Oregon Lottery to start new raffle game

Jul 17, 2008, 10:04 am (11 comments)

Oregon Lottery

Officials hope the game will attract players lost when a smoking ban takes effect

In January, the Oregon Lottery will tread into territory dominated by schools, churches and other charitable causes: the raffle.

Tickets will be $10 each — the priciest yet for a single lottery ticket in Oregon — for a chance to win $1 million, as well as a number of $20,000 and $100 prizes. Unlike other lottery gambling, sales will be limited to 250,000 tickets.

"We sell a limited amount of tickets, so the odds of winning are great," says Mary Loftin, public affairs manager for the Oregon Lottery.

At least 19 other states have pitched the game as an easier way for players to win a large jackpot. Results have been mixed.

In Oregon, lottery officials say the new game is part of a multi-pronged plan to attract players and keep making money for the state — especially at a time when a state smoking ban set to start in January is expected to drive down profits from video lottery.

Pennsylvania's lottery was the first to hold a raffle in 2005. Most states have million-dollar jackpots with $20 tickets.

Michigan will launch its ninth lottery raffle next month, said Andi Brancato, spokeswoman for the Michigan Lottery. The "Super Raffle," as it's called, has two $2 million jackpots. Tickets are $50 each.

Even at that price, there are plenty of players. Tickets for the high-stakes raffle when it debuted last year sold out in 21/2 days, she said.

"You know exactly what the odds are," Brancato said, "you know how many prizes are going to be handed out."

But the raffle concept hasn't fared well in all places.

Neither of the two raffles held in California sold out, said a spokeswoman. And in Washington state, the lottery sold only 230,000 of 375,000 tickets for its most recent raffle.

Jacque Coe, a spokeswoman for Washington's Lottery, says they don't yet know why tickets failed to sell. Overall, she says, players have liked the odds.

"When they hear that odds are one in 125,000, they say, 'Hey, that's a lot better than a lot of other lottery games I'm playing right now,' " she says.

The chance of winning a Megabucks jackpot is one in 6 million, says Chuck Baumann, spokesman for the Oregon Lottery. The chance of winning the top Powerball prize is one in 146 million.

For the raffle, the odds of winning $1 million are one in 250,000. At least those are better odds than being struck by lightning in a given year. The National Weather Service estimates those odds at one in 700,000.

The raffle could be a big moneymaker for the state, says Bob Whelan, a Portland economist with ECONorthwest.

If the lottery sells all of its tickets, it would keep nearly 50 cents of every dollar wagered, he said. Powerball is the only other game where the state keeps a greater share, he said.

Oregonian

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Todd's avatarTodd

Glad to see Oregon giving a raffle a try.  You can see how the lower ticket price affects the number of $1 million prizes offered.  However, the odds are similar to other raffles: someone buying $20 worth of tickets will have a 1 in 125,000 shot at winning $1 million.

GamerMom's avatarGamerMom

there was a FLA lottery raffle last year; my MIL and I loved it.  i wish they would bring it back.  This summer gas giveaway crap just isn't cutting it.

LckyLary

They take out 50 cents per dollar wagered. Same ratio as Pick-3, Pick-4, etc. And you can't even pick your own numbers. Of course on bigger prizes it becomes more like taking out 66 cents due to taxes. I don't understand why they can't return 85%+ like the slot machines claim to. If players won more often they'd play more often..eventually playing back most of the winnings..so 85% would still give the State their usual share anyway.

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by LckyLary on Jul 17, 2008

They take out 50 cents per dollar wagered. Same ratio as Pick-3, Pick-4, etc. And you can't even pick your own numbers. Of course on bigger prizes it becomes more like taking out 66 cents due to taxes. I don't understand why they can't return 85%+ like the slot machines claim to. If players won more often they'd play more often..eventually playing back most of the winnings..so 85% would still give the State their usual share anyway.

They can't return 85% because the lottery is strictly controlled by the laws under which it was setup.  Government lotteries are started to create a lot of revenue for the states, so they will always have this kind of return, give or take.

Raffles of any kind are not for people who want to pick their numbers.  There are lots of other games for that.

Have you ever picked your own numbers when you play a 50/50?  If you win the 50/50 are you really concerned that it only returned 50%?  If you lost the 50/50, did you ask why don't they make the top prize smaller, and create a bunch of $1.00 prizes?

I guess my point is that I personally like the fact that raffle-style games are being created in most states now.  I think a lottery should try to offer a great variety of games, and raffle games were a missing ingredient.

When I play a raffle I never wish it was something it isn't, because then it wouldn't be a raffle! Smile

wizeguy's avatarwizeguy

Raffles are great! Ohio's was on New Year's Eve iirc. They made great stocking stuffers!

MaddMike51

The only thing that I don't like about raffles,other than not winning,is you have to hold on to the ticket for 2 or 3 months before they hold the drawing.To much chance of losing your ticket.

wizeguy's avatarwizeguy

Quote: Originally posted by MaddMike51 on Jul 18, 2008

The only thing that I don't like about raffles,other than not winning,is you have to hold on to the ticket for 2 or 3 months before they hold the drawing.To much chance of losing your ticket.

I have two piles on my computer desk... tickets still good and expired tickets. they are on opposite sides of the desk. Keeping track isn't all that hard. If you can't keep track of a ticket for 2-3 months how can you keep track of a ticket for 2-3 days?

ThatScaryChick's avatarThatScaryChick

If you can't keep track of a ticket for 2-3 months how can you keep track of a ticket for 2-3 days?

That's not really the same thing. 2-3 days is a lot different then 2-3 months. I'm not saying it's hard to keep track of things, but to say if you can't keep track of something for months then you can't for days.

Stack47

Quote: Originally posted by ThatScaryChick on Jul 19, 2008

If you can't keep track of a ticket for 2-3 months how can you keep track of a ticket for 2-3 days?

That's not really the same thing. 2-3 days is a lot different then 2-3 months. I'm not saying it's hard to keep track of things, but to say if you can't keep track of something for months then you can't for days.

I went to Reno, Nevada for 5 days and played some pick-4 combos for that week. I stopped at a store on my way home from the Airport to get a Coke and saw where one of my combos hit straight. The problem was I forgot where I put the tickets but I finally remembered after 30 minutes of going through my desk drawers; they were in the glove compartment in my car. 

After that experience I decided to put them into an envelope marked "lottery tickets" and place it and keep it on top of everything else in the drawer. Don't know if that helped because I never got that lucky again.

qutgnt

Yeah the odds might be 125k to 1 to win a raffle but on a dollar by dollar basis a $20 ticket is like hitting a 2.5 million to one lotto for a buck.

 

It is just another way to screw with the numbers to make it APPEAR that your odds are so great.

The only benefit of a raffle game to the common player is lack of churn.  Only high tier prizes are rewarded. So this lotto makes more sense to play when looking for the life changing score. The reason most lotteries pay out 2 of 5 or 3 of 6 is they know you will just reinvest that into more tickets the next time you buy therefore there is more churn.  I would rather just play games that have high tier prizes but then lower the odds to win. But the lottery will never do that. The raffle is as close as you get to that, but again it still pays back the state mandated 50%.

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by qutgnt on Jul 23, 2008

Yeah the odds might be 125k to 1 to win a raffle but on a dollar by dollar basis a $20 ticket is like hitting a 2.5 million to one lotto for a buck.

 

It is just another way to screw with the numbers to make it APPEAR that your odds are so great.

The only benefit of a raffle game to the common player is lack of churn.  Only high tier prizes are rewarded. So this lotto makes more sense to play when looking for the life changing score. The reason most lotteries pay out 2 of 5 or 3 of 6 is they know you will just reinvest that into more tickets the next time you buy therefore there is more churn.  I would rather just play games that have high tier prizes but then lower the odds to win. But the lottery will never do that. The raffle is as close as you get to that, but again it still pays back the state mandated 50%.

No, that's not an appropriate odds calculation because every ticket sold is $20. 

If you were playing regular lotto, where tickets sell for $1, and you bought $20 worth of tickets, then you could apply some kind of per-dollar odds calculation, but you can't do that when the base price is $20.

It i more appropriate to compare it to a $20 scratch-off that only has a printing of 250,000 tickets, rather than the millions they normally print.

People play the raffle games BECAUSE there are only high prizes.  Before raffles came around there were no games perfectly suited to high-stakes players who don't want to play a game with lower-tier prizes.  Now there is, thank goodness.

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