How To Play Break Open Tickets In Canada?

Break Open tickets n Canada are offered by Atlantic Lotteries, OLG lotteries, and other state lotteries in Canada. These lotteries in Canada offer a wide range of games, from draw games to online bingo; breakopen tickets to sports wagering; and games in both social settings and online.

Break open tickets are actually Pull Tab games. These games are also called Nevada Tickets, Cherry Bells, Lucky 7s, Pickle Cards, Instant Bingo, Bowl Games, or Popp-Opens.

What are Break Open Tickets?

Break open tickets are cardboard instant-win games. You peel back perforated “tabs” to reveal symbols or numbers; if they match a winning combination shown on the ticket, you’ve won a prize.

Types include:

1. Break Open Paper Tickets

In Break open paper tickets each ticket has two sides. Typically, one side lists the winning combinations of symbols, the cash payout for each combination, the number of tickets that contain each winning combination, and the total number of tickets in the game. This information is generally also posted in a large printed sheet called a flare.

The other side of the ticket contains the perforated tabs. After purchasing the ticket, the player pulls the perforated tabs to reveal their winnings, if any. Cash prizes may be claimed immediately.

2. Break Open Electronic Tickets

An electronic pull tab is derived from paper pull tabs. The electronic game closely resembled pull tabs in that when new, there are a fixed and preset quantity of chances among which are a fixed quantity of winning chances of a predetermined prize value.

Furthermore, it brings the unique features of allowing players to view the number of chances for each given prize value in each deal, as well as other pull tab features common to pull tab in various states.

This version of an electronic pull-tab uses a hand-held device, similar to a tablet computer, with a touch screen interface.

All such devices are subject to control and monitoring from a central computer. Each device must have access to one or more finite sets of chances not to exceed a maximum number per set or “deal” as they are called in pull-tab lingo.

Sizes of the sets are under jurisdictional control and vary between maximums of 7,500 to 25,000. Among the chances are a predetermined quantity of winning and losing chances. The pull tab devices have “no spinning reels or other representations that mimic a video slot machine.”

The devices are linked wirelessly to a master computer within the bar or restaurant or to a central computer that controls many sites.

Bar Coded	Non Bar Coded
A barcoded Break open ticket will have a barcode on the right vertical side of the ticket. Tickets can be validated at any retail location with a lottery terminal at any time	Non Bar coded Break open tickets can be validated at at the location of purchase.

How to get Break Open Tickets in Canada

Offline the tickets may be provided by mechanical pull-tab dispensers. Several different games may be offered for sale at any one time; each may have different prices and payouts.

Pull-tabs are typically sold for 25¢, 50¢, $1, $2, $3, and $5 and have prizes as high as $5,000.

In Canada (e.g. Ontario, Atlantic provinces), break-open tickets are considered charitable gaming products, heavily regulated and available only through licensed charitable or non-profit groups, typically at physical locations like bingo halls, legion branches, restaurants, and third-party retail sites.

Online platforms like the Atlantic Lottery Corporation explicitly state tickets are “available for purchase in-store”, not digitally.

Buy them in person, at licensed locations like:

• Bingo & charitable gaming centres (e.g., OLG PlaySmart).
• Local pubs, legion halls, or variety stores with proper charitable gaming licences.
• Atlantic provinces, through Atlantic Lottery-authorised retailers.

How to play Break Open Tickets in Canada

Now that you have bought your Break Open Ticket.

• Open tabs. Tear the tabs to reveal symbols—match wins, just like a scratch ticket.
• Keep any “hold” tickets. If playing a bingo-event ticket, bring it to the session.
• Claim your prize. Redeem immediately if you win instantly, or win during the bingo if it applies.

There are two types of games:

Instant‑Win Tickets

• Tear off tabs and check if symbols align with the winning combinations printed on the front.
• Instant prizes are redeemed immediately at the counter .

Bingo‑Event Tickets

• Mix of instant prizes and “hold tickets” that enter you into a bingo session.
• Match bingo numbers during the session to win larger prizes

Once you have your ticket simply open the windows found on the back of each Breakopen ticket to reveal five sets of symbols.

For most Breakopen tickets, if you reveal three identical symbols in any one window, you win the prize indicated on the front of the game for that symbol. The Criss Cross ticket plays slightly different in that you can win if you reveal three identical symbols in any one window or vertically across multiple windows. 

The Odds to Win

With Break Open, the odds of winning any prizes range from as strong as 1 in 6 to as low as 1 in 12 depending on the specific game. The odds of winning are described on the back of each Break Open ticket.’

Pull tab games are relatively unique among wagering games in that each game, when new, has a predetermined quantity of tickets/chances, which can range from 5,000 to 50,000 total, among which are a predetermined and fixed quantity of winning chances each of which rewards a predetermined prize value.

In many setups, a potential player can see through the transparent box roughly how many chances remain and they can view on the associated tally sheet how many major winners remain at any given time.

When several major winners remain among a few chances, players buy as many as they can at a time. When no major winners remain among unsold tickets, the organization takes the game out of play or retires that deal and replaces it with a brand new deal.

How to collect your wins

1. For Scratch & Bar coded Break open:

• Prizes worth up to $250 can be claimed at any Lottery retail location such as Atlantic lotteries as an example (some stores can actually cash up to $999.99).
• Prizes between $250 and $9,999.99 can be claimed at any Scotia Bank location or at their Head Office in Moncton.
• For prizes valued at $10,000 or greater, you will need to contact Atlantic Lottery at 1-800-561-3942.

From there, they will reach out to you to set up an appointment through their Moncton, Dartmouth or St. John’s offices. But before you redeem any prizes, sign your ticket because they require all tickets (except Barcoded Break open) to be signed before they can be validated.

By signing your ticket, you are protecting your potential winnings from being claimed by someone else fraudulently.

2. Non-Barcoded Break open:

The claiming process for non-barcoded Breakopen tickets is slightly different then the claiming process Bar coded Breakopen. Unlike the other games, non-barcoded Breakopen tickets do not contain a barcode; therefore, they are not validated on lottery terminal.
The validation process for non-barcoded Breakopen tickets is executed using face-validation.

• For each winning Breakopen ticket, the prize amount won, is clearly identified and positioned in an orange win box over a non-winning symbol on the ticket.
• All winning Non-Barcoded Break open Tickets must be redeemed at the Retail location where the ticket was purchased, with the exception of winning Bonus prizes ($999, $777, $2,000).
• Retailers do not pay Bonus prizes even if the Bonus prize value is within the Retailer’s encashment level and the Retailer sold the ticket.
• Winning Bonus prize tickets have a designated signature line, orange win box and text directing you to contact Customer Care. Retailers will direct you to contact Customer Care for prize claiming information.

The key attribute that make something a pull tab—electronic or paper—is the finite probability basis of having a predetermined quantity of chances among which there are a predetermined quantity of winners that pay a fixed and predetermined value of the prize.

Redemption of one losing chance actually does mean one chance closer to a winner.

This is opposed to, for instance, slots that operate on near-continuum probability premises, where each event is a separate activity without bearing on the next outcome and without having been influenced by past events.

Conclusion

Break Open Tickets are games of chance and there is no skill required to win. So play responsibly setting a fixed budget to lose that amount in case you don’t win.

Read the odds and prize info on each ticket style.

Remember that these lottery tickets are not available online. You need to purchase them at Local pubs, legion halls, or variety stores with proper charitable gaming licences.

FAQs