Ohio Lottery officials exploring other ways to pay winning-ticket holders

Comment #23

jlindros — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 00:06:16 GMT

I went to the regional office of the Michigan lottery and had to wait 2 days to collect on my ticket. On my 1st trip, I waited 4 hours. The office is about a 60 mile round trip. Why not just designate a local bank in each town to cash the tickets

Comment #22

BellasBMWLucki — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 20:02:06 GMT

yep. stop messin' with our lotteries.I hope this do not happen out where i am...

Store owners sometimes i hear do pull the,'Oh i don't have it right now. Come back later.

So far,for me i have not experience that. However,a few have who i know,and it's not cool.

But,they sure are QUICK to take the dinero $$$$ when we play, arent' they, HoLee smdh

I agree, cash please,thank you... LOL

adios

Comment #21

BellasBMWLucki — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 19:58:57 GMT

icam with your comment.

i hope it don't change here in nyc/nj tri-state.

or down south in NC where i play much(thx to familia) i don't want this.

ADIOS

Comment #20

faber98 — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 15:14:14 GMT

i don't see this as a problem at all. everyone knows you have to go to the grocery store to cash the ticket since these small convenience stores usually don't have the cash on hand. no one seems to mind to have to do this at all since they need food and don't have to tip at the service desk at the supermarket. it is a no brainer just for the no tip factor. if you cash it where you bought it the clerk who sold it is looking for a tip. by cashing it elsewhere they more than likely will not even kn... [ More ]

Comment #19

HoLeeKau — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 23:49:11 GMT

I agree, it would only be a matter of time before the state decides to change the law to give the state tax commission access to these transactions. Then everyone would have to claim all their wins and prove losses every single year or be charged with tax evasion.

Do states share their returns with the IRS? That would be even more scary.

Nope, I'll take the cash please.

Comment #18

Goteki54 — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 10:33:54 GMT

The best places to go where a person won't have the problem of the retailer being short on cash to pay out is gas stations and grocery stores. However, alternative payouts could spread nationwide if the Ohio Lottery implements a plan that is successful and could be held up as a model for other lotteries to adapt, that's if other lotteries aren't already working on their own plans.

Comment #17

dpoly1 — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 04:10:11 GMT

Just tell them that you will come back when they have the cash

Comment #16

myturn — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 01:34:31 GMT

This is one reason why I play by subscription. Small prizes are automatically credited to my subscription account, which can be used as part payment on renewal, or cashed in at any time. I get an email telling me that I have won a prize, I can then login to my subscription account to see how much.

If I have a big win, which I am still waiting for, they will contact me with the good news and make arrangements for payment.

Comment #15

loonytoon — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 20:30:16 GMT

Just wondering. Here (In Texas) you have to go to a claim center to collect anything over $600 at which point they will with hold an amount for taxes (I believe it is 25%). If the winnings are distributed by debit card or some such, will they with hold taxes, even on small winnings? Would that mean a winner may have to file taxes with multiple 1099's showing all winnings and with holdings, or would they all be lumped together on one 1099. Lot of tax questions if such a system were put in play.... [ More ]

Comment #14

Surge — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 19:38:05 GMT

I was only turned away one time. The store owner simply said, can you come back later when we have more cash? . Not a problem. It was early in the day, and I understood. For this very reason I try to keep my plays at 50 cents, and just play the ticket multiple times if I'm feeling really good about the number.

The big grocery store across the street always has the cash, so I usually go there to cash them.

Most lottery players are old school and want the cash. I think we all feel better w... [ More ]

Comment #13

mikeintexas — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 17:10:14 GMT

Not sure I would call it courage ....I was really angry. Sometimes it's easy to have courage.

Comment #12

mikeintexas — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 17:07:25 GMT

When I went back to school back in 88-90, I worked part-time at a liquor store. The old folks who owned it wanted to sell and go down south to be near their son and I knew it was a good business and thought I might try to buy it. Not having much money or much of a credit rating or anything to secure a loan, I talked to one of our wealthier customers to see if he might want to invest. The people sold the store before he made up his mind, but he wanted to know if I wanted to go in with him on a lo... [ More ]

Comment #11

music* — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 17:03:50 GMT

Thank You mikeintexas for standing in the gap for your fellow Texas lottery players. You displayed courage when you contacted the Lottery Commission .

Comment #10

mikeintexas — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 16:57:42 GMT

Funny thing and I should have included it but what with the long distance calls, I spent more money than what I would have paid for the money orders. Still, I thought this was one of those cases where it wasn't the money, but the principle.

They still sell tickets and scratchers; like RCB says below your post, they make a small percentage (5%) on each ticket sold and I'm sure they didn't want to lose even that relatively small amount of profit. They still pay with a money order - when it's... [ More ]

Comment #9

rcbbuckeye — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 16:15:16 GMT

That would have me po'd too.

They would never want the terminals and scratchers pulled from all their stores. They make a (small) percentage on each ticket sold which adds up.

Comment #8

DELotteryPlyr — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 16:08:37 GMT

Nice to hear in the end YOU won!!! It sucks that you had to go through all that. Stupid retailer thinking they have all the control of everything. Do they still have lottery terminals? Or have they given up on them since they don't want to give cash to winners

Comment #7

mikeintexas — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 16:00:18 GMT

One of my first posts in here was about going to an Allsups conv. store to cash in a $79 winner in one of the first Texas lottery drawings. The manager told me they didn't have enough money to pay and would have to give me an Allsups money order. I told her n/p (I understood they keep the cash in their registers to a minimum) and when I got the M.O., it was for $78.51...they had charged me 49 cents f/ the M.O.! I protested but it didn't do any good - I even told her I wanted the ticket back and... [ More ]

Comment #6

Raven62 — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 15:54:54 GMT

Give me the Money: Not a Cash Card

Comment #5

cbr$ — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 15:51:14 GMT

It I pay cash for a lottery ticket, I want cash back. As far as a bank charge a fee for cashing a lottery check you have accounts with that bank, no way I would pay a fee. They may put a ten day hold on it depend on it amount if is from another state. It you're a person at get a check from a out of state lottery on a regular base's they usually stop putting a hold on it at all. If I'm using cash, and the win is within the limit of the retailer I want cash.

Comment #4

cheryl59 — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 13:20:31 GMT

Not feeling putting lottery winnings on a debit card AT ALL seems like another way to control and manipulate your lottery monies...

Comment #3

DELotteryPlyr — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 12:55:49 GMT

I had the exact same issue and had to do the same thing. BUT! what if you ONLY have a convenient store or two near you??? This would be a great option for those kinda issues.

Comment #2

rcbbuckeye — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 12:37:35 GMT

The gist of the article is that many retailers don't carry enough cash to pay winners. I suppose most don't want to for security reasons. Also, like the article said, most people use debit and credit cards. That would be the problem.

It happened to me a few years ago. I won a few hundred dollars and the little convenience store where I bought my tic didn't have the money on hand. She told me to come back in a few hours and she would have the money, and she did. I understood, and it wasn't a b... [ More ]

Comment #1

mypiemaster — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 12:04:44 GMT

I don't see anything wrong with cash payout. Are they trying to create a problem where there is none?.

Ohio Lottery officials exploring other ways to pay winning-ticket holders

Lottery Post — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 11:57:09 GMT

Ohio Lottery officials are considering new options to pay some winners because retailers now have less cash on hand to give out to those holding winning tickets.

Lottery winners one day might receive payment cards or have their winnings electronically transferred to an account, the Northeast Ohio Media Group reported.

Retailers can redeem winning tickets of up to $599, but Greg Bowers, Ohio Lottery finance director, said some retailers don't have enough cash on hand to pay out the prizes b... [ More ]