When does a lottery game become a legal scam?

Reply #4

Greg — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 00:39:21 GMT

a- When they raise the price of a lottery ticket to $2.00.

b- When they expand the number field while lowering lower-tiered prizes.

c- When they enlist a grass roots marketing machine to get everyone excited over a jackpot of $10,000.

d- All of the above

Reply #3

dvdiva — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 22:52:08 GMT

I don't know if any government run game is paying close attention to sales. In WA state sales for Mega doesn't start going up until the pot breaks 150 million or more. We still have the same crummy 6/49 game with very small jackpots.

I'd rather see a larger pacific northwest game including Idaho and Oregon then our anemic Lotto. They recently lowered the odds on our pick 5 game. It was a 5/52 game with decent jackpots and now is a 5/39 game no one buys.

Reply #2

KY Floyd — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 05:29:27 GMT

Assuming the drawings are twice a week, it sounds to me like Texas has a game that brings in about $150 million in annual revenue, and right now they're offering somebody the chance to net nearly $28 million after taxes for only a buck. Texans apparently don't spend $3 million on MM tickets until the advertised jackpot gets to $125 million or more,so I don't see why they shouldn't be perfectly happy with the game they've got.

The lottery sells tickets in exchange for money, and anyone wh... [ More ]

Reply #1

RJOh — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 04:39:01 GMT

If it's a scam then it's not legal (sanction by the government).

When does a lottery game become a legal scam?

bobby623 — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 04:32:20 GMT

Background

When the lottery was implemented in Texas, the main lotto game was pick 6 of 50. The game later was changed to pick 6/54. Still later, the game was changed to pick 5/44 and 1/44.

After MegaMillions was implemented, the lotto game was changed to pick 6 of 54. Regardless of sales, the jackpot begins at $4 million and rolls until won.

The public was not happy with the changes and only about 3 million tickets are sold each draw. This means about 23 million combinations are not b... [ More ]