California Lottery under fire for giving away $212,500 in Scratchers on 'Ellen'

Comment #35

KY Floyd — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 20:35:13 GMT

A lot of the audience is from out of state so what good does it do give a million dollars to someone from Arkansas

And how would an audience member from CA winning a million bucks be any different? Even if somebody jumped up during the show and yelled that they'd won a million bucks it's unlikely that we'd ever know where thy live. We'll probably never know about any prizes won from those tickets, but the prizes are mostly irrelevant, anyway. The tickets were used to promote the lottery, per... [ More ]

Comment #34

noise-gate — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 16:53:45 GMT

..but but people love this stuff. I mean just take a look at the views. Oh well, l guess somebody lost an eye.

Comment #33

Todd — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 15:09:09 GMT

Political messages have been removed. Please stay on-topic and keep any political messaging in your blogs. Thanks.

Comment #32

GiveFive — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 12:43:41 GMT

Agreed, teachers do have the job of molding the minds of our future leaders.

And if an individual teachers mind is a little bent out of shape, (that's widely known to have happened more than just a few times) what will the minds of those future leaders have been molded into???

No disrespect meant to teachers. I've met many excellent teachers. But I've met a few teachers that were total whack-jobs too. G5

Comment #31

Artist77 — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 12:40:27 GMT

Great well analyzed commentary as always. This seems so obvious to those who believe in being held accountable to the public.

Comment #30

noise-gate — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 06:00:12 GMT

Irrational hatred- no. I just happen to get a sense of when l see it. A year or so ago, we had a lottery Whistleblower go off on sending Gov Brown pics of a Bar scene where lottery officials were having what they call a good time. This complaint was not taken serious, but guess what, a 2nd batch was sent out to reinforce the investigation. Added to that was the appeal from the WB or WB's that heads should roll.

It's that simple.

Comment #29

cottoneyedjoe — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 05:25:42 GMT

How about answering this: If the State lottery decided that they were going to give away $212,500 in combined value Scratchers tickets to schools- would a Whistleblower or blowers complain that the schools are being gypped out of serious money from the State lottery?

Yes, they would complain, and rightfully so because scratchers pay about 60 cents on the dollar, so $212,500 in scratchers returns on average only $127,500. Moreover, only a natural person can claim a CA lottery ticket, not... [ More ]

Comment #28

noise-gate — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 05:10:12 GMT

Good response..

Comment #27

Stat$talker — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 04:10:29 GMT

If the State lottery decided that they were going to give away $212,500 in combined value Scratchers tickets to schools- would a Whistleblower or blowers complain that the schools are being gypped out of serious money from the State lottery?

That's a good question... Probably still so, for it would seem as though they were teaching school students how to Gamble!

... and if the tickets were given to School Officials, it might appear to be sort of like Bribery.. maybe to get Teachers... [ More ]

Comment #26

noise-gate — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 03:19:35 GMT

The difference imo Stat$talker is that both agencies are Giving. That is my point. As for makes it illegal to be used for anything else? Well according to Findlaw. it states the following.

Distribution of Lottery Revenue 87% for prizes and contributions to benefit public education; 13% expenses

Additional Purpose of Lottery For the preservation of the rights, liberties, and welfare of the people to benefit education without additional or increased taxes, money should supplement, not be

Comment #25

loonasee2 — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 23:46:48 GMT

Just being on the ELLEN SHOW , is the best advertisement money , money can buy.I bet ,..lol,...........sales went up.

Comment #24

Stat$talker — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 19:15:23 GMT

How is this any different from PCH which gives away millions in advertising?

It's because, Lottery proceeds have been appropriated by the State's Legislative body to go towards Education ( not meaning teaching how to Gamble, but Public Schools) , which makes it illegal to be used for anything else..!!

PCH is a private company.. not governed by the State (Public sector rules), only State Corporate rules where it's Headquartered..

-Stat$talker

Comment #23

Todd — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 17:10:16 GMT

I offered no opinion on whether or not the promotion was OK. I simply said that it was not a little thing .

Edit: Well I did call it a waste . But when I say that I am referring to the perspective of the whistleblowers, who apparently believe it to be a waste. I reported on the controversy, and I did so because it is not a little thing.

Comment #22

noise-gate — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 16:47:58 GMT

..It's the idea of the complainers is if l did not receive a gift certificate , no one else should.

Comment #21

noise-gate — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 16:42:27 GMT

With all due respect Todd, l think this whole promotion was run by the attorneys before proceeding with the idea. How is this any different from PCH which gives away millions in advertising

Comment #20

partlycloudy07 — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 15:03:27 GMT

If the Ellen show paid for the tickets its not a misuse of money or funds however if the bill that was introduced states education lottery and they just gave away the tickets as a promo then either the lottery or the show should produce the funds

Comment #19

GiveFive — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 13:42:20 GMT

find fault with just about everything in life ...

Yup. Over the years I've met more than just a few people who are what I call professional complainers . They're not happy unless they're complaining about something.

A lady my wife and I know complains about everything. One day my wife told me that she had agreed to go out to dinner with the woman who did so much complaining. I jokingly said to my wife You wait and see. She'll probably send her dinner back when the waiter delivers your pla... [ More ]

Comment #18

Todd — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 12:49:44 GMT

I don't think a waste of more than $200K is a little thing . (P.S. I removed your anti-religious comment that is extremely insulting to many people here. Please don't do that.

Comment #17

Artist77 — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 12:45:31 GMT

Sounds like a valid issue to me. Far from trivial.

Comment #16

Stack47 — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 05:41:53 GMT

The whistleblower complaint was sent to the state auditor and Gov. Gavin Newsom by a group of lottery employees

Comment #15

cottoneyedjoe — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 02:11:38 GMT

It's literally in the headline and all over the article.

Comment #14

noise-gate — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 23:36:37 GMT

The CA lottery generates enormous amounts of money, but to hear some of these folks who have the whistleblower hotline on speed dial complain about every little thing is ridiculous.I can understand if the CA lottery was operating at a loss, but leave it to a lonely fool or fools who have nothing better to do than find fault with just about everything in life.

Probably complain about the colors of a rainbow or a sunset for all l know.

Comment #13

music* — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 23:03:26 GMT

I think that no one knows where the winners are. It would lead to corruption if someone knew. The temptation to cheat would be too immense.

Comment #12

db101 — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 22:19:18 GMT

Giving away tickets on a show watched by millions all over California is smart advertising. It might be more effective than buying a commercial spot because people are conditioned to tune them out or use the break to do something else before the show starts again.

I think Joe is right that the lottery made sure there wasn't a big prize in the giveaway pack. A lot of the audience is from out of state so what good does it do give a million dollars to someone from Arkansas, for example, who i... [ More ]

Comment #11

TheGameGrl — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 19:34:20 GMT

And you 'KNOW' this how?

In my state .. a business can order tickets to be picked up for fundraisers and giveaways. The batch is secured and the lottery is paid at time of pick up.

I detest marketing in all it's facets so on that note ...I can't chime in that it was money well spent ...by any entity.

Comment #10

KY Floyd — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 19:00:19 GMT

I don't think giving away lottery tickets generates more sales, she said, adding that the giveaway may result in some audience members winning prizes into the millions of dollars, which would take money away from schools.

She sounds like a moron to me. Normally there's no reason a legislator needs to know how the lottery works, but if you're going to criticize something they do then you should know enough to make your criticism accurate, and she obviously doesn't have a clue.

If the regula... [ More ]

Comment #9

winterhug — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 15:22:11 GMT

Ellen did NOT pay for the lottery scratchers. Someone from the California Lottery gave them to her for free to promote the California lottery. This is why California lottery officials are angry because the $212,500 it cost for those tickets, none of that money will be going to California education. I agree with officials, Ellen should reimburse California lottery for the cost of these tickets.

Comment #8

noise-gate — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 14:28:39 GMT

Oh boy, another Whistleblower...

Comment #7

ekem6078 — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 14:20:28 GMT

I think the Employees still got paid what was due them. It wasn't any money out of there pocket. I maybe missing something here, but NO State Lottery is going to just give tickets away for free to anyone even Ellen. If so TN would you PLEASE send me 500 of them. If the State of Calif. did do this for free, than it is wrong. But I don't believe it for one second.

Comment #6

Bleudog101 — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 13:55:44 GMT

I wouldn't bet on your last sentence. Here they had a news segment on the plant in Georgia and the lightning speed tickets are produced and said they don't know where winning tickets are.

Don't habitually watch Ellen, but a couple of years ago Powerball when it was a billion + $ plus she gave a ticket to each audience member.

Comment #5

Stat$talker — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 12:30:48 GMT

Since there were no reports thus far of any big winners, then obviously California Lottery knew ahead of time that the tickets to be given away were basically duds...!! The Companies that make the scratchers most likely told them...

Comment #4

Blaideman41 — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 04:30:41 GMT

Employees of the California lottery complained the tickets were given away.I do not think she purchased them.I wish I were there too

Comment #3

ekem6078 — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 04:08:35 GMT

If Ellen, paid for all the tickets to be given away on the show. The Calif. Lottery isn't out any money. They're her to give away if she chooses too. So what's the big deal. I'm sure they didn't give them to her for free. I wish I was on that show them lol.

Comment #2

music* — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 23:27:24 GMT

I voted for California State Controller Betty Yee. She is very professional.

Winning with Scratchers is very difficult. The winners are shown but the losers are kept silent. Same goes with draw games.

Education funding is the goal and not funding prizes. The House always wins.

Thank You for supporting the schools. It is a drop in the bucket but it makes you feel good.

Comment #1

cottoneyedjoe — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 23:01:33 GMT

I would bet good money those free scratchers were mostly duds and small prizes to ensure relatively little money was paid out. CALottery knows very well what is in the every roll they get from IGT, Scientific Games and Pollard Banknote. It is well within their abilities to make sure giveaways don't contain top prizes. Even the most badly managed lottery isn't going to tell IGT Surprise me! and leave the geographical distribution of scratchers prizes up to pure chance. Nobody would be that dumb.... [ More ]

California Lottery under fire for giving away $212,500 in Scratchers on 'Ellen'

Lottery Post — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 22:32:55 GMT

Comedian Ellen DeGeneres drew wild cheers from the studio audience of her television talk show in December when she announced each person in attendance would receive a $500 bundle of Scratchers tickets from the California State Lottery.

Lottery officials saw it as a publicity boon, but a whistleblower complaint filed by some lottery employees argues the agency's giveaway of the tickets which have a combined face value of $212,500 should be investigated as a misuse of funds, according to docum... [ More ]