Michigan Lottery: Michigan Lottery to End Change GameLottery Post Exclusive
The Michigan lottery will be ending the Change Play lottery game within two weeks.
According to Stepheni Schlinker, Michigan Lottery Director of Public Relations, the last drawing of the Change Play game will take place on November 16.
The game is being dropped from the Michigan Lottery game lineup because of poor sales.
"Sales dropped off over time," Schlinker said. "When the game started in October 2002, it was selling about $400,000 per week. By September sales were down to $15,000 per week."
Schlinker added that players liked the game and that the concept was good, but it was too hard for retailers to sell.
"Change Play works well in stores like 7-Eleven and mom-and-pop stores where the cash register is right next to the lottery machine. In many stores the cash register is in one location and the lottery machine is at a convenience counter. It becomes too cumbersome for players to carry their change over there."
There are no plans to replace Change Game with another lottery game.
The Change Play game, which had its first drawing on Monday, October 14, 2002, is played seven days a week and has six guaranteed winners per drawing. Players can wager between 25 cents and 99 cents to purchase computer-selected "easy-pick" numbers.
The six winners who match all the letters and numbers on their ticket in the same order as those that are drawn share all the prize money from that day's drawing, in proportion to the amount of money they wagered.
When the game first commenced, prizes were typically in the $2,000 to $5,000 range.
Early in 2003 players appeared to lose interest in the game, resulting in fewer players and smaller prizes.
Recently, most prizes have been less than $200, with some sub-$100 prizes for 25 cent tickets.
