Texas Lottery suspends sales of Monopoly Millionaires' Club game

Comment #58

adamc224 — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 14:16:17 GMT

True but that $25 million is annuity... which means it's anywhere from 50-70% of advertised value. All I am saying is that when people win a million they are not millionaires... and if they win $25 million after cash option and taxes come along they are significantly less wealthy than originally thought...

And you are right you can live well on interest from 1-2 million but... even low risk investments have risk. and i think that for you to enjoy the money and not make it a burden you woul... [ More ]

Comment #57

tanyag — Sun, 14 Dec 2014 18:56:01 GMT

Cud anybody tell me wat number 2 buy for a 11 years wedding anniversary tanks

Comment #56

mrcraft — Sat, 13 Dec 2014 19:43:28 GMT

And, this figure doesn't include the millions they've lost in development and marketing, and paying those morons' salaries.

Comment #55

liveinrealworld — Sat, 13 Dec 2014 14:32:19 GMT

It figures. I really love this game and after taking all of 2 minutes it is easy to figure out. The problem is the people. People don't want to take the time to figure it out. They are lazy and just want someone else to tell them if they won or not. Stupid fat lazy people. I have heard people actually say...Its too hard to figure out. OMG. These people like most people, can't walk and chew gum at the same time, but they can text and drive! Its a fun game and take the 2 minutes to figure it out a... [ More ]

Comment #54

garyo1954 — Sat, 13 Dec 2014 05:17:15 GMT

Heh! The most telling part of this is when people figured it out, sales took a nosedive.

Florida sold $725,000 the first week. Never came close to that figure again. Even the 12/5/2014, drawing of 25 Million, only brought in $531,000.

NY started with $968,000 in sales, 12/5/2014, $408,000.

Texas first week sales $429,000, down to $280,000.

Sales were dropping even when the jackpot was growing!

The most tickets ever sold for one draw was 1,106,188 the first week. This week they sol... [ More ]

Comment #53

Stack47 — Sat, 13 Dec 2014 04:45:00 GMT

It looks like most lottery commissions are no longer player savvy. The people running the Texas Lottery put high or low and even or odd check boxes on their All or Nothing play slips not understanding it could result in Millions in losses. They then slap their players in the face by halting the game and put a cap on how much accumulative can be won.

And they are now forced to halt Monopoly sales because again they are not lottery savvy.

Comment #52

VenomV12 — Sat, 13 Dec 2014 01:43:40 GMT

If you can't live and live well on the after-tax winnings from a $25 million jackpot, you have issues. Even with net winnings of a million or two million you can live quite well with the interest from halfway decent investments.

Comment #51

THRIFTY — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 22:54:38 GMT

I do not think that the lottery is smarter than the current generation of lottery players. Today lottery players want bigger lottery jackpots on a consistent basis.

The most important thing is that the lottery cannot force us to play their games.

Comment #50

Stack47 — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 22:21:12 GMT

Truth is... we all want a 200 plus million jackpot.

We don't need a poll to find out if the average lottery player prefers a $200 million jackpot over a $25 million 30 year annuity and with this game there must be a jackpot winner before anyone can win $1 million. And did I mention the ticket cost $5?

At what point will the players figure out the lottery people are insulting our collective intelligence

Comment #49

THRIFTY — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 21:12:44 GMT

Can you control your (GAMBLING FEVER) whenever you see a $100M plus lottery jackpot

Comment #48

atoz — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 18:57:04 GMT

Gator as I said earlier i do like this game....I also like your idea here to improve it.

Comment #47

THRIFTY — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 17:22:54 GMT

Lottery games are for one reason to generate (Revenues) sales.

You have to set a limit on how much money you spend.

Comment #46

sully16 — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 13:18:37 GMT

I like the game, more millionaires for Michigan now.

Comment #45

adamc224 — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 11:07:14 GMT

Truth is... we all want a 200 plus million jackpot. After Uncle Sam comes and takes a big wet bite from a 25 million jackpot you couldn't go crazy and be safe at the same time. i for one don't like the game i have played each week since first draw both in TN and in GA and nothing... not one of my fives back... one thing i really hate is it is a computer draw game...

i hear people all the time say why don't they just give 100 million to 100 players... but that mentality sucks! they are not... [ More ]

Comment #44

Stack47 — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 06:42:16 GMT

This game DNA was created for all short sighted people who only play once the jackpot is 200+ million or so, and these players often say something like why can't there be like 300 plus one million dollar winners vs just 1 big winner? I want such a game! blah blah blah -nitwits

And now the people who created the game are saying Did I do that?

A simple roll down when the jackpot reaches a designated amount wouldn't create lots of millionaires, but the secondary prizes would be much better.... [ More ]

Comment #43

DoctorWhy — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 05:56:23 GMT

I was never a huge fan of this game. It looked interesting when it first debuted but now it looks like the shine is fading. The cost is absurd, the odds are not that attractive, and you can't even choose your own property to play. I hope it stays in Indiana for a little while longer, this gives me a chance to study the game and hopefully try it a least once.

Comment #42

Stack47 — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 05:19:23 GMT

Sounds familiar; remember when they created Lot 'O Play believing all the scratch-off bingo play would buy tickets

Comment #41

Stack47 — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 05:15:09 GMT

It's not like Texas is scrapping the game to benefit the players. Didn't Texas halt All or Nothing sales because players were making bets encouraged by the lottery on the play slips

Comment #40

Chacha33 — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 04:23:12 GMT

Honestly, it seems like a stupid game--and the odds are terrible for a game that's $5 a play. Soon to be coming to California, I don't give two sh*ts.

Comment #39

RJOh — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 04:18:03 GMT

Fact is most states don't need a multi-state game selling $5 tickets to offer a million dollar prize, they already have games with $1 tickets with larger prizes and better odds.

Comment #38

reddbrim — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 03:43:57 GMT

Man I feel like I wish they would give it a little more time down here in Texas but I know its about their bottom line they are in

it to make money not lose money but in only 3 months the game has produced 15 people that won at least a million not bad.But maybe they will fixs what ever they feel like they need to do if not oh well.

Comment #37

Taurus$ — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 03:16:59 GMT

Boy, back in oct. before the game launched i remember a couple of vendors not knowing what the hell i was referring to and offered me the scratch offs we have here in MD and i had to show them the poster in front of them what i really meant. They still looked at it clueless.

Comment #36

gatorsrok — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 02:54:31 GMT

If I remember correctly, the first few drawings were also competing with a really high PB and/or MM jackpots at the same time. In any event, the game was poorly marketed to players and to vendors. I buy a couple tickets a week and nobody knows what I am talking about. I've been handed a $5 monopoly scratchoff ticket about half the time.

They could give vendor incentives/bonuses to sell more tickets like they do with most new scratchoffs and the powerplay options on PB and MM. At least that w... [ More ]

Comment #35

LottoMetro — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 02:46:45 GMT

I was sifting through some docs and came across an update from the end of October talking about how the game got off to a start.

Under player feedback, they mentioned that players have been expecting the $1 million draw to occur every drawing and the need to recondition them to get rid of their jackpot mentality (goes back to what I was saying earlier about jackpot fatigue...trying to get minds off top prize). A lot of players also seem to think this is a scratch-off, but that is understandab... [ More ]

Comment #34

reddbrim — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 02:46:26 GMT

Yes thats is what they did all the money they have made over the years, they will not let them self get caught on the short end of the stick.I hope some one win form TX .I hope its me...GOOD LUCK

Comment #33

Ron5995 — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 02:36:36 GMT

Presumably, Texas Lottery officials are worried there could be a streak of early top prize hits; severe structural flaws in the game at low sales volumes. MMC is very deep in the red with no relief on the horizon. Sales, which were weak from the start, is further stagnating / going down in many jurisdictions that sell MMC tickets. Texas sales for the last draw was a meager $280,945 (56,189 tickets), and continuing to trend downward.

The projected odds of anyone hitting the top prize for the n... [ More ]

Comment #32

reddbrim — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 02:28:43 GMT

Well they are still selling tickets in Houston Tx I hope someone win .I guess I am one of the few people who like the game I won 500 dollars on it I understand how some people feel but I did like it. but they are (the texas lottery)in it for the moneyToo bad.I have 2 tickets for Fridays draw. GOOD LUCK. .

Comment #31

MADDOG10 — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 02:19:53 GMT

More States will follow suit, this game is horrendous as far as payout verses cost.

Comment #30

LottoMetro — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 02:16:23 GMT

I too was taken a little aback by Texas' quick exit. Big states usually like to wait things out a bit, and I assumed that everyone would sit tight until at least January when other states will (would?) be joining. However, for Texas it does make some sense.

Here is their progression of sales (oldest draw to latest):

$429,735 $379,660 $363,440 $326,540 $326,070 $288,015 $280,945

Literally every successive drawing resulted in sales lower than the one before it. Not to mention those sale... [ More ]

Comment #29

Taurus$ — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 01:59:03 GMT

Comment #28

Taurus$ — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 01:52:04 GMT

Like a few of you posters on here i understood from some insight by lottometro and others that MMC is basically operating in the red and to see it in trouble with Texas bowing out already is a suprise. Just didn't expect it to happen this soon.

Comment #27

SammyJoe10 — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 01:46:24 GMT

I agree........

Comment #26

Taurus$ — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 01:35:08 GMT

Gatorsrok, i have to agree with you that the concept behind this game was not really all that bad and i liked playing it too. Wasn't too hard for me to grasp, but not a lot of people out here have that kind of patience for a game like this. Some tweaking here and ditching there and the game could be a lot more successful. I actually thought maybe this game might give me a shot at something big. Better than the ridiculous MM/PB, which is kinda like robbery. Sure people play for that 2nd tier priz... [ More ]

Comment #25

chris-chase — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 01:32:35 GMT

Bingo. You hit the nail on the head. If you have seen any of my past replies I have been saying a raffle is the way to go.

Like you have said it gives you a top winner EVERY TIME as well as the lower tiered prizes. People on this forum

have said something to the effect that the people who put this Monopoly games together have worked 4-5 years studying it and

know what they are doing....

I said the game will be lucky to make a year. I think that is an understatement.

When mos... [ More ]

Comment #24

savagegoose — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 01:30:35 GMT

i think they designed it to fail with the $5 fee, $2 would have flown with ththe punters, and they could possibly pushed it to $3. i think a $2 game would prob have brought more actual sales as well

Comment #23

TheGameGrl — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 00:41:10 GMT

let texas leave! leaves more for us who will graciously take 1 million or a chance at a game show spot! they pulled the trigger too soon , i can only hope that come friday i win and with it have 18 other millionaires smiling!! as a previous poster said , play at will or don't. its a known fact that any startup business does so in the red.... it takes time to turn it around.

Comment #22

gatorsrok — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 00:34:03 GMT

The concept behind this game was not bad. I am personally attracted to a game that offers greater odds at a $1M prize vs astronomical odds at a $100M+ PB or MM prize (that you'll never ever win).

This game tries to be too much. If it is modified it may be able to make a comeback.

They need to ditch the Las Vegas show and use those funds to pay more million dollar prizes. Start and cap the top prize at $5M (fixed payout, no annuity) and make it much easier to win (1 in 30M vs 1 in 72M). Us... [ More ]

Comment #21

THRIFTY — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 00:27:33 GMT

BIGGER JACKPOTS=HIGHER SALES.

Comment #20

atoz — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 00:26:31 GMT

Personally I like the game....and THRIFTY you are correct, people are spending 5, 10, 20 , 30 and 50 on scratch offs. I believe it takes some time to get things going.... we are hearing from all the die hards that dont like it...who knows why....its no big deal ...if you dont have the 5 bucks dont play it, its simple as that.

Comment #19

THRIFTY — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 00:21:40 GMT

Lottery players are spending $5, $10, $20, $30 and $50 on Instant Scratch Off Games

Comment #18

earthdragon72 — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 23:47:04 GMT

For 5 bucks a ticket what do they think was going to happen

Comment #17

LottoMetro — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 23:34:25 GMT

I just hope this failed game makes it clear, capped games, share the wealth with hundreds of winners don't make a good selling game compared to high sales of a large jackpot game.

I was disappointed when they dropped the cap on MMC from $50 million, because they were scared it would affect PB/MM.

Needless to say, capped games are here to stay. They are already talking about jackpot management to intentionally prevent a billion dollar jackpot. As I've said in the past, the higher jackpots l... [ More ]

Comment #16

Ron5995 — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 23:29:20 GMT

Just wow! Sharing the same sentiments as others here, I figured the Monopoly Millionaire Club game, in its current incarnation, was doomed ... but never expected a large state, such as Texas, to pull out so soon. Very surprising...

However, to digress a bit, Texas is likely extra gun-shy after the near disaster they had with All or Nothing about a year or so ago when a default number combination on the playslips nearly came up - if it had, the prize liability could have been upwards of $100,0... [ More ]

Comment #15

Wentworth — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 23:23:56 GMT

Im not surprised watch the ominoes begin to fall. I posted at the beginnig its too expensive, too complicated, and I thought it would f fail. Still think so... they need a game with not just one or

Two big prizes but more chances To win l ike 500g, 250, 100g,50g ect ect. Smaller prizes and more of them. Oh well

Just my thoughts. Thats dominoes by the way.

Comment #14

joshuacloak — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 23:18:05 GMT

I have been holding back and not wanting to misjudge it and the players to much, now that this has happened, screw it am giving the nitwit players that wanted this game a piece of my mind (not you guys on here ofc) and my honest truth of what's wrong with this game DNA!

This game DNA was created for all short sighted people who only play once the jackpot is 200+ million or so, and these players often say something like why can't there be like 300 plus one million dollar winners vs just 1... [ More ]

Comment #13

maringoman — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 22:48:31 GMT

The game might end before I play my first ticket if the big states start pulling out. Many critics weren't too crazy about the cost of a ticket and the fact that it uses computerized drawings. MA Lottery never showed interest of joining this game.

Comment #12

Gleno — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 22:43:01 GMT

Why am I not surprised? The promoters of this game have really stretched their limit with the $5.00 wager. Could they have sold it for $2.00 at most and had a better response? Your guess is as good as mine.

Comment #11

PrinceRene — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 22:37:31 GMT

Every once in a while, when someone wins a 100 million plus jackpot for PB or MM, someone who most likely doesn't play the lotto, will comment how sickening it is for one person to win so much money and that they would rather have 100 people win 1 million each but what they don't understand is it's the huge jackpot that get most people to play the lottery in the first place.

Comment #10

ThatScaryChick — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 22:28:33 GMT

We have a $5.00 game here (Bingo) and I don't like it. I don't have this game in my state at the moment, but I don't see myself playing it if we get in in 2015. With 5 bucks I can get 5 Hot Lotto Tickets or 10 Wild Card plays.

I might buy a Monopoly ticket out of curiosity like I did with the Bingo, but I am one of those people that does not care for lottery games with such a high price tag.

Comment #9

DoctorEw220 — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 22:28:33 GMT

I had a feeling this game wouldn't work out. People are driven to pay because of huge jackpots. There have been statistics that prove that. $1 million isn't what it used to be when jackpots are regularly $100 million or more.

Comment #8

GiveFive — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 22:19:11 GMT

While I don't think the lottery playing public is stupid, many players just don't want to spend a lot of time and effort on understanding and playing any given game.

IMHO, that's why QP's are the choice of the vast majority of players. QP's are fast and easy. People buy whatever it is they want at the convenience store and tell the clerk Gimme a quick pick for tonite's lotto and they're out the door and on their way.

This MMC game is way too complicated.

People understand raffles. Wh... [ More ]

Comment #7

RJOh — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 22:11:20 GMT

I'm only surprised it happened so soon.

https://www.lotterypost.com/news/281732/3827028

Comment #6

LottoMetro — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 21:55:43 GMT

I would not be surprised if eventually they converted it to a plain raffle. That is the simplest and easiest concept to understand, and we don't have any national raffles. It probably wouldn't make some of the vendors happy, since they really benefit from the TV show and everything associated with that. I suppose it would be possible to still host the show and second-chance opportunities and simply make the game one big drawing, say once a year. Like the McDonald's sweepstakes.

I think they j... [ More ]

Comment #5

GiveFive — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 21:42:49 GMT

I would think that the other states set to join in 2015 just slammed on the brakes!

I did my own very unscientific research by simply asking anyone I knew (who played the lottery) if they knew how the game worked. Nobody had a clue about anything! Nobody understood the fact that it's a raffle triggered by some one winning the jackpot. Absolutely nobody understood the concept that the potential number of Millionaires Club winners of a million dollars keeps increasing even though the jackpot ha... [ More ]

Comment #4

VenomV12 — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 21:27:11 GMT

Not surprised, this game is worthless. I think I have played it about 4 times so far and won nothing at all, in fact no one I know has won a single dime on it. You keep doing that at $5 a pop and eventually people will stop playing which seems to be the case here. You can dangle all sorts of million dollar prizes out there, but if you don't give people their money or some of their money back once in awhile, you are done.

Comment #3

LottoMetro — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 21:26:36 GMT

As soon as the first draw sales came in I knew this game was in trouble. You all have heard me discuss how they originally projected sales 4-5 times higher than what they have been. And the market research that SGI/G-Tech pushed to the lotteries was highly suspect. Even if all the states were participating, the sales would still only be around half of what was projected.

The irony of this is that Gary was one of the leading trumpeters for this game. He basically pushed it through Texas no que... [ More ]

Comment #2

majestic1070 — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 21:20:38 GMT

This is one of those games you have 3 chances to win. I think they should at least make $100,000 to $500,000

Comment #1

TnTicketlosers — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 21:16:06 GMT

Cant say that I dont blame Texas...wished I lived in a state that you could win a buck.Not here ,EVER.

Texas Lottery suspends sales of Monopoly Millionaires' Club game

Lottery Post — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 21:08:59 GMT

Low sales to blame

The Texas Lottery announced today that it will suspend sales of the multi-state Monopoly Millionaires' Club game following the drawing on Friday, Dec. 12.

Texas is one of 23 states participating in the game that was launched on Oct. 19.

Sales for the game have not met the lottery industry's projections and have continued to decline nationally since its introduction. After careful review, the Texas Lottery has decided to suspend sales of the game because of the prize l... [ More ]