Find a pit bull wearing lipstick, win a Palin coin

Joshua Saul photo

A sign advertising "Going Rogue" pull tabs in Wasilla

Rippie World is a smoky pull-tab joint that's been selling a "Going Rogue" game for about two months now, mostly to Sarah Palin fans and people who like to play for coins (find a pit bull wearing lipstick to win a Palin coin). "Going Rogue" costs $1 per play, and apparently it has been good for business.

"We got a lot of people that stop and look at the sign, that's for sure," said Leigh Carlson, who works at Rippie World, went to Wasilla High School a few years behind Sarah, and had Sarah's father as her fifth grade teacher.

Rippie World sits smack in the middle of Wasilla's tour of the stars. It's right across the Parks Highway from Lake Lucille and the Palin family home, and just down the road from the Mug-Shot Saloon, which was packed with reporters from around the world when Palin accepted the 2008 Republican vice presidential nomination.

Carlson said each game set contains 6,000 tickets, and Rippie World has burned through one and is partway through a second. It's not their most popular game, Carlson said, but it sells pretty well. (This reporter spent $4 on four tabs and didn't score a single Palin or pit bull.)

Another Anchorage pull-tab business, Custom Tabs, also has a Palin game, with another set to come out soon. "Hockey Mom" has gone through several printings over the past year, and a Custom Tab employee said sales get a bump whenever Palin stirs things up.

Stephen Nowers photo

"Going Rogue" pull tabs.

Each "Going Rogue" tab has a picture of the former governor in a red suit giving a thumbs up and signing a generic book next to a shot of Palin's actual book, "Going Rogue: An American Life," and the words, "Book Signing TODAY!" On the game's sign there's also a cartoon of Joe the Plumber (complete with a toilet plunger), a hockey mom holding a pile of sticks and skates, and of course, a pit bull. Joe, the mom and the pit bull are all holding copies of Palin's book.

Ron Humble, the man behind the "Going Rogue" pull-tab, is a big Palin fan, and he wanted to mock the way the media and pundits mocked Palin during her vice presidential run -- that's why the board features the Russians peeking over a mountain.

Humble is a salesperson at Whaler Casino Supply in Anchorage, and he said the game is being sold all over Alaska, including Bush towns like Barrow and Bethel.

"It's been selling pretty good in Wasilla," Humble said. "If you love her or if you hate her, the game is still fun."

Contact Joshua Saul at jsaul(at)alaskadispatch.com.