoming or Pennsylvania.
Kentucky bingo hall → dated FAC list → Kentucky.

What Skill Game Radar will not put on a page

Public location pages do not show operator company names, route sheets, taxpayer IDs, or staff emails. They do not name cabinet brands. If there is a staffed counter device, it is a kiosk. That rule is the same in Springfield and Savannah. The map is for finding a door. The license file behind each state is for knowing which product you are looking at.

Counts above are public has_games = true snapshots for August 16, 2026: Illinois 7,037; Georgia 5,566; Minnesota 3,181; Pennsylvania about 934; Ohio 690; Texas 582; Wyoming 362; Kentucky 41. They will move. Use the city directories when you need a list, and verify hours on site. If you only remember one distinction, remember this: an e-tab is a digital pull-tab deal, a VGT is an Illinois video terminal, and skill / coin-op are amusement categories — three different legends, three different car trips.