Illinois Lottery sells tickets for instant games after top prizes are gone

Comment #16

Soledad — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 14:45:11 GMT

It most certainly is not okay. It is implicit false advertising. I am very surprised by one comment that the tickets may be sold even after all grand prizes are sold. Someone sued a state littery once and won, due to the exact same thing. It should not be allowed. But who s to say unless you implicitly know all grand prizes are sold. That is the question in regards to deception.

Comment #15

ecnirP — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 13:24:18 GMT

For those suggesting what Illinois is doing is okay, the point is that you're buying a lottery card that claims in bold print you can win $15M when it is impossible to do so. That's deceptive, at best.

This is a well done article.

Comment #14

partlycloudy07 — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 16:51:35 GMT

Nothing new in our state NC no top prizes left on Ultimate Millions a $30 ticket , actually you have to go down to 7 - $4,000.00 prizes left , No top prizes on $20 Ruby Red's ticket ,10th anniversary millions ticket $10 ticket no top prizes left just to name a few NC has been selling tickets for years with no top prizes left. Consumers be aware

BTW some have an end date does not mean anything they were won well before the the end date was published ...I would like them to be pulled from... [ More ]

Comment #13

Soledad — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 10:39:03 GMT

There was a guy who sued once because of this scenario.

Scratch offs are fun, but they are rather expensive. People who scratch tell me, I used to play a number. Play it every day and nothing. At least with the scratch offs I get something back. That s why a lot of people scratch.There s a store near me, every year for at least the past four, they have sold at least one grand prize ticket. A lot of second prizes sold too. A $20 $10,000 a week for life grand prize ticket, a $10,000 second pri... [ More ]

Comment #12

KY Floyd — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 05:31:06 GMT

Isn't what Illinois and other states are doing with these phantom top prizes false advertising?

Maybe if it was a private company. OTOH, what's printed on the tickets accurately describes what the game offers, not what any particular ticket will offer.

Comment #11

Coin Toss — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 04:47:10 GMT

noise-gate,

Good point but with the PB and MM the top prize (cash value) is actually there, it may or may not be won on any particular draw, but with the shenanigans on the scratchers, not so.

Comment #10

noise-gate — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 02:26:00 GMT

Maybe not to some Coin Toss. Explain: l cannot begin to tell you how many times * some in the forum have outrightly said l play for the 2nd prize, or lower tier prizes when it comes to MM PB. Perhaps the illinois lottery is thinking along those same lines, that there are some players out there who * don't care about the top prizes, well, if that be the case let the game run until the wheels come off.

Comment #9

Coin Toss — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 23:03:46 GMT

Isn't what Illinois and other states are doing with these phantom top prizes false advertising

Comment #8

music* — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 16:44:48 GMT

There are Power Ball and Mega Millions. Your two dollars will bring dreams, hopes, and fantasy. These two games have the history of winners.

They are honest and impossible to cheat the players. If you love your fifteen minutes of fame than these are your games.

No scratching. No rules to try to comprehend. The rules of PB MM are easy to live with and follow.

Good Luck

Comment #7

Illinoisdreamer — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 15:33:16 GMT

The tickets clearly state games may be sold even after top prizes are claimed. Its not some hard to read print on back its clearly stated on tickets and has always been. I have no issue with Lottery selling games after they are past all prizes claimed stage especially as lower tier prizes are still available

Only issue to me is not regularly updating every week the prize availability lists. They do lag at times going multiple weeks between updates

I always keep track of what games st... [ More ]

Comment #6

TheMeatman2005 — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 15:11:19 GMT

http://www.illinoislottery.com/content/dam/ill/documents/subsections/UnclaimedLotteryPrizes.pdf

Comment #5

prm199 — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 14:24:43 GMT

I really don't expect better from an extremely corrupt state (I live here) but there is such a thing as Buyer Beware . To their credit, the Illinois Lottery provides weekly updated information on scratch tickets on their website. Players SHOULD reference the information before purchasing tickets. Unable to post a link but if you go to the Illinois Lottery website, then WINNING and then select UNPAID INSTANT GAME PRIZE LIST from dropdown menu, you can see all unclaimed prizes for all scratch game... [ More ]

Comment #4

TheMeatman2005 — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 14:12:37 GMT

The top prize may not be available any more, but aren't the lower tier prizes still able to be won?

The lottery prints a set amount of tickets where after they are all sold will come away with about 50% of the proceeds from the sale. If they cancel the game after the top tier prizes have been won, doesn't that mean they will lose money

Comment #3

play4shekels — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 13:58:00 GMT

As I see it, if you're going to throw money away on scratchoffs- which I do- you'd better do your homework everyday. You have to be nothing shy of delusional anyway to believe you're going to win a top prize on a game where the deck is stacked severely against you. And I'm certain that anyone that bought one of those 26,000 tickets would not be the slightest bit upset if they won a mere million dollars.

If the players got together and STOPPED BUYING INSTANT TICKETS for just one week, the lot... [ More ]

Comment #2

uprrman — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 13:33:44 GMT

now i wonder why the gangster state would do this.

hey folks its ill. gangster govenors in jail.

Comment #1

Original Bey — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 12:46:25 GMT

It's all about momentum. We read in one instance where the game was nixed with huge prizes yet to be won. Now we have this scenario where large prizes are depleted an the lottery continues the game anyway. Why not strike a balance? Large prizes won? Kill the game. Large prizes still outstanding? Marketing heavier if the interest waned.

Illinois Lottery sells tickets for instant games after top prizes are gone

Lottery Post — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 11:34:55 GMT

At $30 a ticket, the Illinois Lottery's World Class Millions instant game was not only one of its priciest offerings it was also potentially one of the most lucrative for players.

WIN UP TO $15,000,000! THE HIGHEST INSTANT PAYOUT IN ILLINOIS LOTTERY HISTORY, shouted a banner across the magenta and silver ticket.

But for the last five weeks the game was on sale this year, none of the three $15 million prizes remained. Yet players purchased an estimated 26,000 tickets during that time, spen... [ More ]