"I love to play poker, I love to play the lottery, but when I win, I like to be paid," said Straight, 68.
And he said that hasn't happened with a Hold'em Poker instant Ohio Lottery ticket he bought. The front of the card, he said, shows him holding a 6 through 10 straight, which beats the three 8s he said the dealer holds, and he deserves the $2,000 the ticket pays out.
But the Ohio Lottery disagrees.
"Basically, the man didn't have a winning ticket," said Mardelle Cohen, director of communications for the lottery commission.
In this game, the player scratches off a ticket to reveal two poker hands, one for the player and one for the dealer, made up of two hold cards and five community cards. If the player's hand beats the Lottery's hand, he or she can win up to $25,000.
But on Straight's ticket, Cohen said, what he sees as a 2 card is actually an 8, and four 8s beats his 6 through 10 straight. And the bar code on the back of the ticket substantiates the lottery's read of the front, the commission claims.
Straight has already sent his ticket to the lottery commission's offices in Cleveland, he said, and received a letter saying it was a non-winner. It cost him more than $17 to send it up, including notary fees and the cost of registered postage.
"They told me, more or less, in the letter that they don't care what's on the face of the card. It's what the bar code says," Straight said. "I didn't buy the bar code. I bought the front of the card, and that's where they're stupid."
Straight said he thinks the bar code is misprinted, and the lottery commission ought to live up to what he thinks is a winning ticket. He said he was told if it's a misprint, he'd have to collect the money from the people who printed the card. He said he didn't buy the card from the manufacturer.
That situation's not likely, said Ron Fornaro, the lottery commission's instant ticket manager.
"There usually aren't misprints on tickets," Fornaro said.
"We sell about $1 billion worth of tickets a year, instant tickets. We don't make too many mistakes."
Straight, who plays the lottery every day, said he's won often -- his house, he claims, was built mostly with Ohio Lottery winnings.
"I'm not asking for anything that doesn't really rightfully belong to me," he said.
Lottery spokesman Dan Price said if Straight sends the ticket back in, they'll take another look at it.
"We have to get the ticket back from him, and then we'll run it through the system again," Price said. "... Maybe there's something about it that we didn't see the first time. Highly, highly, highly unlikely.
"We'll get to the bottom of this dventually," he said.
But Straight remains skeptical, and said he knows what he sees on the front of the card. The 2 he sees, he said, is not the 8 the lottery commission sees.
"If someone owes you money, you want it, and I'm no different," he said. "If there was any question, if there was any bit of doubt in my mind, I'd tear it up and throw it away. But there is no doubt in my mind that that 2 of diamonds is a 2 of diamonds."
i thought something was up with that game. as it turns out in the rules of poker, a flush does beat 3 of a kind. the only problem was that they had a list of what beats what on the back of the ticket, so regardless of what's right in poker, the ohio lotery will probably win.
I don't think you read it correctly. They did not say that 3 of a kind beat a straight, they're claiming they had 4 of a kind, even though on the ticket it looks like 3 of a kind.
guess what game i bought today. i'll give you a hint. what i thought was a queen, and had the "q" on it, turned out to be an 8, which gave the dealer a straight to my 2 pair ace high. i think this guy's case may be legitimate.
whether or not he actually won, i thnk the lottery should admit they screwed up and pay out his prize. the ohio lottery makes so much each year. like 2 grand will do real damage,
wish I could see the ticket, tough call to make
i thought something was up with that game. as it turns out in the rules of poker, a flush does beat 3 of a kind. the only problem was that they had a list of what beats what on the back of the ticket, so regardless of what's right in poker, the ohio lotery will probably win.
I don't think you read it correctly. They did not say that 3 of a kind beat a straight, they're claiming they had 4 of a kind, even though on the ticket it looks like 3 of a kind.
His house was built with lottery winnings? He better have won a jackpot or he is full of sh$t.
guess what game i bought today. i'll give you a hint. what i thought was a queen, and had the "q" on it, turned out to be an 8, which gave the dealer a straight to my 2 pair ace high. i think this guy's case may be legitimate.
whether or not he actually won, i thnk the lottery should admit they screwed up and pay out his prize. the ohio lottery makes so much each year. like 2 grand will do real damage,
Does anybody proofread the tickets?
i guess not.
I always make sure of how much I won before I cash it in-easy with INSTANT Take Five.