New York Lottery won't pay $25,000 for taped-up scratch-off ticket

Comment #52

OldSchoolPa — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 06:37:22 GMT

Everyone seems to be focused in on the fake ticket when the actual lesson to be learned here is to not spend or precommit any lottery winnings until one actually has the cash in one's account. Oh there are two lessons actually. The other is to not play scratch ifs.

Comment #51

KyMystikal — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 03:43:18 GMT

being a Professional does not only mean you make a living playing the lottery;

I suppose you could define a professional as an expert in their field and in skill games like Poker I would agree. Where is the skill when 70% of Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot winners bought QPs?

I'm curious since you brought up the percentages of QP winners for Powerball and Mega Millions. Does anyone have the percentages for Pick 3 and Pick 4 QP's verses Player own picked numbers winning t... [ More ]

Comment #50

LckyLary — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 03:42:49 GMT

UGH! John Gambling is T-H-E most BOOoooooooring guy on all of radio except for maybe whatshisname Bob Grant. I'd be willing to trade John Gambling taking a slow boat to China in exchange to allow computerized drawing in nj. I LIKE Mr. Kuby even though he's Liberal, at least he is INTERESTING and funny. Gambling says be that as it may and other dull lingo and rushes people to get to his grating commercials. And he's so obsessed about illegal immigration that he sounds like a closet racist. If t... [ More ]

Comment #49

Stack47 — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 03:50:54 GMT

being a Professional does not only mean you make a living playing the lottery;

I suppose you could define a professional as an expert in their field and in skill games like Poker I would agree. Where is the skill when 70% of Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot winners bought QPs?

its my way of life ..lotery before my mourning coffee and lotttery before I go to sleep at night ,studing the Board

That could also define obsession.

who was Jr EWING

Comment #48

computerhead723 — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 06:12:29 GMT

Well , first you got the facts a little twisted....being a Professional does not only mean you make a living playing the lottery;

Sometimes its ...SO long as I live Iwill play the lottery ...and I use resources that regular everyday people never have seen this web site nor use my new power system ..its my way of life ..lotery before my mourning coffee and lotttery before I go to sleep at night ,studing the Board ....who

Comment #47

Todd — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 00:37:43 GMT

Did you know that Kuby is going bye-bye? From what I understand, Imus is taking the morning slot, and Curtis and John Gambling are teaming up after that.

Comment #46

Todd — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 00:33:06 GMT

Why, thank you. ( good reporting )

Lots of information is out there, but it requires some digging.

For stories like this one, which are fairly complex, I usually research the story using several different sources, and sometimes that can dig up info and images that are not covered in the national news media.

Comment #45

LckyLary — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 00:32:57 GMT

The ticket image was online on one of the News sites, at least the one I got. I first heard this mentioned on the Court of Kuby segment on 770WABC radio, and then it appeared on 7online and 1010WINS along with a picture of the actual ticket. I told Todd about it and then it later also appeared on Eyewitness News.

I am eagerly awaiting the follow-up (hopefully) of what really happened.

Comment #44

computerhead723 — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 23:12:48 GMT

Todd how did you get that ticket copy??/ Thats good reporting I have never seen a TV or newspaper account of this story.......this woman pride was hurt so she Sued the Lottery

Comment #43

Stack47 — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 15:23:09 GMT

Patricia Manzitto and her lawyer know the ticket is not a winning ticket but they are trying to make an argument similar to that of a Florida woman two years ago when she bought a scratch-off on which a number hadn't been completely printed and matched another one on her ticket for $250K.

Was that the case where the 3 was scratched off from 13 to make it look like a 1 ?

Manzitto's lawyer is arguing that if the two halves sold to her client could be made to look like a winner on fir... [ More ]

Comment #42

Stack47 — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 15:10:05 GMT

we are Professional players and she is nott as well informed as we are here on LP ;

I seriously doubt that you or anybody else makes a living playing the lottery but it's true that LP members should know enough not to tape two halves from two different tickets together whether the ticket dispenser cut them or not. If you look closely, you'll notice when she taped them, she matched up the back side.

Anybody over 21 can buy a lottery ticket and there are no rules saying th... [ More ]

Comment #41

Todd — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 10:57:40 GMT

For those who don't get the subtle message, my pictures had as much relevancy to what I was posting as reposting the ticket images had in the messages of the person I was responding to.

Comment #40

computerhead723 — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 03:31:41 GMT

TODD what's with the pictures of the sea creature???///

I could see - PSYKOMO - doing that ;

but , I don't get it and its making me afraid to go in the water

Comment #39

computerhead723 — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 02:27:52 GMT

Thank-you for saying this about that lady ...we are Professional players and she is nott as well informed as we are here on LP ;

Codes , were never a consideration for this grandmother, who promised her grandkids a 1000 ea. that does not sound like a liar to me .....she will be better and more informed player after this and her case wont go un-noticed :

HER FIRST THOUGHT WAS TO TRUST THE SYSTEM ,JUST LIKE MILLIONS O... [ More ]

Comment #38

LckyLary — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 23:04:23 GMT

I doubt the part of the story about the MACHINE tearing the ticket because if she bought $6 so 3 tkts came out, in order to have mismatching halves from 2 different tickets then at least 2 came out torn. Not sure how that would happen but maybe it could. It's also possible to pull it sideways when it is sticking 1/2 out. IN general I avoid those dispensers because the tickets are sometimes older ones where the top prizes might have been won already. I'd have gone to a manager immediately and sho... [ More ]

Comment #37

RJOh — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:18:29 GMT

Manzitto's lawyer, Arnold, doesn't dispute that the colored lines don't match, but argued that that is how the ticket was sold.

Patricia Manzitto and her lawyer know the ticket is not a winning ticket but they are trying to make an argument similar to that of a Florida woman two years ago when she bought a scratch-off on which a number hadn't been completely printed and matched another one on her ticket for $250K. https://www.lotterypost.com/news/117317 Even though the words under the numbe... [ More ]

Comment #36

KY Floyd — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 18:30:49 GMT

I've got no problem believing her story (though I then have to assume she's not very bright), but that doesn't mean she's entitled to anything more than a new ticket even if she truly believes she has a winning ticket. She may be missing part of the ticket, but the barcode is enough to determine if it's a winner or not. As far as the other comment about trusting the computers, that's exactly how retailers validate tickets, and the scanner won't know that part of the ticket is missing. I'll note... [ More ]

Comment #35

Guest — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 18:12:53 GMT

The person who had the 1/2 of the ticket with the barcode on it would be proclaimed the winner and paid.The other person might or might not be refunded the price of the ticket.Most states allow the lottery to pay only the price of the ticket if there is a dispute.

Comment #34

gina777 — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 17:25:23 GMT

This woman is an idiot. How much did she think she would get after taxes anyway. This is clearly fraud and they should press charges.

Comment #33

Wintariofan — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:53:51 GMT

Defintely a fake, she should have noticed, 10 and 40 as the others were saying. Looks good on her. Some people still don't triple check their tickets. I know if I had won, I'd be scratching every latex area, totally making sure it all matched. I also would have the store validate it first and then take winning prize form to lottery offices. Save me $700 and the gas ...

Comment #32

RJOh — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:52:30 GMT

This situation brings up a potential problematic scenario. What happens if one of the halves was actually part of a winning ticket and the other half was bought by someone else? Would the person who erroneously showed up to claim a prize gets the whole prize or would an effort be made to find the owner of the other half and split the prize

Comment #31

justxploring — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:40:19 GMT

csfb writes I believe the lady's story. She bought the tickets from a machine and the tickets came out torn.

You might be correct. I have no idea if she is telling the truth. I also agree that her picture shouldn't be in the paper, but perhaps it was she who wanted the publicity, not the lottery. I'm guessing they want to keep these matters quiet because it hurts business if people lose faith in its integrity. I usually don't call any person an idiot. Unfortunately, this is the int... [ More ]

Comment #30

KyMystikal — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:04:26 GMT

This sounds like a good option to what may have happened and I could believe this. It is obvious to me that it is two completely different tickets. Most of the posts have been about the numbers not matching and one was about the rules being doubled at the tear, but no one has said anything about the line under the box where the winning numbers to match are. That clearly shows that it is 2 different tickets. I just don't understand why they didn't they scan the barcode to see if it was a winner a... [ More ]

Comment #29

Trained2beRich — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 15:43:41 GMT

As I am reading this story...I am thinking this is a DUMB lady. How do you spend money before you get it? Promising her Gkids a grand each and a down payment on a lexus. For some reason she feels entitled to the money. I hope she loses and has to pay court costs for both parties.

Comment #28

4thquarterbabe — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 13:57:22 GMT

CORRECTION:

Anyway, we know that the bar code tells all. Even WITHOUT the bar code, if we can see the discrepancies on computer, i believe that STEVE WONDER OR ROY ORBESON could detect it in real life. PLEASE GIVE ME A BREAK WITH THE EXCUSES FOR THIS LADY

Comment #27

4thquarterbabe — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 13:30:34 GMT

PLEASE, it's call STUPID and thinking that somebody else is stupid.

I am not into scratch offs, but the first thing that i noticed, before reading other posts was that the 10.00, (i though they were tens instead of forties, actually, looking at it real close it looks like one of each, didn't match. and i wasnt sure if there was susppose to be two lines under the winning number box. but it didnt look right. it is possible like some say that the machine may have cut the tickets, but in a hu... [ More ]

Comment #26

Surge — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 12:46:53 GMT

No kidding! If she got a ticket that's cut in half, it should have been brought to the attention of the vendor. A ticket cut directly in half would clearly match. Crazy spending money before a winning ticket is even validated.

Comment #25

HiYoSilver — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:24:28 GMT

She needs to produce all parts of every ticket she bought. Most likely, one of the other tickets will be torn exactly like this one.

Here's what I think happened. She got home with the tickets and scratched a small portion to show it wasn't a winner and tore them in half. Her husband then tried to scratch them completely,but, put the two wrong pieces together. When they saw that it looked like a winner, greed took over.

The lawyer, living up to their sleazy reputation, did not use due dili... [ More ]

Comment #24

csfb — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 07:52:28 GMT

I believe the lady's story. She bought the tickets from a machine and the tickets came out torn.

She honestly believed the torn tickets were two parts of a winning ticket, thus she taped the two halves together. It was a foreseeable honest mistake on her part.

Perhaps mistakes like this have happened in the past. The machine may be defective and the lottery operators knew it, and yet they didn't do anything to correct the defect. I would argue that it is gross negligence, to say... [ More ]

Comment #23

numbergirly — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 07:31:24 GMT

Hi tnlotto1>>>can you believe the lawyer in this case. When it all comes out she may be forced to quit her job not only that but, who would want a lawyer as silly as that. You can sure tell she knows nothing about scratch tickets or, lottery for that matter. Other people in this forum picked up on other important points as well>>> the three little numbers at the bottom right hand corner and the losing letters on the ticket although, in Delaware if you win over $200.00 you would see odd letters o... [ More ]

Comment #22

KY Floyd — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 07:19:55 GMT

Right next to the (023) is the 228 that matches the front of the ticket. The top and bottom don't match, but the fronts and backs in the picture are of the same upper and same lower pieces from different tickets.

Comment #21

Todd — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:08:29 GMT

Yes, most interesting.

Comment #20

duckman — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 02:01:53 GMT

If the validation numbers don't match the computer records, it is not a winner, torn or not.

Most states will payout on torn tickets as long as the ticket validation codes are intact. Scratching off matching numbers on the front is there for "entertainment purposes only" and it is the vaildation codes which matter...

Comment #19

computerhead723 — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 01:23:56 GMT

there is Two big reasons this is not a valid claim ;

the Lletters at the bottom are a code for cash payment ;

25,000 would be something like ( 25 thou ) and some one elese notice under t he number

9 - the word is fourty as in 40.00.......look at number 28 it says thrity for 30.00 :

reason number -3- at the top in the upper left hand corner there is another code of - M -

thats a sure sign of a looser

Comment #18

Raven62 — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 01:15:37 GMT

Thanks, I thought so. As I recall he wound up before the Judge. It'll be interesting to see how this one plays out.

Comment #17

four4me — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 23:47:33 GMT

In Maryland someone got paid on a torn ticket.

http://www.msla.state.md.us

Comment #16

LckyLary — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 23:41:44 GMT

A bunch of observations and questions here. (Thanks Todd)

The tear itself (other than the overlap!) is very convincing, if she did this herself it's hard to get the rough edges to look so close so maybe she had 2 tickets and tore both at the same time to get the tear to be similar. It's even possible she FOUND the torn tickets and matched up the wrong parts and thought she won and claimed the machine did it. Would explain the initial spending spree if true. (Camera tape would be handy.)

Ma... [ More ]

Comment #15

Rolling — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 22:57:24 GMT

The ticket is an obvious fake...and a really bad one as well. All NY instant games only have 3 validation codes for all prize levels (including top prizes). In the ticket there is X, P, and K on the bottom, but also an M on the upper-left. There is no such thing as a 4-letter validation code on any NY instant ticket. This person obviously didn't know this fact and thought that if they just attached two tickets...one half, which contained the winning number, and the other, containing the matching... [ More ]

Comment #14

Todd — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:46:59 GMT

Yes, there was.

Comment #13

TheGameGrl — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:41:14 GMT

Thank you Madmaxxx for chiming in. I sincerely thought it was a rare occurance to have tickets sliced incorrectly, but it DOES happen. My ten dollar ticket proved it over the weekend. The lady that came to the dispenser machine to undo the half eaten ticket said Sure hope thats a winner because it was stuck in there and sliced up nicely! ...Reality was..it was a 20$ winner from the ten dollar ticket. And yes the cashier walked me up to the redemption counter so there wouldnt be any misunderstan... [ More ]

Comment #12

tntea — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:37:34 GMT

This is clearly two different tickets .. the first numbers to indicate it the ticket numbers. Front says ticket number 228 and the back says ticket number 023... Maybe off same row, but definitely two different tickets.

Comment #11

Madmaxxxx — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:18:13 GMT

Not knowing if this is a fake or not, I have had an instant ticket cut off just like this from the machines. It was a $40 winner and the agent said as long as the barcode was intact they coould pay it. So for those that say it isnt likely to have a ticket cut off, it is possible.

Comment #10

justxploring — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:10:31 GMT

Even if it isn't a fake and she is being sincere the following statement proves she's an idiot!

Manzitto was so excited she spent some of the prize money before she even tried to collect. She dropped $700 on more lottery tickets, put $3,000 down on a new Lexus and promised her grandkids $1,000 apiece

Comment #9

tnlotto1 — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:07:14 GMT

i hadnt noticed that numbergirly you are right it is an obvious fraud when you look at that 40 and 10 part

Comment #8

numbergirly — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:39:59 GMT

That's right and not only that but, you see the amount $40.00 and $10.00 under the number nine it is clearly a fraud and the lawyer has to be pretty dense not to see that himself.

numbergirly

Comment #7

NITEHAWK61 — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:31:03 GMT

I am sure he scanned it.

He was probably trying to give her a chance to backoff so she didn't go to jail.

But she looks like she would be a pain in the butt and keep coming.

it's fake

Comment #6

Raven62 — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:51:13 GMT

Wasn't their a News Item where someone altered a Lottery Ticket as a Joke

Comment #5

RJOh — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:09:47 GMT

This ticket looks like a bad fake even to me, the winning number box and the $40 have bottoms on both sides of the tear. There seems to be some duplication on both sides of the tear on the half with the rules too. That's just on the front, probably the back is even more obvious.

Manzitto's lawyer, Arnold, doesn't dispute that the colored lines don't match, but argued that that is how the ticket was sold.

When they tore that ticket, they tore up her dreams, said Arnold.

This women an... [ More ]

Comment #4

JackpotWanna — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:05:34 GMT

It is clearly a fake. Notice the prize under the number 9. Why isn't the $40.00 cut in half?

Very sad story.

Comment #3

Drivedabizness — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 15:32:57 GMT

The lawsuit if not thrown out, will never be won. Time and time again, courts have upheld the notion that lotteries do not pay on non-winning, destroyed or altered tickets.

I find the machine tore the ticket allegation to be suspect as well. Machines these days have bursters that press on the perforations between tickets - I don't think they could would cut through the middle of a ticket like that.

What worries me most is the tone of the article. One of the main reasons Lot... [ More ]

Comment #2

Raven62 — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 14:23:35 GMT

The Ticket appears to be FAKE

Comment #1

Guest — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 14:17:26 GMT

All they need to do is scan the barcode.If it matches,she wins.If it doesn't match,she loses and should be prosecuted.I've had tickets torn from those machines but never right down the middle.

New York Lottery won't pay $25,000 for taped-up scratch-off ticket

Lottery Post — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:20:34 GMT

Woman plans to file lawsuit against the lottery

By the time lottery officials told Patricia Manzitto that her winning ticket was a fake, she already had spent nearly half the $25,000 she thought she'd won.

But when Manzitto went to collect her winnings four days later, officials at the New York Lottery's Garden City center told her that it looked as if her ticket had been forged by taping two halves of different tickets together. Lottery officials refused to pay up.

Manzitto, 64, of Ea... [ More ]