There have been a few discussions on this board regarding scratch tickets and members report that this is true.   Also, members were discussing recently how clerks at stores can tell which ones are the winners, something I still find hard to believe. However, the people here seem to know a lot more than I do (at least about lotteries!) so I trust the information has validity. Judging from this article, I guess the locations for big winners are chosen in advance, so it's not really a game of chance is it?  I suppose you could run around town and scratch your little fingers off and, if the winners were sent to another county  you've wasted your money. That being said, the winning ticket might be in the next pile right in front of you and you'd never know. I did witness a woman winning $10,000 on a scratch ticket in Bonita, but she spent $10 for one ticket. Not a bad return on investment however!

Don't get me started on this one. (I'm a Democrat raised in Boston!)  What about child molesters?  Florida has had so many perverts pop up lately and commit horrific crimes. How they get off the radar is beyond my understanding. The answer is "they don't register" which is such a lame excuse. If they were implanted with blinking red lights, they wouldn't have to register.  My car alarm would do the trick. 50 years for defrauding a lottery? In most states rape carries a sentence of about 3 to 10 years.  So, cheat the lottery, get 50 years.  Commit a violent act against a woman or a child, get paroled in 5.

hangem at high noon

50-year penalty for this particular crime is cruel and unusual punishment.

Though what the security official  did is criminal and should be punished,  what he was able to do is just a symptom of a flawed lottery operation.

 Just like any other public scandals, the lowly official becomes the scapegoat and the superiors go scot free.

Based on some peoples viewpoint, it is all the fault of tempation.  The cure?  Pay every lottery employee a minimum wage of ten million dollars a year.  No one is immune to tempation, so take away the temptation.  That is the answer to what would make the lottery immune to corruption.

Whoa. Back up the paddy-wagon.. this person has not been SENTENCED yet.. it could end up being much less than 50 years. But that can still be extreme vs. other worse crimes.

Also.  "IF" computerized drawings are rigged???

Will lottery annuities eventually be stretched out to 50 years? I've actually heard of giveaways where the prize was paid as $20,000 a year for 50 years.

New Jersey has ball drawings and they were caught being corrupt.  Crooks are crooks.  Neither option ensures honesty!  Then again, New Jersey would find a way to corrupt the game if they used lead bricks pulled by elephants!

If I was 18 and in college, that would be a great payout. $20K a year for the rest of my life.  Sure would make lifes decisions a lot easier to make.  I get more than that from Uncle Sam now, and would have loved it start at 18!  Would have less of a chance in blowing what I made that last 50 years!!!

The Pepsi $Billion was 40 annual payments, with the last a balloon ($710 million I think.) For some reason there was no sweepstakes last year.

William C. Foreman could spend 50 years in state prison if he's convicted of stealing secrets from the Hoosier Lottery in an effort to rig a million-dollar scratch-off game.

The ONLY annuity not worth considering!

I'd LOVE to see a lottery game where the top "prize" is X years in jail!