CLEVELAND, Ohio — A $50 instant lottery ticket may be in the future, say Ohio Lottery officials buoyed by the success of the agency's first $30 instant ticket.
"The next step in the lottery world is the $50 ticket," lottery director Dennis Berg told lottery commission members at a recent meeting. "We have talked about it here and there are conflicting opinions. Logically it is the next price point, but we do not know when it will happen."
Texas appears to be the only state with a $50 ticket, made available by the Texas Lottery in 2007. Each of its two current $50 instant ticket options offer three $7.5 million prizes. The next prize level is $10,000.
To celebrate its 40th anniversary, the Ohio Lottery debuted the $30 scratch-off ticket in January — the most expensive and offering the largest instant prize in Ohio Lottery history. Five $10 million prizes ($400,000 annually for 25 years) 35 $1 million prizes ($40,000 annually for 25 years) will be awarded.
Sales of the $30 ticket from Jan. 12 through April 19 were $71.9 million, officials said, representing 17 percent of all instant ticket sales. Sales have grown each week. The ticket's success has helped the lottery's overall instant ticket sales, which account for more than half of sales.
Instant ticket sales had been declining for a variety of reasons, including the new racinos and casinos and consumers shopping at big-box stores that don't typically offer lottery games, officials said.
Instant ticket sales in March of $142.3 million were $15.9 million higher than March, 2013 and the highest ever recorded for that month in the lottery history, officials told commission members. It was all due to the $30 ticket.
The lottery currently sells $1, $2, $3, $5, $10 and $20 tickets. The $10 and $20 tickets have traditionally sold well, officials said.
Lottery officials also hope to boost sales with a new app that eliminates the need for players to fill out paper playslips. Beginning Monday, the e-playslip app is available for smartphones. Players choose numbers or have them picked automatically, save them and create a QR code. A retailer scans the code and prints out the ticket.
Only Idaho and Montana have similar apps, officials said.
That's outrageous!
Just like they build condos that sell for $1M, I think it's fine to have such tickets in the market. I just know they're not for me.
Twenty dollar tickets are bad enough. It would take longer to burn a $50 bill then scratch it away. I like the e-playslip app because i always have trouble with machines taking the paper ones .
If I could afford a $50 instant ticket, I probably wouldn't play the lottery
Am I reading this correct $50 to buy one scratch off ticket?
Guess the prize amounts must be more than a million to entice folks to spend that kind of $dough.
That's insane in my opinion but there must be a market for those kinds of players
That may work in Texas but amazed to read that it's being offered in Ohio.
Even the $30 ticket is too much to spend for an instant ticket. But that's just me.
Jon D
Marilyn222
You can say that again, That's outrageous.
I'm amazed at all the $20 and up tickets some states offer. We only have one game that's more than $10 in our lottery offerings. I don't know if even California will embrace $50 Scratchers. We only got our first $20 Scratchers about seven months ago.
Greed
Yep, and getting stingier with current games.
That is crazy and super stupid. Why go from 7.5 million and the 2nd tier prize is only 10 grand?? Ridiculous!! It couldnt be like at least 50k?? I'll tell ya if I paid $100 and I may only won my $100 back I'd never play it again, cause I would be condsidering I was lucky to get my money back the 1st time, I might not be so lucky the 2nd time
$50 sounds like a lot for an instant ticket.