Millions in prize money never claimed by NJ lottery players

Comment #14

Groppo — Tue, 24 May 2016 19:43:41 GMT

.

I vow to always treat ALL my lotto tickets, like cash.

I have usamega.com, and lotterypost available on internet.

So, right away, almost everyone, on the next morning, can see if they were possibly the winner of prize 1 or 2.

No excuses. Check your doggone tickets. DON'T FORGET ABOUT THEM!

Don't just shove them down, into your pocket, like some old Wal-mart receipt.

I've also decided to keep my non-winners, in a stack, under the tv. I don't know why, but I do.

Ev... [ More ]

Comment #13

Bleudog101 — Tue, 24 May 2016 13:08:35 GMT

Let the expiration come and go on the big ticket lottery wins and see how much the loser cries for 'their' money. I agree 100% 'What is wrong with these people?'.

Comment #12

TheMeatman2005 — Tue, 24 May 2016 12:17:45 GMT

So far, the 1/3 share ticket holder of the $1.5 billion jackpot from California has not come forward to claim their money.

Another jackpot ticket holder that hasn't come forward yet is for a Mega Millions jackpot of $165 million won on 1/8/2016

What is wrong with these people?

Do they not need the money? Did they lose the ticket?

Treat your tickets like cash

Comment #11

noise-gate — Tue, 24 May 2016 04:02:06 GMT

Comment #10

TheMeatman2005 — Tue, 24 May 2016 03:34:37 GMT

NJ probably isn't the only state that has un-cashed winning tickets.

The same thing must happen in all states that have a lottery.

Comment #9

noise-gate — Tue, 24 May 2016 00:42:44 GMT

Perhaps NJ players have become accustomed to winning the Top prizes that anything less is insulting not worth collecting on.Kinda like in the Olympics, some athletes are so driven for Gold that when they receive Silver, that medal is off their necks before stepping off the podium.

Comment #8

grwurston — Tue, 24 May 2016 00:37:35 GMT

I wonder how much of the forfeited money is by people that only play when the jackpots get really high. Otherwise, they never play at all and have no idea what the smaller prizes are. I can't imagine regular P3-P4 players not checking their tickets.

Even when I KNOW I didn't have the winning number, I still check my tickets anyways. Why? Because I could have messed up filling out my play slips.

Comment #7

Bleudog101 — Mon, 23 May 2016 23:13:43 GMT

What National lotto administration? Lord knows we don't need the feds in on any kind of lottery--unless ALL winnings were exempt from the IRS...ain't gonna happen.

Comment #6

Groppo — Mon, 23 May 2016 21:08:08 GMT

.

To our host TODD:

What do you think of the above idea? Personally, I like it and think it makes good sense.

But, I'm also afraid, as Mr./Ms. Think says: It'll never happen.

So, could you advise on how we get get a hold of the National lotto administration to consider this?

If we flood them with emails, we could maybe get the ball rolling.

Thank you,

Mr. Groppo

Comment #5

TheGameGrl — Mon, 23 May 2016 20:53:14 GMT

Its been suggested before. Seems the States that carry lotteries consider it Unclaimed goods in which they get to keep.

Technically its allocated money that is to go to claims, so yes, give it back to the players in a drawing.

This is New Jersey though...Meh.

Comment #4

music* — Mon, 23 May 2016 17:30:49 GMT

New Jersey ! Our fearless and courageous leader Todd Northrop's home. More New Jersey players need to read this post on www.lotterypost.com

Treat your tickets like cash.

Comment #3

Think — Mon, 23 May 2016 16:52:17 GMT

All states should have a Raffle on January 2nd to raffle off a pot of all their unclaimed prizes from the previous year but we know that will never happen.

Comment #2

Bleudog101 — Mon, 23 May 2016 16:00:59 GMT

Love your last sentence. A lady @ the gas station was playing scratchers and an ATM was right next to the lottery machine in Simpsonville, KY. She played many, many tickets. Went to the trash after she left and wouldn't you know I found a $200 winner. Took it to another gas station to cash it in. This guy said 'that's my ticket' as serious as he could be. Said 'No, I found it in the trash @ Pilot'.

OTH NJ has been on a roll for the big lotteries, $2M Powerball Saturday, $1M MM week befor... [ More ]

Comment #1

Tony Numbers — Mon, 23 May 2016 13:27:16 GMT

Why play the lottery of you are lazy and or careless? If they didn't win the top prize they toss the tickets. Many smaller prizes go unclaimed. Mabye it's a good idea to go through the garbage, retrieve the losing tickets and cash them.

Millions in prize money never claimed by NJ lottery players

Lottery Post — Mon, 23 May 2016 13:14:50 GMT

While the New Jersey Lottery pays out well over $1.8 billion in prize money each year, players lose out on tens of millions more when they fail to claim their winnings.

In just the past eight years, about $317.7 million in payouts have been forfeited by players who fail to cash in their ticket within a year as lottery rules require.

While lottery players are more diligent in some years than others, there's been at least $33.9 million forfeited every year since 2008.

Winners have a year... [ More ]