Mobile Pull Tab Games: What, Why And Where?

Realistic Gaming have recently starting releasing a series of Android pull tab mobile games. We ask the golden questions about the game and who / why you should play them.

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Pull tabs are not something you see often. In fact, when we first saw these ‘novelty games’ in LeoVegas Casino we had to do a little research into them ourselves as they seemed oddly familiar but… we couldn’t remember the last time we’d seen them.

Turns out, that though they are popular world-wide (kinda), it’s mostly a North American lottery game. These days most of us are far more familiar with this games more popular cousin; the scratch card.

So, if you are a fan of pull tabs you can skip straight to the section titled ‘Types of Android Pull Tab Games’. For the rest of you, let us explain the game and the difference between the paper version to online to mobile.

You might also be interested in our list of the best online gambling games.

What is a pull tab?

They have, in fact, several names according to wikipedia: “Break-Opens, Nevada Tickets, Cherry Bells, Lucky 7s, Pickle Cards, Instant Bingo, Bowl Games, or Popp-Opens“. No one, it seems, can agree on just the one name.

Much like slots or scratchers, the idea is simple: you have to reveal matching symbols in a row to win prizes. These can have anything, usually, between 1 to 5 rows. Each of these rows will have a little paper tab which you have to pull to reveal the symbols underneath.

A simple under-rated game

Anyone familiar with your classic 3 reel one payline slots should be able to recognise how it works. Sometimes you have a wild symbol which can be used to create a winning payline, sometimes that wild comes with a multiplier. Some symbols are worth more and some games will have a higher top paying symbol – usually anything from 50x your bet to 500x your bet.

Sure the scratch card is the pull tabs gambling cousin, but the slot machine is clearly the grandfather of both.

In the end, the idea is simple. Reveal, line them up, get paid or try again.

Why play them online?

There are very obvious difference between the paper based and pull tabs online. For one, you’ll be lucky to find online pull tab games. Our search pulled out mostly bingo sites – why, we don’t know. Slots are very popular with the bingo lot, so we suppose these online  games are a natural progression.

Essentially, online and mobile casinos have largely ignored these break open games because they could. Look at all these gorgeous, new online slot machines that fizz and sparkle and pop! Who wants to simply pull on a tab?

Online casinos forget that classic slots and scratch cards have increased in popularity online due to their simplicity and easy mechanics. All clearly marked out and easy to see. But are online mobile pull tabs better than the paper ones at the shop?

Paper VS online: the figures

Though the ideas are similar there are a few distinct difference you need to be aware of if you are thinking of moving from paper to online. In spirit of being fair (as we clearly have an online crush when it comes to casino games) we will be using the information provided to us by the American Games Inc company who print million of pull tabs for distribution all over the US.

What’s good about the paper version:

• Many paper pull tabs usually have ‘tally sheets’ where you can see who has won which prize. So you can clearly and quickly make a decision on whether there are still enough top level prizes left and pick the game with the best odds at winning big. This is because…
• They are printed in batches of about 3,000 to 10,000, each clearly numbered. No random number generator to be found here, so with a calculator or a little common sense you can calculate your odds.
• Used mostly by charities (or the government to fund charitable organisations), you can play pull tabs knowing that at least 30% of your ticket is going to a good cause. Online games are not as good on the conscience.
• Huge variety of themes and types of games.
• You don’t get the satisfying ‘crunch’ feeling as you physically pull the tab

What’s better about the online version: 

• The return to player rate  (or RTP; ie. how much the game will pay out to players over it’s lifetime) on the mobile online tab games is much bigger than the paper versions. Whilst at best you’ll find a return of 78% for the paper ones – with a worst case scenario of 50% at times – online that jumps up to an incredibly high 95% or more.
• You can change the bet value. So whilst you’ll be hard pressed to find a paper game that cost more than $1, online you have multiple currencies and values, from as little as 0.25 to 50 a card. Satisfying all different types of players all over the world.
• The graphics are more interactive and on mobile you still get the satisfaction of being able to pull (or swipe) to reveal the symbols.
• You can use auto-play to quickly play more than one game with little effort.
• It’s completely random and so extremely fair. No tampering with the figures here.
• You can play when you want, where ever you want. Can’t be bothered to get dressed? Stick on your pyjamas and get butt scratching. Boring meeting at work? Tell everyone you are answering an urgent email and pull a quick tab.

See? We told you online was better.

Types of Android pull tab games?

Notice how the title of this piece says ‘Android’… yeah, here is where the paper version wins slightly. Currently, the selection of mobile pull tabs is small and you can only play them on phones or tablet Android casinos. So small, we really only have one provider who is leading the charge in pull tabbing. If that’s a word.

Realistic Games is a UK casino software provider who are always looking to create something a little bit different for the mobile experience. So instead of scratch cards they created pull tabs for us mobile players. At last count that was the total of… four games.

With more to come of course. Maybe. Ahem. For now let’s have a quick look at different Realistic pull tab games.

Diamonds & Rubies

• Min/Max bet a card: 0.25 – 50 in cash
• Number of pull rows: 4
• RTP: 95%
• Theme: Jewel theme, with diamonds, rubies, bells and fruit symbols.
• Special features? None, but the cherry symbol pays out if you find only one or two in a line.
• Max win? Top symbols pay 100x your bet, so if you get all 4 lines you can win an absolute maximum of 400x your bet.
• Verdict? A safe choice for those who want to stretch their budget thanks to the cherry symbol showing up often.

Golden Koi

• Min/Max bet a card: 0.25 – 25 in cash
• Number of pull rows: 4
• RTP: 95%
• Theme: Asian water garden with fruits and bell symbols
• Special features? The Golden Koi is wild and multiplies win by 5x.
• Max win? Top symbols pay 50x your bet, which with the 5x multiplier make it 250x your bet for one line. If you get all 4 lines with a wild, the absolute top you can win is 1,000x your bet.
• Verdict? Fun easy game, with a decent multiplier allowing you to hope for some decent wins.

Pot Luck

• Min/Max bet a card: 0.25 – 10 in cash
• Number of pull rows: 4
• RTP: 95%
• Theme: Irish themed, with leprechauns and pots of gold
• Special features? mix and match the pots to get a winning line
• Max win? Top symbols pay 500x your bet. So of course, if you have the true and absolute luck of the irish by your side you could win 2,000x your bet.
• Verdict? For those chasing the big wins.

Sunken Treasure

• Min/Max bet a card: 0.25 – 10 in cash
• Number of pull rows: 4
• RTP: 95%
• Theme: Underwater theme with toothy sharks, fish and sunken treasures
• Special features? The shark is the wild symbol, multiplying any wins by 2x. However, if you get two sharks in the same row, the win is multiplied by 4.
• Max win? Top symbols pay 500x your bet, which, like pot luck, makes this treasure worth 2,000x your bet if you can hold your breath for a while (ie. have a little patience.)
• Verdict? Much like the shark, you are in danger of it not paying out, but when it does it’s usually worth the wait.

Where can I play these mobile pull tabs?

At all good Realistic casinos of course. And by that, we mean LeoVegas casino who offer a small list of these types of games including Diamonds & Rubies.

You can only play them on Android, as mentioned, not on desktop. Also they are under the menu as ‘novelty games’ because… well… where would you put them otherwise?

And with 5 deposit bonuses giving you a total of £$€1,000 worth of free cash, now’s the time to try this retro game on your phone.