Is it a scam by a lottery to end the game when half of the top prize still available?

Reply #16

Romancandle — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 17:03:34 GMT

For the jackpots on scratcher games, especially on the more expensive tickets ($5 and up) definitely misleading.

At least with PB, MM, Lotto, P3/P4 etc, you've got a chance to win the jackpot prize (albeit remote) on every draw/ticket you purchase.

With scratchers, that Jackpot ticket (s) may not even be available for purchase anywhere in the state for long stretches of time, so your odds are ZERO.

It's even worse when they pull a game with lots of top prizes remaining. In that case, yo... [ More ]

Reply #15

JonnyBgood07 — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 13:42:44 GMT

Is it a scam by a lottery to end the game when half of the top prize still available?

Criminal really.It they'd have half an ounce of ingenuity,they could actually sell the remaining books before the expiration and market the sh*t out of it instead of pissing away TV time promoting new tickets.Hell most store owners will tell you when they get a new ticket in.

Reply #14

Enigmas — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 13:38:11 GMT

And now they haven't updated the top prize PDF in two weeks. Something is definitely going on at the NY lottery and it isn't good.

Reply #13

abjorik — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 00:23:41 GMT

NY Lottery retiring many $5 and $10 dollar games with HlALF of TOP prizes available! For example, Million Dollar numbers game and others I can't remember now

Reply #12

jaxlee — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 21:35:43 GMT

Closing out game for unclaimed prizes? That would mean the lottery officials know where the top prizes are and they claimed that they don't. All they are doing is flooding the market with new games every few weeks so it is harder for players to get the top prizes. If they only have one game of each amount (eg. $1, $5, $10, $20, etc), the top prize would have been claimed in no time. Also, lottery officials purposely don't bring out the old games and make retailers sell all the new ones. So yes,... [ More ]

Reply #11

TRN2winn — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 21:11:50 GMT

Is it that the top prizes are available or just unclaimed ? I haven't played a scratch off in over 25 years... but just started playing again.. lol Been asking some questions from the local dealers and they claim the lottery will shut down a game and buy back remaining tixs if 95% of the big prizes are gone. The system knows when the prizes were sold.. (or close to it as there will be/could be prizes claimed on either side of it). .. they could be in some ones purse, glove box, there dresser, or... [ More ]

Reply #10

Enigmas — Mon, 21 Jul 2014 21:50:52 GMT

Between the current cash for life promo that never seems to give free tickets and NY Lottery taking its winners atlas away I'm beginning to think they are crooked. I've stopped playing NY Lottery games as much. I'd rather play when if go to Jersey or CT.

Reply #9

LottoMetro — Sun, 20 Jul 2014 22:15:31 GMT

It is intentional. Last year I had a machine run out of paper and they opened it up; at the bottom is where they kept all the ticket paper and a box with new books of scratch-offs. I have seen some snack/soda vendors do the same thing with vending machines.

Reply #8

mediabrat — Sun, 20 Jul 2014 21:14:55 GMT

The bottom of the machines sounds like a good place to store the next batch of tickets. When it's time to refill a specific game, instead of going into the back room to fetch more tickets, all the clerk has to do is grab the appropriate stack from right in front of him. I wouldn't be surprised if that was an intentional design of the machines rather than a happy accident.

Reply #7

mediabrat — Sun, 20 Jul 2014 21:10:57 GMT

The Three Million scratch-off game launched on June 4, 2013. (Source) According to the End of Game Schedule (note that word Schedule!), the cash-in deadline is June 23, 2015. I don't know how long they give you after a game ends to redeem your winners, but since you're acting like the game ended and it's no longer listed under the current games on the NY Lottery website, I think we can assume the game ended on either June 4 of this year (one year after launch) or June 23 (a little over a year af... [ More ]

Reply #6

RedStang — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 05:21:59 GMT

I had a few machines break and when opened they all had new stacks of tickets laying in the bottom. Started thinking how can they sell winners if the tickets don't reach the public. Got me so mad i rarely play anymore. This is probably why they cancel the games.

Reply #5

abjorik — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 02:19:46 GMT

How about Three Million $10 dollar scratch game that had 2 out of 4 top prizes available and almost none 2nd prizes which means that losing tickets were almost sold and they have decided not to give out the top prizes?

Did you know that only ONE person claimed the TOP prize of the Happy Mothers scratch game when there were 6 top prizes available

Reply #4

Igamble — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 23:46:03 GMT

i think it is a ROBBERY in your face..WHY -THEY MADE their profit many times over by s3lling th3 losing tickets qnd now decided to stop it when they can see that the winning tickets will b soon found.so instead of having to pay the big prizes th3y just say -well game is cancell3d due to this or that...th3y may call this legal but my instinct calls it legal robbery of responsible players money.

Reply #3

mediabrat — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 23:24:00 GMT

Of course a MOTHER'S DAY game would only last a short amount of time, just like any holiday-themed game.

Indeed, I think you'll find that most, if not all, scratchers sunset on a schedule and not simply at the whims of the Lottery. If a game does end early, it's probably because all of the top prizes were already claimed.

Reply #2

CAScratcher20 — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 22:05:47 GMT

The California Lottery has recently ended a $10 game with 1/2 the prizes available and even a $5 game with 3/4 the top prizes available.

Reply #1

jaxlee — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 21:56:06 GMT

I think so, I been saying it all along. There is a game here is TX that still have 8 out of 10 JP remaining that is being closed out. They just want to max their profits by retiring old and coming out new. Also, they don't have to pay out the top prizes because the outstanding tickets are getting low. They also purposely don't put out the old games to retailers so they can't be bought.

Is it a scam by a lottery to end the game when half of the top prize still available?

abjorik — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 19:38:54 GMT

The NY lottery retires games that have half of top prizes available, but majority of non winning tickets sold. If you check the Lottery's website top prizes page, you will see that they retired many games that had many top prizes left. Examples are $10 Three Million scratch ticket as well as $5 dollar Happy mother's day tickets, etc.

Do you think it is a scam