Pull-tabs are the most popular form of charitable gambling in Minnesota. You will often see them for sale behind a bar or in a dedicated pull-tab booth within a bar. It is played by selling paper or cardboard tickets from a container, some of which will contain winning combinations of symbols (similar to a winning line on a slot machine), most.

• Mn Charitable Gambling Rules For Dummies
• Mn Charitable Gambling Rules Against

What's New Specific What's New information, by month

For Exempt/Excluded activity information, click here

December 14, 2020

• Paul City Council approved new rules Wednesday for distributing money from charitable gambling to youth organizations in the city, after backing away from a more drastic change that would.
• Bingo was the first form of charitable gambling officially sanctioned by the state of Minnesota (in 1945). Its essence is the same as the familiar bingo game as played in the US. In recent years, legislation has allowed for bingo to be played in bars, with hand-held electronic devices, and even linked across many different locations.

Don’t Jeopardize Your Organization’s Gambling License

There have been reports that some Minnesota bars and restaurants intend to open for on-site eating and drinking prior to Friday, December 18 in violation of Executive Order 20-99. If so, your organization may feel pressure to also restart the conduct of gambling at these locations. Please remember that your organization is responsible for securing all games, including those played and unplayed.

The conduct of gambling at a location in violation of Executive Order 20-99 could result in the suspension or revocation of your organization’s lawful gambling license. If your organization has multiple premises permits, your ability to conduct gambling, even at sites that did not violate the Executive Order, could be affected.

December 10, 2020

Mn Charitable Gambling Rules For Dummies

To Attend Remote Board Meeting via WebEx: Prior to the 10:00 a.m. meeting start time, call 855-282-6330. At the prompt, enter meeting ID 146 757 1289, followed by the # key. You may be asked for extra information, but you may hit the # key again and you will be taken to the meeting.

To Participate in Public Comment: If you wish to provide public comment at the next meeting please submit, by 4:30 p.m. the prior Friday, your name, who you represent, and your comment to steve.pedersen@state.mn.us.

November 30, 2020

The October/November/December 2020 Gaming News is now available.

Pull-tab Sales at Liquor Stores

Many gambling managers have the impression that because off-sale liquor stores may continue to sell pull-tabs at this time, and, per executive order, on-sale bars can now also sell off-sale beer and wine, that all bars may therefore sell pull-tabs. However, that conclusion is incorrect.

Only bar and restaurant locations with an off-sale liquor license may conduct pull-tabs at this time – provided that the pull-tabs are conducted in a portion of a building with a separate entrance where on-site eating and drinking was not previously allowed. Although executive order temporarily allows bars with on-sale licenses to conduct some limited off-sale, very few locations have an actual off-sale license. Again, bars without an off-sale license and a separate entrance into an exclusively off-sale portion of the building are not allowed to sell pull-tabs.

Guidance for Reporting “Paused” Games

On Friday, November 20 organizations were allowed the option of “pausing” their pull-tab games in play rather than closing them. Pausing a game means that the organization may put that same game back into play once their premises reopens for on-site eating and drinking. The proceeds from paused games must be deposited into the gambling account within 4 business days after the game was paused. However, the game is not reported as closed on monthly reports until the game has been placed into play again and then removed from play.

Pausing games creates some unique reporting issues at month-end. The instructions below are meant to help your organization report paused games correctly so that your Profit Carryover Reconciliation, form LG100F, will balance.

There are three important numbers for an organization to remember when pausing their games; the amount of their cash bank for the games being paused, their deposit total, and the difference between those two numbers (which should be an indication of what the net receipts were for the games at the time they were paused).

Organizations should take the following steps:

Mn Charitable Gambling Rules Against

• Deposit all the cash from each site (“Deposit Total” in the examples below) into their gambling bank account.
• On the LG100A, Lawful Gambling Receipts and Expenses per Site, reduce the starting cash bank amount for the games that are paused at the site to $0.
• Report the difference amount from the starting cash bank and deposit total amounts on the LG100F line 14 (the difference amount can be positive or negative depending on the circumstance).
• When re-opening a site, withdraw the same “Deposit Total” that they initially deposited and report the same cash bank amount that they had at the time the games were paused.

Click here for examples of how the reporting would work out depending on the starting cash banks as compared to the net receipts for each game. If you have questions, please contact your Compliance Auditor for assistance.

Continuing Education Opportunities

A new continuing education class on lawful purpose expenditures is now available by clicking on the following link: CE – Lawful Purpose Expenditures. It’s a video-based course presented by Nichole Engeswick, a Compliance Auditor working out of our Mankato office. Participants will watch four videos with a total combined running time of about 40 minutes and answer a few questions at the end of each video.

Information on these and other continuing education classes is also available under the “Education” tab by selecting the “Continuing Education” menu option.

Charities and charitable trusts that incorporate in Minnesota do so under the Minnesota Nonprofit Corporation Act, Minn. Stat. ch. 317A, or, less commonly, as a nonprofit limited liability company.(73) A summary of the Nonprofit Corporation Act is beyond the scope of this guide, but Minnesota nonprofits should be aware of certain key statutes in the Act, including the following:

• The length of time a director may serve on a nonprofit’s board may not exceed ten years without the person being elected or appointed to a new term. There is no limit on how many terms a director may serve on a board.(74)
• Nonprofit board members have various fiduciary duties imposed on them as a director of the nonprofit, including the duties of care, loyalty, obedience, and to act in the best interests of the organization, among others.(75)
• Nonprofit officers, or those exercising the functions of officers, likewise have various fiduciary duties imposed on them.(76)
• A nonprofit must satisfy certain criteria in order to properly transact business with a related party.(77)
• A nonprofit may not lend money to a director, officer, or employee of the organization (or a related organization) unless the board of directors reasonably expects the loan to benefit the nonprofit, as opposed to the recipient of the loan.(78)
• A nonprofit is required to maintain complete and accurate books and records regarding its operations and affairs, including its articles and bylaws, accounting records, voting agreements, and meeting minutes.(79)

Minnesota nonprofits should review the entirety of chapter 317A and consult with a private attorney to ensure their compliance with these laws. This Office has also prepared a brochure entitled 'Guide for Board Members: Fiduciary Duties of Directors of Charitable Organizations.' It discusses in more detail the roles and responsibilities of board members.

The requirements imposed on nonprofits by statutes administered by the Minnesota Secretary of State and the Minnesota Gambling Control Board (for nonprofits that engage in charitable gambling) are not discussed in this guide. For more information on these matters, please contact the Minnesota Secretary of State, Retirement Systems of Minnesota Building, 60 Empire Drive, Suite 100, St. Paul, MN 55103, or at (651) 296-2803 or (877) 551-6767. For information regarding charitable gambling, please contact the Minnesota Gambling Control Board, 1711 West County Road B, Suite 300 South, Roseville, MN 55113, or at (651) 539-1900.