New Florida Lotto playslips a bother to some

 "The sad thing is all they have to do is go to the website and it plainly tells you what to play and what you will get for your play!  DUH! " 

Not everyone spends a lot of time on the internet reading about the lottery or puts winning the jackpot at the top of their to-do list.  I don't think you read the article clearly.  This was not a NEW game.  People are just not interested in spending the extra dollar.  I don't see the problem here. 

What's interesting is on the one hand people will call my home state "Floriduh" and joke about the people here, especially the older folks, and on the other they'll complain about all the wealthy people in the big mansions. So how can these people who have retired comfortably, live in nice homes and spend their days playing golf, be complete imbeciles?

"The scary part, these same people who are confused about a simple lotto ticket"

Again, there's a difference between being confused and simply being uninformed.  There was very little advertising about this change. I also know people who never watch TV.  All of a sudden people who have played for years are being told to complete new cards. The only question I've heard is "why do I need to complete a new card?" Doesn't sound to me as if they're very confused.  I also went to the counter with my old cards, so I guess that makes me one of "these people."  The redesigned cards should have been available months ago, not just a few days before the change took place. They weren't even at most retailers until last week! 

"are going to decided who is the next President of the United States!"

I hope this is an accurate statement, since 1.7 million voters clearly chose Hillary Clinton by an overwhelming margin.

"Remember the chad?"

Yup, and remember whose brother was Governor of FL in 2000? 

The first winner(s) of the new option on the Florida Lotto will definitely get the publicity!  It will boost the new game options for sure.  Speaking of anonymity, maybe states that do not allow can modify their stance.  They can validate the state's need to make sure the person is legit by verifying the data needed and keep that information confidential.  Just the fact that a verifying sysyem validated the winner should be enough.  I saw in another post where someone mention that something drastic might have to happen before states banning annonymity will ease up.  The Louisiana Lottery used to have a jackpot starting much higher than it does now.  But someone sued them because they assumed/misunderstood something about the jackpot.  They won and the end result was the Louisiana Lotto Jackpot no longer starts as a base minimum of $3,000,000.00.  I think it is something like starting at $250,000.00 or $500,000.00.

Afterall, income from the lottery is reported to the IRS.  And the SS#, age, DOB, etc is IRS knowledge.  Does it have to be PUBLIC knowledge!???

I agree & they definitely will make a big deal if the winner uses the option.  I hope they are keeping this honest.  As long as the drawings are ball drawings and they are televised live, I'll trust them.  Obviously they would like the Lotto winner to be someone who spent $3 so they can promote it.  I heard an ad on the radio today and it sounds like one of those car ads that quickly say "tax, title, doors, tires, engine, not included."  They say "paid over 30 years years"  I bet there are a lot of people who think it is a $10M cash bonus.  I understood what you wrote before about the cash option, but they will still pay only 50 to 55% of the bonus if you take it as a lump sum, so it's really more like a $5M bonus for the extra dollar.

They might make it a bigger deal if a winner does not use the option by saying what they could have won for a buck more.

I don't know how they can offer a cash option and still make a profit because they need at least $5M in bonus sales just to break even. Taking the cash for the regular jackpot and getting payments for the next 29 years on the $10M bonus give winners added security.

If Mega Millions or Powerball added an option of taking half in cash and the rest in payments it would make that choice easier for the winners and end all the "cash or payment" arguments on LP.

Stack, I was thinking about that option too.  I'll look at the site again, but I didn't think you could choose one payment or the other.  I thought it was just annuity (30 year annual payments) or a lump sum.  I'm pretty sure I'm right, but I've been mistaken once or twice in my life.  LOL  Once I thought I was wrong and I found out I wasn't, so that's being wrong, right?

The jackpot reads:  $13 million, $23 million, $28 million

So to me that means you get the entire jackpot in whatever form you choose, cash or payments, not the base jackpot and the bonus separately.  Maybe I need to look further for a better explanation, but it isn't critical, since I won't be spending the extra money.  Since I play 4 Lotto combinations twice a week, for me it would mean adding $8 or $16 a week to my spending, which is not even a consideration!

"Speaking of anonymity, maybe states that do not allow can modify their stance."

The lotteries are run by the state and are public agencies so the information is public record but some state lotteries have chosen not disclose it to the news media. It would take the news media a few weeks to get the info but don't because who wants to read or hear old news.

Newspapers have been reporting public information like birth, deaths, marriage licenses, divorces, and property sales for decades.. You might read where your neighbor was charged with a crime or a traffic violation even though they are innocent.

Any state could modify their stance but why should a jackpot winner get the right to privacy when other citizens buying and selling property or being charge with a crime can't?

The person who wrote the "How to win" section certainly did a nice job of creating confusion.

It looks like if you bet $1 you're playing for $13M, $23M for $2, and $38M for $3. They call the $13M the base jackpot and $2 players will get that plus $10M from that pool and the $3 players will get a bonus of $15M from that pool if there is only one winner.

If there are three winners, one from each pool:

"Each winner will receive 1/3 of the base jackpot prize; the $2 and $3 players will each receive 1/2 of the $10 million from the $2 jackpot prize pool; and, the $3 player will receive the entire $15 million from the $3 jackpot prize pool. If the base jackpot is $3 million, the $1 player will win $1 million, the $2 player will win $6 million and the $3 player will win $21 million." 

Payment options: 

"Players may choose to receive their portion of the FLORIDA LOTTO jackpots in a one-time Cash Option payment or in 30 annual payments.  The Cash Option payment is the amount required on the day of the drawing (or if the drawing is held on a Saturday or holiday, the business day prior to the drawing) to fund the applicable jackpot prize paid over 30 – years, less applicable taxes. " 

I guess it depends on how much it would cost to fund total jackpot prizes of $28M but that would still be around a $14M payoff on a base jackpot of $3M using their example. Do they really believe bonus sales will be $11M just to break even? 

"If there are multiple winners, the base jackpot, the $2 jackpot prize pool and the $3 jackpot prize pool will be shared among winners who are eligible for that prize pool. "

How can it get any more simple? Each level is a separate pari-mutuel prize, so it gets split among every winner who played that  level.

As a long-term average they can expect to collect almost $46 million for each time they have to pay the $25 million annuity or $15 million in cash. I think that gives them a decent shot at doing a bit more than break even.

"How can it get any more simple?"

Oh, to me it's simple.  No matter how high the jackpot gets or how many bonuses they offer, I never win anything!  LOL

Seriously, all I ever pay attention to is the base amount.  If I am "unfortunate" enough to only win $13 million tonight, then I'll have to grin & bear it.  :-)   If I have to split $13 million with another winner and he spent the extra $2 or $3, I'll still get $6.5M and what he gets doesn't really matter.  It would be like winning $3 million one week and feeling that I was cheated just because others have won so much more.  I'm already neurotic enough without letting this stuff worry me.

"As a long-term average they can expect to collect almost $46 million for each time they have to pay the $25 million annuity or $15 million in cash. I think that gives them a decent shot at doing a bit more than break even."

The Mega Millions jackpot has been hit two draws in row and the Florida Lotto has a much lower matrix. If the base jackpot is only $3 million, they could still have to payoff the $10 and $15 million bonuses. Where exactly does the "$15 million in cash" come from?