The other shoe is dropping in Delaware for dedicated lottery players.  True, I could naively continue to herald the DE Lottery as moving forward boldly into the 21st Century.  Today's reality was a bucket of ice water leaving me looking for different if not greener pastures.   When the first automatic dispensing machines (ADMs) were introduced to "much" fanfare by the DeLottery at Wawa, I thought it was about time!  After all, we are always leaps and bounds behind our nearby MD playing cousins.  Wawa lost my general business really quickly after local stores announced that lottery sales did not jibe with their mission statement, therefore, no lottery.  Fast forward to now and the State's offer of ADM and Wawa is back in the lottery hunt.  But not so fast.  Wawa never had dedicated space nor personnel for the lottery and now, with the exception of the machine, they still don't. 

 My first use of the ADM was a bonefide disaster.  I waited a few days for any kinks to get out.  I inserted cash, requested one ticket, and just like magic my ticket was spat out correctly if not slowly.  Feeling very confident, I decided to go ahead and get multiple tickets for both day and night as I might do at any retailer via a clerk.  I inserted my money, made my selections, watched said money amount decrease to zero, and waited for my tickets to be dispensed.  And waited.  And waited.  And waited....    I diligently watched the machine (which is top to bottom an interactive touch screen).  There was no indication of any kind that anything was amiss.  In fact, the ADM indicated my tickets were in progress.  Several minutes and no tickets later, I got the attention of the Wawa MOD who informed me in short order that they (Wawa) has nothing to do with the operation BUT it might be offline.  So, no help.  Nada.  As I waited, people began to queue behind me in order to get their tickets.  After about 20 minutes there was a different movement on the ADM screen and after about 5 more minutes, a small ticket-size paper appeared which was a voucher for the cash I inserted into the ADM initially.  We are talking $18 out of $20 inserted.  Two tickets printed and 18 did not.  I presented the voucher to the Wawa cashier who informed me I would have to go "somewhere" else because they did not handle any lottery in their store.  All told, 45 minutes later, I found a retailer whose employees had no clue what the voucher was, but a manager overheard the issue, stepped in, and did a 2-minute inservice to his staff and cashed my voucher. 

There's more, so I will line this up loosely as "ADM vs Clerk" and see who wins the battle for player money:

 ADMs are computers which require consistent Internet access.  Any interruption in service is an interruption in your play if you've inserted money.  If something goes wrong (for instance, a gust of wind), you will wait until the computer effectively reboots and provides a voucher for any tickets that did not make it to print initially.  And, while you are waiting, the only indication that something is wrong is the fact that you are waiting.  There is no message of any kind that says, sorry, this ADM is down, out of paper, offline, etc.  So, to be safe, insert a dollar, play a ticket, insert a dollar, play a ticket, and repeat until you are finished.  ADMs are only (at this time) attended to by agents of the DE Lottery not the retailer.  If there is a problem after you have inserted your money, you are SOL.   I should mention that Delaware has perhaps the worse Internet access track record in the US.   Clerk 1, ADM zero.  Customer: Loss of sanity.

 Retailers which have ADMs have no formal terminal access.  It's all or nothing.  I thought DE would do what MD does - most retailers have both.  Today, I visited my favorite store after hearing that Royal Farms are now ADM retailers.  I should note this retailer is typically rocking and Friday is always crazy.  Not this Friday.  Customers who had not heard about the change were walking in, being pointed to the machine, and mostly walking right back out.   That's not only a loss of lottery but tobacco sales, gas sales, and food sales (which RF touts hugely).   I am versed in how to operate the ADM:  I did 10 tickets individually and in the time it took the ADM to work, 4 customers behind me walked out.   Sorry, but I'm not taking any chances on getting ahead of the screen by entering my tickets without waiting.   Clerk 1, ADM zero.  Retailer and customers lose. 

You have to know how to play the DE lottery and understand basic computer screen navigation to use the ADM.  With the line forming behind you, ADM 101 is not advisable and probably will be poorly tolerated.   That is, of course, providing everything goes perfectly with the ADM.  Right now, ADMs are dispensing everything but Sports Betting.  Keno, the Big Games, P3, P4 and Scratchers, all at the speed of not light.   Of course, player data entry ensures that no human clerk can be faulted for the wrong numbers being played, for being new/slow, having less than a positive attitude, or be stuck with unwanted unvoidable tickets that a customer insists they did not request/play.   Of course, any clerk can tell you in 3 seconds that the system is down and/or hand you back your money.  Clerks also change paper and remove jams, help with questions, and generally move 100 times faster than the ADM.    Clerk vs ADM:  Draw (and I think I'm being generous). 

Let's say for the sake of the holidays that the PB jackpot climbs to 500 million.   Pray that you find a retailer who still has a manual operation.  I know personally individuals and businesses that pool hundreds of dollars for major jackpots.  I cannot even imagine utilizing an ADM for anywhere near this kind of play, not to mention the lines.   Clerk 1.  ADM less than zero. 

 So, before I exited my once favorite lottery retailer, I asked if they were able to do anything manually.  The response was that they could cash vouchers.  Not tickets.  ADM generated vouchers.  Now, I happen to know there is a huge caveat on this response without being told.   Most lottery retailers handle lottery money in, lottery money out, separate from their general product.  Here, it is rare to find smaller stores that will cash a ticket over 250, and most will outright refuse every payout short of the smaller scratch off winners.  More luck to be found in grocery and liquor stores at least in the past.  Those retailers with ADMs will effectively be funneling customers with winning tickets to certain places to cash out.  I know for a fact that using safety concerns as an excuse, many retailers here will not maintain cash on hand just in case someone needs to cash a ticket whether they are ADM or manual.  If you are a player, you know what this ultimately may mean.   The ADM and Delaware Lottery win this hands down. 

  I am a player who welcomed the technology of automated dispensing and sought it out.  I believed, as an adjunct to manual play, it would be a winning proposition for all involved.   To me, a bigger picture is taking shape, and it's not enticing to the mundane P3,P4 player especially.  Urban areas (we only have one, north of the canal) will fair better.  Our 1000 square miles of rural county is a different story.  One thing that struck me today was strictly human - employees I know and who work regularly were gone.  Hours cut and jobs potentially lost two weeks before Christmas for a concept that was not player polled, not road tested beyond a retailer who was never a factor to begin with, and clearly designed with an element of tunnel vision in play.   In my opinion, no one is winning this one.  If you need me, I'm probably on my way to MD to play.