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Photograph by George Sakkestad

Jerry Weiss calls out numbers during a game of bingo at the El Dorado Mobile Home Park. It is legal for El Dorado residents to play this betting game--but not pull-tabs, a game in which a player pulls up tabs on a card to reveal winnings. Weiss petitioned the council to make pull tabs legal last week.

Pull-tabs advocate asks City Council to legalize game

By Justin Berton

Jerry Weiss is no lawbreaker and didn't want to become one after 66 years.

The retired aerospace engineer approached the Sunnyvale City Council at its March 24 meeting and asked the city to adopt an ordinance that would allow citizens to play pull-tabs, a game where a player purchases a card and pulls away tabs to reveal winnings of up to $250.

"I felt very uncomfortable doing something that was illegal," Weiss said when he learned Sunnyvale had no specific ordinance that permitted the gambling practice.

Weiss, who is president of the homeowners association at the El Dorado Mobile Home Park, would like to use the pull-tabs to lure more players to the park's Wednesday night bingo games, allowing the group to raise more money for social activities at the park.

City Manager Robert LaSala told Weiss at the meeting the earliest the city could get the issue to the council for approval was in June.

"If they don't [pass an ordinance], there's going to be a lot of angry people at me for blowing the whistle," Weiss said.

Weiss said the cards are used widely in Sunnyvale.

"They are as common a feature as soda pop and coffee," he noted.

Other fraternal organizations, such as the Sunnyvale Elks Lodge, do use the pull-tabs as an added feature for players at bingo games.

Bob Bemis, the Elks Lodge secretary, said the Elks pull in close to $6,000 a year from the tabs alone--all of which, he said, goes to charity.

"I didn't know that," Bemis said when he learned no city ordinance permitted the use of pull-tabs.

According to state penal code 330, the punishment for the misdemeanor violation is a fine no less than $100 and no more than $1,000.

Vice Mayor Manuel Valerio assured Weiss at the council meeting the city wasn't exactly prepared to "crack down" on the violation.

The trouble came about when Weiss and others at the 284-unit mobile home park off Fair Oaks began discussing how to raise money for social activities.

At first, they thought a snack bar and a weekly bingo game would be enough.

But the bingo permit only allowed profits earned to be reinvested in the game for advertising and game materials.

Weiss took it upon himself to research the legality of pull-tabs and learned Sunnyvale had no law on the books.

"It just didn't feel right," he said.

Currently, the city of San Jose has a municipal ordinance that allows the practice.

For just a 25-cent investment, a winner can take home $50. For a dollar card, a winner can cash in for $250.

When the player removes tabs from the cards, cherries and bells, much like a slot machine, announce a winner.

Weiss himself isn't crazy about the game.

"I prefer games where I have a bit more control of the outcome. But on tabs, there's no skill involved. Strictly chance," he said.

Still, he sees the feature as necessary to bring in more revenue for activities at the park. "We intend to make enough money to satisfy the political and social needs of the organization."

Michael Keeran, the president of the social club at El Dorado and a member of the bingo committee, said he was surprised to hear that pull-tabs were illegal. "We were just being cautious, and then this can of worms opens up," Keeran said.

"We still play bingo," Weiss added. "We have a permit, and we still have a snack bar. But we don't play the pull-tabs."

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, April 8, 1998.
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