Gamblers in Maryland are getting lucky, and that's bad news for the state lottery.
The Maryland Lottery is losing more money than it expected to on its Pick 4 game, said Stephen Martino, director of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency. The lottery's revenue is down through the first month of this fiscal year largely because of winnings it's paying out to Pick 4 players. Pick 4 sales are up and players are winning more often than usual.
"Our Pick 4 is killing us," Martino said at a Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission on Thursday. "The percentage of payout is astronomical. ... We'll pay out sometimes several hundred percent of what we take in."
Although the state's emerging casino industry has hurt traditional lottery sales, the Pick 4 series has been one of the least-impacted lottery games, according to a report by casino consultants Will Cummings and Doug Walker.
"It has nothing to do with casinos. It has everything to do with we've just got bad luck," Martino said. "It is ultimately a gambling enterprise and what we're on right now is a string of the players being luckier than the house in this case. We're paying out more than the projected payout for that game."
Martino said he hopes payout evens out during the rest of the year. The lottery is trying to reach new players and cut its losses across the board as new casinos, like the Horseshoe Casino Baltimore, come on the state's gaming scene.
"We're challenged in the traditional lottery but we're not just sitting here and kind of taking it," Martino said. "We're trying to punch back as best and as mightily as we can."
Thanks to truesee for the tip.
Sounds like Maryland's gamblers have mastered the pick4 game, if that's true then surrounding states should start having the same problems soon.
Good I hope
the players stick it too them all year long...
Players need these nice wins otherwise why play at all.
The object it to beat the house and it sounds like they are!
"We're challenged in the traditional lottery but we're not just sitting here and kind of taking it," Martino said. "We're trying to punch back as best and as mightily as we can."
It looks like they know how to solve the problem.
Two years ago in one month, KY paid out 97% of the ticket sales in prizes and it was because an extraordinary amount of highly played numbers were drawn. It's possible something similar is happening in Maryland.
I never thought that I will be alive to see the day, that the Lotteries will be crying about players winning some money. What a bunch of cry-babies. Maybe next time I'm over there, I will deliver a bunch of wet tissues to them. This guy Martino and his choice of words, leaves a lot to be desired. Maryland is making millions from other games and they are not complaining about that. Next thing you know, they will cap the number of prizes you can win. They might even try to get rid of pick4 altogether. What a bloody shame!.
I live in Maryland and when I _ do_ win, it's always thousands of dollars. My last win was a couple of months ago for 25,000 dollars in the pick four game. How do I do it? Read my post tomorrow to find out. The Maryland Lottery is not crying about all the wins, they are just trying to get more non players to play and do what I'm not doing when I play.
"We're challenged in the traditional lottery, but we're not just sitting here and kind of taking it", Martino said. "We"re trying to punch back as best and as mightily as we can."
This means war! This explains why it is so hard to win the computer games these days. Games like Ractrax and Keno have everyone have been up in arms lately. Now we know. The MDSL have tighten up on these games like a slot machine in AC.
These people aren't losing any money, they're just not making as much as they're either use to or would like to see. I'm glad to see that the PEOPLE, those that even make the games successful, are getting what they really deserve out of the deal finally!! To the commission I say,"Stop crying and slobbering all over yourselves due to a slight drop in overall profits...take it like those players have been taking it all these time!!!" Hell, North Carolina is happy to see that their players are winning more just as it should be...they're not sore losers. They're Lucky Losers!!!!!!
L.L.
Awesome!! The system used by the Maryland players is paying off.
You think Maryland will switch to computer draws to make it harder to win
I'm saying Maryland does have two games that are computerized which are played in-house at many stores, gas stations, supermarkets, bars, and restaurants that sells lottery. They are, Ractrax and Keno. These games are played all day long. I don't think the MDSL will change the traditional game to computer control, but I do think they have altered or have a process of having the present software present numbers that are least or not played.
Computer draws does not make it harder. It actually makes it easier for Pick4. My opinion.
computer draws are as close to even out as ball draws. Example. Look at all computer draw states. Look at the 60 draws a month. Count the singles, doubles, double doubles , trips and quads.. They will all <snip> near be the same amount. Like 1 triple. 2 double doubles, 29 singles and 28 doubles.
Our friend Angela. From Maryland. I know she is enjoying taking trips to Maryland lottery to pick up her checks
"I do think they have altered or have a process of having the present software present numbers that are least or not played."
This isn't the first time this has happened. It happens a lot more than most people realize. It is simply part of the cycle. Given time, things will even out...they always have and always will. It's part of RANDOM. It's happened with Pick 3, Pick 4, and some Lotto style games.
It's not the result of someone using a "system" or some secret. All it takes is for some most-often-picked number combinations to come in, and this will happen.
Lottery officials sometimes use examples like this to justify why lottery revenues are down...
"It's not the result of someone using a "system" or some secret."
Secrets aren't secrets if everyone knows. Professional gamblers have secrets which only they know and you'll never learn them by reading a book or a LP post.
Unless they've only been in the lottery industry a day, they know that volatility comes frequently in daily games due to player number biases.
They're blaming Pick4 but a larger portion of the loss in game revenues is actually from Powerball.
Pick4 is down about 32% whereas their Powerball rake is down nearly 60%.
Why? No big jackpots and low sales, not enough to compensate payoffs. So they're brushing it off and placing blame elsewhere, just like other lotteries. I've seen the same denial in a few southern states which shall go unnamed.
Professional gamblers usually stick with games requiring more skill and less luck, such as poker, sports book, blackjack. They usually never play slots for profit because of the unpredictability (that is, the pure randomness) of slots, the same with Pick 3, Pick 4, or lotto games...like slots, these games are more luck and less skill.
Nobody has figured anything out, the MD Pick4 thread is just plain powerful and people are got luckier than usual. I am busy right now but I got a couple of things to talk about later. They are pi$$ed & they gotta pay up.
This is a ploy to make more people to go out and play pick4.
THEY NEED MORE MONEY. DO YOU KNOW WHY?
SALES OF LOTTERY MONEY GOES TO GENERAL FUND WHICH HELPS MARYLAND SCHOOL SYSTEM.
SCHOOLS ARE GOING TO BE CROWDED THIS YEAR. THEY HAVE TO GET MONEY FROM SOMEWHERE FOR UPCOMING FISCAL YEAR.
ON AUGUST 1st, 2011, Headline on Maryland lottery websites.
MARYLAND LOTTERY ACHIEVES 14TH YEAR OF RECORD SALES.
I wonder why they don't complain about all of their pick3 winners
Do you want to see where the money goes? At the end of the news story, in related links, click on, Md. Lottery official site.
When you're on the home page scroll all the way to the bottom. When you see Maryland welcome, under business info, click on "Where the money goes."
Then scroll down. When you see "For a complete fiscal year 2014 year end review." Click on that.
Interesting how the Pick 4 had more sales than the Pick 3.
Go <snip> yourself Maryland lottery.
So really they can fiddle with the outcome then, what they say sure implies it.
If they do that then it will surely bite them in the butt. Because if the players find out that's happening they won't play in Md. anymore. Some people won't mind going to D.C., PA., VA., or DEL. to play.
In Ohio when sales of a combinations exceed the point where if it won the payouts would exceed normal ticket sales it's cut off, I would be surprised if Maryland doesn't already have such a policy in place.
They certainly do. They can and do cut off #'s.
Oh yeah. If you want to play true Quads you have to play them days in advance because by mid-morning they are usually cut off. Every now and then you maybe able to get one in for $.50 the same day.
Earlier this year I couldn't play 1479 for about three weeks. It was sold out every day. Why was it so popular? Who knows...