New Georgia lottery scratch game popular with players

Feb 28, 2005, 10:47 am (7 comments)

Georgia Lottery

Frank Stone of Phenix City was sitting at a counter Thursday morning inside the Spectrum across from the Columbus Civic Center.

He had a cigarette tucked tightly between the middle and ring fingers of his right hand. He had a silver coin in the same hand. And he was scratching away at the silver film on the oversized lottery card.

Stone was playing the $100 Million Cash Spectacular, a new game offered by the Georgia Lottery Corp.

"It gets to you," Stone said. "It seems like you have more chances of winning."

Stone, who is retired, estimates he spends a couple of hundred dollars a week playing the lottery. He said he has had a $500 winner in the new game.

To get into the Cash Spectacular game, it costs $10 per card. That is a far cry from the normal $1 and $2 scratch-off tickets.

The game is attracting a lot of interest in Columbus and across the state. The players have a million-dollar dream.

The game, which will run for a limited time, will have 10 $1 million winners. There have already been four $1 million winners. Those tickets were sold in Statesboro, Resaca, Marietta and Pearson, said Tandi Reddick, a media relations specialist for the Georgia Lottery.

Barbara Jones, the manager of the Spectrum on Airport Thruway, said the game has been a hit.

"It is attracting a lot of new players," Jones said. "It's young and old."

There is also another common denominator.

"There are a lot of players I have never seen before," Jones said. "They are normally just gas customers."

The $100 million scratch-off game was introduced earlier this month. The Georgia Lottery says it has the highest payout percentage of any game in the corporation's history. It offers more than $118 million in total cash prizes. Through Wednesday, the game has generated $76 million in sales. There have been about $57 million in payouts, Reddick said.

In Columbus there has been one $50,000 winner and two $10,000 winners. There was also a $10,000 winner in Cataula.

West Point has done well. The small Troup County community has generated three $10,000 winners, including two at one Spectrum store located on 10th Street.

Because the game has a higher payout that includes $5, $10 and $20 winners, players tend to recycle the winnings into additional tickets.

The tickets have multiple numbers and can be confusing to some players. Each ticket has six winning numbers. There are 15 other numbers on the card. Winning tickets will match one or more of the winning numbers with the other numbers. Each of the other numbers has a prize attached to it,

"You really have to pay attention when you play it," Stone said.

Ledger-Enquirer

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qutgnt

What is the payback percentage of this game. you see when you jack up the payback percentage people feel better and not cheated and will recycle their money more.  Why most states dont get this is beyond me. They waste their time coming out with "new" games that they think will increase revenue when in the long run they peter out.  To increase sales states need to INCREASE payback percentage.  Some of these states are highway robbers paying back 40% -50% .

CASH Only

qutgnt:

NY Lotto pays back only 38%-40%.

DoubleDown

The overall odds of winning any prize in the Million Dollar scratch game are one in 1.322 versus one in 2.56 in another popular ten dollar scratch game.

The retailers cannot keep this game on the shelves.....People know there are 6 more Million Dollar tickets out there in addition to the other large prizes.

I wonder how many players know the payout( if one is so lucky) is an annuity  over 20 years ?

I will gladly take 50k per year for 20 years, but somehow that does not feel like a million dollars..........

DD

lazyjim's avatarlazyjim
Quote: Originally posted by qutgnt on February 28, 2005


What is the payback percentage of this game. you see when you jack up the payback percentage people feel better and not cheated and will recycle their money more.  Why most states dont get this is beyond me. They waste their time coming out with "new" games that they think will increase revenue when in the long run they peter out.  To increase sales states need to INCREASE payback percentage.  Some of these states are highway robbers paying back 40% -50% .



You nailed that one qutgnt, Arizona just came out with a new $2 scratcher called Bingo Corral that has just TWO top prizes of $10,000.  Unfortunately, most people play it cuz it's new, thinking that it has more top prizes left than the regular $2 Bingo. It doesn't, not by a long shot.

 Arizona could take a lesson from Georgia in increasing revenue honestly rather than scamming uninformed players out of their money based on false hope.

CASH Only

DoubleDown:

I've been wondering myself...is it lump sum, annuity with cash option, or annuity-only (if it's the latter, Ms DeFrancisco has brought lottery corruption from NY)

DoubleDown
Quote: Originally posted by CASH Only on February 28, 2005



DoubleDown:

I've been wondering myself...is it lump sum, annuity with cash option, or annuity-only (if it's the latter, Ms DeFrancisco has brought lottery corruption from NY)





Hey CASH Only, this game is Annuity only on the million dollar prize.

DD

LOTTOMIKE's avatarLOTTOMIKE

maybe tennessee will come out with something similar....

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