More than $240 million unclaimed by lottery winners

Comment #13

LckyLary — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 12:46:36 GMT

they want people to have accounts for direct deposit..... What about SCRATCH-OFFS????? Those are probably a lot of the unclaimed money when people rush through and toss away winning scratch-offs. That's why some States have sight codes. Another is people buy them and forget they have them (happened to me once on a 5/5 I found 2 weeks later on a routine check). But really, President W. BUSH doesn't care about listening to you on the phone unless you happen to be calling to chat with loonie-bin ov... [ More ]

Comment #12

computerhead723 — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 21:36:50 GMT

well put........ I see the light >>>>>>>...

then its individuals they want ....certain people wont be able to play , you'll have too register ....BIG Brothers Watching You ;.....IN Airports they see through your cloughs ;

the inspect your library card and listen to your phone calls , and Know down to the dollar how much you make each day and where you live and cabe tv can record your television habits and computers... [ More ]

Comment #11

KY Floyd — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 07:05:33 GMT

You've misunderstood what justx was saying. Unless you win a prize that's big enough to require a claim form, none of the states even know that you play the lottery. They obviously have plenty of data about how many tickets are sold for each game, what numbers are played, and so on, but none of that information is linked to the individuals who are buying the tickets. Even if you've had to claim a prize with a form, they still only know that you bought the tickets for which you notified them by... [ More ]

Comment #10

computerhead723 — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 02:12:22 GMT

Each state has its own system but I know NY has a computer system called player tracking they know how much you spend ;what you played and how many others accross the state played the same also ....thats how they know if a number is sold -out ;

777-1111-7777-222-333 and 1953 has been sold out for 4 years by 7pm

Comment #9

computerhead723 — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 02:06:24 GMT

so how are the tickets validated in that state

Comment #8

qutgnt — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 01:20:33 GMT

The lottery loves the fact people dont claim money. Some of the scratch offs now have that sneaky bonus box that people forget to scratch. On one scratch off about 20% of the prize money is won in that little bonus box. And the crossword games are also games that the lottery wins a lot of unclaimed money on. As I am sure many people arent careful with those games. And since Illinois doesnt have the code encrypted in the tickets it is easy to sometimes miss possible prizes. ( I personally enj... [ More ]

Comment #7

smooththaboss — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 06:00:42 GMT

that's crazy people please check your tickets

Comment #6

UmBrook — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 18:58:08 GMT

Spoken like a true gambler. The state is doing the right thing by directing the money into the state school system for the betterment of our children. If you want to mortgage your future, then go right ahead, but don't do it at the expense of a child's education.

The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.

Robert M. Hutchins

Comment #5

Guest — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 17:24:08 GMT

Thats the trouble with this world...too darn many rules

Comment #4

justxploring — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:39:20 GMT

I agree that this would be nice, Mike. However, a state lottery can't just change a rule like that. A new law would have to be introduced, voted on and passed. At least this is my understanding but if I am wrong, perhaps someone else can correct me. In Florida Florida law requires that 80 percent of unclaimed prize funds from expired tickets be transferred directly to the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund. The remaining 20 percent is returned to the prize pool from which future prizes are... [ More ]

Comment #3

Guest — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:17:15 GMT

I think Illinois should hold a special drawing for that $240,000,000.They should announce that ALL online tickets for a specified game on a specfied date are also eligable for a special drawing to be held for unclaimed money.Everyone that buys a ticket is eligable for both jacpots (the regular game the special drawing).That would add more excitement to the specified game causing more sales raising the jackpot.

Comment #2

justxploring — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:12:13 GMT

Totally disagree that this would be an advantage. What it does is seek out the lower prize winners who aren't claiming their winnings. It's bad enough that players have to wait weeks to get their money after a big win and can't remain anonymous in most states. The only way a lottery prize can be deposited in a person's account is if he registers in a central database using his name, address and social security number. So the last thing we need is more government in our lives and this would jus... [ More ]

Comment #1

JAP69 — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 13:21:42 GMT

Some lawmakers want to create online accounts to so people can buy lottery tickets and have their winnings deposited directly into those accounts.

More than $240 million unclaimed by lottery winners

Lottery Post — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 13:18:01 GMT

In the past ten years, more than $240 million has gone unclaimed by winners of the Illinois Lottery.

State officials say lotto players often don't realize they've still won cash, even if they don't match every number.

More than $17 million is already unclaimed this year and officials say the problem is getting worse.

All unclaimed prize money now goes into a fund for the state's public schools.

Some lawmakers want to create online accounts to so people can buy lottery tickets and hav... [ More ]