A Manhattan deli clerk may have sliced his last salami — after selling himself the winning ticket to the biggest scratch-off lottery jackpot in state history.
Waleed Alsaidi, 22, will take home $10,000 per week for the rest of his life — about $6,450 after taxes are withheld — after getting lucky in the New York Lottery's "Win for Life Spectacular" game.
The Yemen native said that he bought the ticket as a present to himself while working the lonely late shift on New Year's Eve at his family's S&M Deli on Seventh Avenue in Harlem.
He was so stunned when his scratch revealed the winning symbol — a coin — that he kept his amazing win secret from everyone for two days.
"I saw that coin and I couldn't believe it," he said yesterday. "It was a good surprise. It was nice. I'm going to start living good."
Alsaidi said that he has a wife and 7-month old son who still live in Yemen.
His first priority will be to visit them in the Arabian peninsula and eventually bring them and other relatives to America.
"I'm going to bring my family around," he said. "All my brothers and cousins."
The would be quite an expense, since the Yemeni man has a dozen brothers and sisters. A few of them, and his dad, already live in the United States.
At $20, the ticket was the most expensive scratch-off game that the New York Lottery offers, and its prize is unprecedented.
"It's our largest payout on any scratch card," said lottery spokesman John Charlson.
"This is the biggest win you can get."
There is no limit to how much Alsaidi could eventually take. If he lives to be more than 100, his winnings will be nearly $40 million, before taxes.
His family is guaranteed at least $10 million before taxes. If the winner should die young, his next of kin will still take up to $10 million before taxes, minus whatever he had already collected.
Alsaidi, who has been in the United States for 10 years, says that one of his goals will be to open up his own business. He would also like to move out of the humble apartment he shares with a roommate.
Other than that, he was tight-lipped about his plans, and seemed to fear publicity about his windfall.
He showed up with his brother at the victory press conference at Castle Clinton in Battery Park to accept the check from lottery legend Yolanda Vega yesterday. His brother was too shy to give his name.
He said that he has not yet told his wife about their good fortune, and will wait until he visits her in their homeland to spring the good news on her.
He did say that she was a little suspicious that he might have big news.
"Something is up, she says to me," he said.
Alsaidi wasn't the only winner announced yesterday.
Luz Vasquez, 54, of Brooklyn, won $1 million on the $500 million Extravaganza instant game.
The bookkeeper, a Colombia native, says she is going to pay for her granddaughter's education and pay off her credit-card debts. "I want to have a paycheck that is mine, not for the creditors," she said.
Maria Torres, 60, a school secretary from Staten Island, won $1 million on the Merry Money instant game.
And in the most poetic win of all, a 61-year-old Bronx building super named Jesus won $1 million with a scratch-off card that he bought on Christmas.
"I called my wife and she couldn't believe it," said lucky winner Jesus Rolan.
Once again we have a retailer or some employee of an establishment where lottery tickets are sold who has "picked" a jackpot winner. I don't know about everyone else, but I keep hearing too many of these stories lately. I personally think it should be prohibited for anyone who works in a store that sells lottery scratch game tickets (regardless of whether they are a manager, clerk, etc.) to be able to buy these tickets from that location. This should apply whether they are on or off duty too.
I have played these games on occasion over the past several years and in that time I have come to realize and observe that some retailers like to "keep track" on the winners and losers in some rolls. I know it's not discussed much or ever admitted, but I'm sure it happens.
This is especially true with the more expensive ($10-$20) scratch tickets, where the turnaround is much slower than the cheaper ($1-$2-$5) tickets. For example, if you are behind the counter and notice that 5 tickets from a certain $10-$20 roll were bought by a previous customer only to be losers, your chances of getting a winner on the next one are much better. However, someone who just walks in off the street would not know that.
I always get an uneasy feeling whenever I walk into a store and I spot the clerk scratching tickets behind the counter. It just doesn't look good and I end up not buying from the place whenever I see that happening.
It should be the same as when some organization is holding a contest, sweepstakes or whatever. There is usually some list of rules or fine print somewhere that usually states that employees of that company (or even family members in most cases) are not eligible to participate.
It's just trying to keep things fair (on the same playing field) and not offer any unfair advantages, no matter how large or small they appear to be.
Quote: Originally posted by Rolling on Jan 19, 2008
Once again we have a retailer or some employee of an establishment where lottery tickets are sold who has "picked" a jackpot winner. I don't know about everyone else, but I keep hearing too many of these stories lately. I personally think it should be prohibited for anyone who works in a store that sells lottery scratch game tickets (regardless of whether they are a manager, clerk, etc.) to be able to buy these tickets from that location. This should apply whether they are on or off duty too.
I have played these games on occasion over the past several years and in that time I have come to realize and observe that some retailers like to "keep track" on the winners and losers in some rolls. I know it's not discussed much or ever admitted, but I'm sure it happens.
This is especially true with the more expensive ($10-$20) scratch tickets, where the turnaround is much slower than the cheaper ($1-$2-$5) tickets. For example, if you are behind the counter and notice that 5 tickets from a certain $10-$20 roll were bought by a previous customer only to be losers, your chances of getting a winner on the next one are much better. However, someone who just walks in off the street would not know that.
I always get an uneasy feeling whenever I walk into a store and I spot the clerk scratching tickets behind the counter. It just doesn't look good and I end up not buying from the place whenever I see that happening.
It should be the same as when some organization is holding a contest, sweepstakes or whatever. There is usually some list of rules or fine print somewhere that usually states that employees of that company (or even family members in most cases) are not eligible to participate.
It's just trying to keep things fair (on the same playing field) and not offer any unfair advantages, no matter how large or small they appear to be.
I agree anyone working in an establishment that sells instant lottery tickets SHOULD NOT be allowed to purchase tickets at that store. Wasn't there some suspicion in Canada recently surrounding lottery retailers winning a large percentage of winnings????
Quote: Originally posted by Rolling on Jan 19, 2008
Once again we have a retailer or some employee of an establishment where lottery tickets are sold who has "picked" a jackpot winner. I don't know about everyone else, but I keep hearing too many of these stories lately. I personally think it should be prohibited for anyone who works in a store that sells lottery scratch game tickets (regardless of whether they are a manager, clerk, etc.) to be able to buy these tickets from that location. This should apply whether they are on or off duty too.
I have played these games on occasion over the past several years and in that time I have come to realize and observe that some retailers like to "keep track" on the winners and losers in some rolls. I know it's not discussed much or ever admitted, but I'm sure it happens.
This is especially true with the more expensive ($10-$20) scratch tickets, where the turnaround is much slower than the cheaper ($1-$2-$5) tickets. For example, if you are behind the counter and notice that 5 tickets from a certain $10-$20 roll were bought by a previous customer only to be losers, your chances of getting a winner on the next one are much better. However, someone who just walks in off the street would not know that.
I always get an uneasy feeling whenever I walk into a store and I spot the clerk scratching tickets behind the counter. It just doesn't look good and I end up not buying from the place whenever I see that happening.
It should be the same as when some organization is holding a contest, sweepstakes or whatever. There is usually some list of rules or fine print somewhere that usually states that employees of that company (or even family members in most cases) are not eligible to participate.
It's just trying to keep things fair (on the same playing field) and not offer any unfair advantages, no matter how large or small they appear to be.
are you kidding me? You want them to not allow employees who sell the lottery tickets to be eligible to win?
If you think it is such an unfair advantage, why don't you get a job as a clerk selling the lottery tickets? I'm sure you will change your mind about all of that real soon. I worked in a store once as a clerk-no, not selling lottery tickets. What makes you so certain they have time to notice such things? And even if they do, that is no guarantee they are going to get all the winners. I think if it's your time to win, you'll win, no matter what you did or didn't do. I believe you can be strategic and increase your odds, but some people were just meant to win. It's just who they are. Besides, if anything, the clerks who work in the stores are probably more likely to develop an addiction to the lottery than anyone else. Imagine seeing so many people coming in all the time cashing in winning tickets. You know they are thinking "well, if they can do it, I can do it." And off they go. But they may not know that those players are spending hours working on their methods and strategies.
Sorry for the long post, but I thought that to be very unfair to the clerks who sell us our tickets.
Almost $25,000 a month, wow that is just ridiculous. I hope there is no scamming somehow going on with employees buying where they work. PA has nothing close to that except $100,000 a year for life, which is actually $75,000. He will get this AFTER taxes in 3 months!
Quote: Originally posted by AwinaNme on Jan 19, 2008
I agree anyone working in an establishment that sells instant lottery tickets SHOULD NOT be allowed to purchase tickets at that store. Wasn't there some suspicion in Canada recently surrounding lottery retailers winning a large percentage of winnings????
It just doesn't seem right.
Totally different story. The sellers in Canada were "stealing" peoples tickets, not buying tickets. Why shouldn't someone who works in a store not be allowed to purchase tickets? They are not anymore privy to certain numbers then someone who walks in and buys one.
Yes there is a big difference between what happened here and what people did in Canada. But there is truth to the matter that if you work in a place that sells scratch off tickets and most of the people scratch them right in front of you and you see a big amount of losers in a row the chances are rest of the book will be somewhat positive or less of a losing roi. Each book in most states has a specific amount of minimum prizes to it. Say if you buy a roll of 60 $10 tickets in Illinois you are guaranteed that each book will pay out a minimum amount. Books that have the big prizes in it will usually have a lower amount of other prizes to offset it. So if I worked in a store that had ten or more straight losers in it I would probably buy the rest of the book knowing I would at least get fairly close to my investment back while having a better shot at maybe something big then just randomly buying a book. This though I think is hard to do for most as many people buy the tickets and scratch at home and cash in maybe at another place.
..and if you are working for 7 bucks an hour..have bills to pay and gas to buy, tell me how in the world are you going to "pay" for those "remaining"scratch-offs ? Clerks don't make that much..Most of the ones I know just buy an occasional scratch ticket mainly out of boredom..when I was a lottery clerk, I did, too. You only buy 1 or 2 because you have to pay for them right now..just like everyone else...
In Michigan a few years ago when they were doing the second chance drawings on tv. Call me skeptical, but, it sure seemed like there was a large majority of winners that were of middle eastern descent.
Wonder what would happen if they interviewed all the people that recently received a small payout from this winner. It just seems a little funny that he is going out of his way to tell when he bought this ticket and how he waited to cash it in.
Just a couple of days ago I had this conversation with a clerk at Publix. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it's a very large supermarket chain with hundreds of stores throughout the Southeast. Anyway, she said to me "I've got to cut down on buying scratch tickets." I mentioned that I've read that a clerk has a small advantage. She said it's hard not to buy them when you see people buying them all day. She also agreed they have an advantage because they watch the activity in the store. Many times someone will buy 10 tickets and scratch at the counter, buy 10 more, etc. So after knowing that 20 tickets didn't pay off, she might buy 5 of them. That's not dishonest or stealing, but I suppose it's an advantage.
I agree with Littleoldlady that most of these people don't have a lot of money to blow on a bunch of lottery tickets. (I doubt if someone in NY only gets $7 an hour. Even 7-11 pays more than that. Guess it depends on the area.) However, the other day a woman bagging groceries was on break and ran over to the counter and bought 2 of the $20 scratch tickets. I hope she won!
Quote: Originally posted by spy153 on Jan 19, 2008
are you kidding me? You want them to not allow employees who sell the lottery tickets to be eligible to win?
If you think it is such an unfair advantage, why don't you get a job as a clerk selling the lottery tickets? I'm sure you will change your mind about all of that real soon. I worked in a store once as a clerk-no, not selling lottery tickets. What makes you so certain they have time to notice such things? And even if they do, that is no guarantee they are going to get all the winners. I think if it's your time to win, you'll win, no matter what you did or didn't do. I believe you can be strategic and increase your odds, but some people were just meant to win. It's just who they are. Besides, if anything, the clerks who work in the stores are probably more likely to develop an addiction to the lottery than anyone else. Imagine seeing so many people coming in all the time cashing in winning tickets. You know they are thinking "well, if they can do it, I can do it." And off they go. But they may not know that those players are spending hours working on their methods and strategies.
Sorry for the long post, but I thought that to be very unfair to the clerks who sell us our tickets.
Not saying they shouldnt be eligible to win. They just shouldn't be able to purchase the tickets from the store where they work.
Quote: Originally posted by spy153 on Jan 19, 2008
are you kidding me? You want them to not allow employees who sell the lottery tickets to be eligible to win?
If you think it is such an unfair advantage, why don't you get a job as a clerk selling the lottery tickets? I'm sure you will change your mind about all of that real soon. I worked in a store once as a clerk-no, not selling lottery tickets. What makes you so certain they have time to notice such things? And even if they do, that is no guarantee they are going to get all the winners. I think if it's your time to win, you'll win, no matter what you did or didn't do. I believe you can be strategic and increase your odds, but some people were just meant to win. It's just who they are. Besides, if anything, the clerks who work in the stores are probably more likely to develop an addiction to the lottery than anyone else. Imagine seeing so many people coming in all the time cashing in winning tickets. You know they are thinking "well, if they can do it, I can do it." And off they go. But they may not know that those players are spending hours working on their methods and strategies.
Sorry for the long post, but I thought that to be very unfair to the clerks who sell us our tickets.
"I worked in a store once as a clerk-no, not selling lottery tickets. " - spy 153
I did work in a store selling tickets back in the late 80's, a liquor store. That is what got me hooked on the 3 way. We would have a line of people from 6:30pm to 7:20pm (the cut off for eve #'s) inwhich people were playing the 3 way. And we also sold scratch offs. The store manager would take the first & last ticket of every roll and buy those as she often won something on them. Back then the first roll or two of any new game would have alot more winners in it then later on so as to get people to play that game for a while.
Now I have stores that I go to which I just ask the clerks what games people have bought a lot of lately and not won. Often they will tell me as I know most of them by first name and they see me cashing winners. That is one way to use 'The clerk knows best' system to your advantage.
I sell scratch offs on Sunday morning. I took the job working for a friend years ago because I couldn't handle the "empty house" syndrome when my daughter moved out. (The cat couldn't talk...) I still work for this woman on Sunday mornings because I enjoy the company of my co-worker and this is what we call "our day together", The pay isn't bad either over $10 per hour, unlike what some clerks gets. The woman we work for treats us really well and intends to keep her employees with good pay.
As for the tickets, I have seen a lot of bad rolls. I don't scratch. I consider the tickets for suckers. Just my opinion. I prefer the online games. However, TN uses the computer drawings which makes it less appealing to me now.
There are lots of rolls that are opened at beginning of my shift. I have customers buying 10/20 with only winning a ticket. The co-worker bought $60 of the $2 tickets after a 20 pull loser and only got a ticket. Another customer finished the roll and got $25 , $7, and a 3 free tickets. So the whole roll paid less than $100...
I have seen the $10 roll have 12 in a roll that were losers.. and then 4 free tickets on the next 10.. Bad odds if you ask me..
I have seen one ticket bought on two dollar roll that brought $2000... This is a roll that rarely pays at all...
Quote: Originally posted by Rolling on Jan 19, 2008
Once again we have a retailer or some employee of an establishment where lottery tickets are sold who has "picked" a jackpot winner. I don't know about everyone else, but I keep hearing too many of these stories lately. I personally think it should be prohibited for anyone who works in a store that sells lottery scratch game tickets (regardless of whether they are a manager, clerk, etc.) to be able to buy these tickets from that location. This should apply whether they are on or off duty too.
I have played these games on occasion over the past several years and in that time I have come to realize and observe that some retailers like to "keep track" on the winners and losers in some rolls. I know it's not discussed much or ever admitted, but I'm sure it happens.
This is especially true with the more expensive ($10-$20) scratch tickets, where the turnaround is much slower than the cheaper ($1-$2-$5) tickets. For example, if you are behind the counter and notice that 5 tickets from a certain $10-$20 roll were bought by a previous customer only to be losers, your chances of getting a winner on the next one are much better. However, someone who just walks in off the street would not know that.
I always get an uneasy feeling whenever I walk into a store and I spot the clerk scratching tickets behind the counter. It just doesn't look good and I end up not buying from the place whenever I see that happening.
It should be the same as when some organization is holding a contest, sweepstakes or whatever. There is usually some list of rules or fine print somewhere that usually states that employees of that company (or even family members in most cases) are not eligible to participate.
It's just trying to keep things fair (on the same playing field) and not offer any unfair advantages, no matter how large or small they appear to be.
I must comment on the this story and I too am not in favor of retailers being able to play the NY State Lottery. Here is why:
Most people are not aware that to speed up the cashing process of tickets (this is according to the NYS Lottery commision) no part of the front of any NY Instant Lottery ticket needs to be exposed. They calim to have built in security measures to keep dishonest retailers from cheating the system. They also claim that they can not reveal what type of system they use.
All the retailer has to do is take any unscratched ticket and scan the barcode on the back. The four digit number on the front no longer needs to be exposed. This means that if a retailer checks a ticket and it is a loser he leaves it for a unsuspecting customer to purchase. The retailers have shown me that this is true. Ask any retailer to check an unscratched ticket you have puchased. This is a poor system that has many holes. Just to make sure you fully understand what I am saying I will repeat this process. NO PART OF THE FRONT PORTION OF ANY INSTANT NY LOTTERY TICKET NEEDS TO BE EXPOSED. THIS INFO IS FROM THE NYS LOTTERY COMISSION. I WROTE TO THEM AND THAT WAS THEIR REPLY. THEY SAID I WAS CORRECT THAT THE FOUR DIGIT CODE ON THE FRONT DOES NOT NEED TO BE EXPOSED....THIS NEW METHOD OF ONLY NEEDING THE BARCODE ON THE BACK IS TO SPEED UP THE CASHING PROCESS. THIS MEANS ANY RETAILER HAS THE ABILITY TO CHECK TICKETS. i DONT CARE IF THEY HAVE SECURITY MEASURES IN PLACE TO PREVENT THE RETAILERS FROM CHEATING. THEY STILL HAVE AN ADVANTAGE.
If anyone wants to check this out...ask any retailer or write to the NYS Lottery yourselves.
Quote: Originally posted by pontil on Jan 24, 2008
I must comment on the this story and I too am not in favor of retailers being able to play the NY State Lottery. Here is why:
Most people are not aware that to speed up the cashing process of tickets (this is according to the NYS Lottery commision) no part of the front of any NY Instant Lottery ticket needs to be exposed. They calim to have built in security measures to keep dishonest retailers from cheating the system. They also claim that they can not reveal what type of system they use.
All the retailer has to do is take any unscratched ticket and scan the barcode on the back. The four digit number on the front no longer needs to be exposed. This means that if a retailer checks a ticket and it is a loser he leaves it for a unsuspecting customer to purchase. The retailers have shown me that this is true. Ask any retailer to check an unscratched ticket you have puchased. This is a poor system that has many holes. Just to make sure you fully understand what I am saying I will repeat this process. NO PART OF THE FRONT PORTION OF ANY INSTANT NY LOTTERY TICKET NEEDS TO BE EXPOSED. THIS INFO IS FROM THE NYS LOTTERY COMISSION. I WROTE TO THEM AND THAT WAS THEIR REPLY. THEY SAID I WAS CORRECT THAT THE FOUR DIGIT CODE ON THE FRONT DOES NOT NEED TO BE EXPOSED....THIS NEW METHOD OF ONLY NEEDING THE BARCODE ON THE BACK IS TO SPEED UP THE CASHING PROCESS. THIS MEANS ANY RETAILER HAS THE ABILITY TO CHECK TICKETS. i DONT CARE IF THEY HAVE SECURITY MEASURES IN PLACE TO PREVENT THE RETAILERS FROM CHEATING. THEY STILL HAVE AN ADVANTAGE.
If anyone wants to check this out...ask any retailer or write to the NYS Lottery yourselves.
Quote: Originally posted by pontil on Jan 24, 2008
I must comment on the this story and I too am not in favor of retailers being able to play the NY State Lottery. Here is why:
Most people are not aware that to speed up the cashing process of tickets (this is according to the NYS Lottery commision) no part of the front of any NY Instant Lottery ticket needs to be exposed. They calim to have built in security measures to keep dishonest retailers from cheating the system. They also claim that they can not reveal what type of system they use.
All the retailer has to do is take any unscratched ticket and scan the barcode on the back. The four digit number on the front no longer needs to be exposed. This means that if a retailer checks a ticket and it is a loser he leaves it for a unsuspecting customer to purchase. The retailers have shown me that this is true. Ask any retailer to check an unscratched ticket you have puchased. This is a poor system that has many holes. Just to make sure you fully understand what I am saying I will repeat this process. NO PART OF THE FRONT PORTION OF ANY INSTANT NY LOTTERY TICKET NEEDS TO BE EXPOSED. THIS INFO IS FROM THE NYS LOTTERY COMISSION. I WROTE TO THEM AND THAT WAS THEIR REPLY. THEY SAID I WAS CORRECT THAT THE FOUR DIGIT CODE ON THE FRONT DOES NOT NEED TO BE EXPOSED....THIS NEW METHOD OF ONLY NEEDING THE BARCODE ON THE BACK IS TO SPEED UP THE CASHING PROCESS. THIS MEANS ANY RETAILER HAS THE ABILITY TO CHECK TICKETS. i DONT CARE IF THEY HAVE SECURITY MEASURES IN PLACE TO PREVENT THE RETAILERS FROM CHEATING. THEY STILL HAVE AN ADVANTAGE.
If anyone wants to check this out...ask any retailer or write to the NYS Lottery yourselves.
You are 100% right and I have noticed this too. This issue should really be brought to the attention of more people because I'm pretty sure they are not aware of it.
For example, I have noticed the following: If I'm playing $1-$2 scratch games and get some of the lower-tier prizes ($1, $2, $4), when I bring those tickets to be cashed to a retailer, all they do is scan the bar code in the back of the ticket and it tells them that it's a winner and for that amount.
Now I've noticed that let's say I have a more higher-tier prize ($10, $20, $50, 100$+), when they scan the back of that ticket, there is some audible beep from the machine, which then prompts the clerk to type in the 4-digit code from the front that was previously covered.
However, I have noticed that when some people give tickets to a retailer to have them verified (just in case, but usually losers), the retailer just scans the back of those ticekts and can immediately tell that person that it's a loser and not a winner.
So what's stopping a retailer (perhaps after hours) from scanning the backs of unscratched tickets in a roll to determine which are losers, lower-tier prize winners, or higher-tier prize winners??
I know that all rolls are intact and you can't really just pick any ticket from the middle of the roll without breaking the # sequence of tickets, but you would sure be able to know (if you really wanted) that ticket #36 is a winner for example in one roll and keep your eye out for it.
I think the bottom line here is for the average lottery player to steer clear of scratch-offs. They are just teasers and designed to take your money very quickly. Whatever winnings that are won are usually lower-tier anyway and you'd be lucky just to break even. At least with draw games you can have some forms of better strategies and play your favorite numbers.
From talking to a few lottery retailers I have learned that if they scan too many tickets that are losers the machine somehow lets the lottery headquarters know that something is fishy. I would consider 1 ticket scanned dishonestly TOO MANY! Lets say I walk in and purchase that previously scanned ticket, I am a sure loser and the retailer knows it. This is no way to run a lottery. These stores opperate 24 hrs a day and it is usually 1 person alone in the store. Even if they check 1 ticket a day they are still selling a guaranteed losing ticket to somebody. I try to buy my tickets from stores that I know are always busy and not open 24 hrs. I cant help but wonder if I am being ripped off or not. Anybody with a brain would think the same thing if they saw that the machine can tell if it is a winning ticket but just scanning the reverse side. I dont know how many more people will read the messages relating to this story but I will try to post it as often as possible. I am knew to this board and not sure how things run around here so if repeatng stories on here is a NO-NO then I am sure someone will let me know.
Good Luck to All......It seems we need it more than ever
Quote: Originally posted by pontil on Jan 26, 2008
From talking to a few lottery retailers I have learned that if they scan too many tickets that are losers the machine somehow lets the lottery headquarters know that something is fishy. I would consider 1 ticket scanned dishonestly TOO MANY! Lets say I walk in and purchase that previously scanned ticket, I am a sure loser and the retailer knows it. This is no way to run a lottery. These stores opperate 24 hrs a day and it is usually 1 person alone in the store. Even if they check 1 ticket a day they are still selling a guaranteed losing ticket to somebody. I try to buy my tickets from stores that I know are always busy and not open 24 hrs. I cant help but wonder if I am being ripped off or not. Anybody with a brain would think the same thing if they saw that the machine can tell if it is a winning ticket but just scanning the reverse side. I dont know how many more people will read the messages relating to this story but I will try to post it as often as possible. I am knew to this board and not sure how things run around here so if repeatng stories on here is a NO-NO then I am sure someone will let me know.
Good Luck to All......It seems we need it more than ever
G@@D>>>>>INFO pontil:
I think UR within UR........RIGHT's with this post & I "LIKE-IT" !!!!!!!
Something does sound FISHEY about retailer's buy'n UP ticket's ??
Lot of them seem to be BIG WINNER's for one reason or other ???
YOU>>>>>> REPORTED WELL, "I'm STICKIN to YOUR STORY" !!!!!!
Quote: Originally posted by AwinaNme on Jan 20, 2008
Not saying they shouldnt be eligible to win. They just shouldn't be able to purchase the tickets from the store where they work.
Taking into account the arguements given here, that does seem appropriate. I hope they make that official then.
I always thought if the retailers scanned the tickets to see if they were winners, there was some way the lottery headquarters could tell if it had been sold first or not. That seems a better option. Maybe they should fix it to where they can't scan the ticket unless it has been scanned to sell first.
What do you think? Sounds better, huh? Then no one could have an unfair advantage, except those clerks paying attention. Which, in my opinion takes effort in a busy store. So if they are willing to spend their time doing that, it isn't any different than some other strategy we come up with to pick 3's and pick 4's, mega millions and powerball. We observe and strategize. Does that mean we have an unfair advantage? Still, no skin off my back if they change it to where clerks/retail owners can't buy them at the store they work at.
Congrats to Mr. Alsaidi! That is definitely a nice win.
Once again we have a retailer or some employee of an establishment where lottery tickets are sold who has "picked" a jackpot winner. I don't know about everyone else, but I keep hearing too many of these stories lately. I personally think it should be prohibited for anyone who works in a store that sells lottery scratch game tickets (regardless of whether they are a manager, clerk, etc.) to be able to buy these tickets from that location. This should apply whether they are on or off duty too.
I have played these games on occasion over the past several years and in that time I have come to realize and observe that some retailers like to "keep track" on the winners and losers in some rolls. I know it's not discussed much or ever admitted, but I'm sure it happens.
This is especially true with the more expensive ($10-$20) scratch tickets, where the turnaround is much slower than the cheaper ($1-$2-$5) tickets. For example, if you are behind the counter and notice that 5 tickets from a certain $10-$20 roll were bought by a previous customer only to be losers, your chances of getting a winner on the next one are much better. However, someone who just walks in off the street would not know that.
I always get an uneasy feeling whenever I walk into a store and I spot the clerk scratching tickets behind the counter. It just doesn't look good and I end up not buying from the place whenever I see that happening.
It should be the same as when some organization is holding a contest, sweepstakes or whatever. There is usually some list of rules or fine print somewhere that usually states that employees of that company (or even family members in most cases) are not eligible to participate.
It's just trying to keep things fair (on the same playing field) and not offer any unfair advantages, no matter how large or small they appear to be.
I agree anyone working in an establishment that sells instant lottery tickets SHOULD NOT be allowed to purchase tickets at that store. Wasn't there some suspicion in Canada recently surrounding lottery retailers winning a large percentage of winnings????
It just doesn't seem right.
are you kidding me? You want them to not allow employees who sell the lottery tickets to be eligible to win?
If you think it is such an unfair advantage, why don't you get a job as a clerk selling the lottery tickets? I'm sure you will change your mind about all of that real soon. I worked in a store once as a clerk-no, not selling lottery tickets. What makes you so certain they have time to notice such things? And even if they do, that is no guarantee they are going to get all the winners. I think if it's your time to win, you'll win, no matter what you did or didn't do. I believe you can be strategic and increase your odds, but some people were just meant to win. It's just who they are. Besides, if anything, the clerks who work in the stores are probably more likely to develop an addiction to the lottery than anyone else. Imagine seeing so many people coming in all the time cashing in winning tickets. You know they are thinking "well, if they can do it, I can do it." And off they go. But they may not know that those players are spending hours working on their methods and strategies.
Sorry for the long post, but I thought that to be very unfair to the clerks who sell us our tickets.
Almost $25,000 a month, wow that is just ridiculous. I hope there is no scamming somehow going on with employees buying where they work. PA has nothing close to that except $100,000 a year for life, which is actually $75,000. He will get this AFTER taxes in 3 months!
Totally different story. The sellers in Canada were "stealing" peoples tickets, not buying tickets. Why shouldn't someone who works in a store not be allowed to purchase tickets? They are not anymore privy to certain numbers then someone who walks in and buys one.
Yes there is a big difference between what happened here and what people did in Canada. But there is truth to the matter that if you work in a place that sells scratch off tickets and most of the people scratch them right in front of you and you see a big amount of losers in a row the chances are rest of the book will be somewhat positive or less of a losing roi. Each book in most states has a specific amount of minimum prizes to it. Say if you buy a roll of 60 $10 tickets in Illinois you are guaranteed that each book will pay out a minimum amount. Books that have the big prizes in it will usually have a lower amount of other prizes to offset it. So if I worked in a store that had ten or more straight losers in it I would probably buy the rest of the book knowing I would at least get fairly close to my investment back while having a better shot at maybe something big then just randomly buying a book. This though I think is hard to do for most as many people buy the tickets and scratch at home and cash in maybe at another place.
..and if you are working for 7 bucks an hour..have bills to pay and gas to buy, tell me how in the world are you going to "pay" for those "remaining"scratch-offs ? Clerks don't make that much..Most of the ones I know just buy an occasional scratch ticket mainly out of boredom..when I was a lottery clerk, I did, too. You only buy 1 or 2 because you have to pay for them right now..just like everyone else...
In Michigan a few years ago when they were doing the second chance drawings on tv. Call me skeptical, but, it sure seemed like there was a large majority of winners that were of middle eastern descent.
Wonder what would happen if they interviewed all the people that recently received a small payout from this winner. It just seems a little funny that he is going out of his way to tell when he bought this ticket and how he waited to cash it in.
wow
that shouds like a pretty good game. I wish we had a game like that.
Just a couple of days ago I had this conversation with a clerk at Publix. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it's a very large supermarket chain with hundreds of stores throughout the Southeast. Anyway, she said to me "I've got to cut down on buying scratch tickets." I mentioned that I've read that a clerk has a small advantage. She said it's hard not to buy them when you see people buying them all day. She also agreed they have an advantage because they watch the activity in the store. Many times someone will buy 10 tickets and scratch at the counter, buy 10 more, etc. So after knowing that 20 tickets didn't pay off, she might buy 5 of them. That's not dishonest or stealing, but I suppose it's an advantage.
I agree with Littleoldlady that most of these people don't have a lot of money to blow on a bunch of lottery tickets. (I doubt if someone in NY only gets $7 an hour. Even 7-11 pays more than that. Guess it depends on the area.) However, the other day a woman bagging groceries was on break and ran over to the counter and bought 2 of the $20 scratch tickets. I hope she won!
Not saying they shouldnt be eligible to win. They just shouldn't be able to purchase the tickets from the store where they work.
"I worked in a store once as a clerk-no, not selling lottery tickets. " - spy 153
I did work in a store selling tickets back in the late 80's, a liquor store. That is what got me hooked on the 3 way. We would have a line of people from 6:30pm to 7:20pm (the cut off for eve #'s) inwhich people were playing the 3 way. And we also sold scratch offs. The store manager would take the first & last ticket of every roll and buy those as she often won something on them. Back then the first roll or two of any new game would have alot more winners in it then later on so as to get people to play that game for a while.
Now I have stores that I go to which I just ask the clerks what games people have bought a lot of lately and not won. Often they will tell me as I know most of them by first name and they see me cashing winners. That is one way to use 'The clerk knows best' system to your advantage.
Fantastic Story...
Starts a great conversation, too.
I sell scratch offs on Sunday morning. I took the job working for a friend years ago because I couldn't handle the "empty house" syndrome when my daughter moved out. (The cat couldn't talk...) I still work for this woman on Sunday mornings because I enjoy the company of my co-worker and this is what we call "our day together", The pay isn't bad either over $10 per hour, unlike what some clerks gets. The woman we work for treats us really well and intends to keep her employees with good pay.
As for the tickets, I have seen a lot of bad rolls. I don't scratch. I consider the tickets for suckers. Just my opinion. I prefer the online games. However, TN uses the computer drawings which makes it less appealing to me now.
There are lots of rolls that are opened at beginning of my shift. I have customers buying 10/20 with only winning a ticket. The co-worker bought $60 of the $2 tickets after a 20 pull loser and only got a ticket. Another customer finished the roll and got $25 , $7, and a 3 free tickets. So the whole roll paid less than $100...
I have seen the $10 roll have 12 in a roll that were losers.. and then 4 free tickets on the next 10.. Bad odds if you ask me..
I have seen one ticket bought on two dollar roll that brought $2000... This is a roll that rarely pays at all...
Wow! He is only 22!!!!!
"There is no limit to how much Alsaidi could eventually take. If he lives to be more than 100, his winnings will be nearly $40 million, before taxes."
He is a very lucky guy. I would love to win $10,000 a week for life.
Yeah I would take that also. I'm not picky.
I must comment on the this story and I too am not in favor of retailers being able to play the NY State Lottery. Here is why:
Most people are not aware that to speed up the cashing process of tickets (this is according to the NYS Lottery commision) no part of the front of any NY Instant Lottery ticket needs to be exposed. They calim to have built in security measures to keep dishonest retailers from cheating the system. They also claim that they can not reveal what type of system they use.
All the retailer has to do is take any unscratched ticket and scan the barcode on the back. The four digit number on the front no longer needs to be exposed. This means that if a retailer checks a ticket and it is a loser he leaves it for a unsuspecting customer to purchase. The retailers have shown me that this is true. Ask any retailer to check an unscratched ticket you have puchased. This is a poor system that has many holes. Just to make sure you fully understand what I am saying I will repeat this process. NO PART OF THE FRONT PORTION OF ANY INSTANT NY LOTTERY TICKET NEEDS TO BE EXPOSED. THIS INFO IS FROM THE NYS LOTTERY COMISSION. I WROTE TO THEM AND THAT WAS THEIR REPLY. THEY SAID I WAS CORRECT THAT THE FOUR DIGIT CODE ON THE FRONT DOES NOT NEED TO BE EXPOSED....THIS NEW METHOD OF ONLY NEEDING THE BARCODE ON THE BACK IS TO SPEED UP THE CASHING PROCESS. THIS MEANS ANY RETAILER HAS THE ABILITY TO CHECK TICKETS. i DONT CARE IF THEY HAVE SECURITY MEASURES IN PLACE TO PREVENT THE RETAILERS FROM CHEATING. THEY STILL HAVE AN ADVANTAGE.
If anyone wants to check this out...ask any retailer or write to the NYS Lottery yourselves.
If true, that would be pretty bad security.
You are 100% right and I have noticed this too. This issue should really be brought to the attention of more people because I'm pretty sure they are not aware of it.
For example, I have noticed the following: If I'm playing $1-$2 scratch games and get some of the lower-tier prizes ($1, $2, $4), when I bring those tickets to be cashed to a retailer, all they do is scan the bar code in the back of the ticket and it tells them that it's a winner and for that amount.
Now I've noticed that let's say I have a more higher-tier prize ($10, $20, $50, 100$+), when they scan the back of that ticket, there is some audible beep from the machine, which then prompts the clerk to type in the 4-digit code from the front that was previously covered.
However, I have noticed that when some people give tickets to a retailer to have them verified (just in case, but usually losers), the retailer just scans the back of those ticekts and can immediately tell that person that it's a loser and not a winner.
So what's stopping a retailer (perhaps after hours) from scanning the backs of unscratched tickets in a roll to determine which are losers, lower-tier prize winners, or higher-tier prize winners??
I know that all rolls are intact and you can't really just pick any ticket from the middle of the roll without breaking the # sequence of tickets, but you would sure be able to know (if you really wanted) that ticket #36 is a winner for example in one roll and keep your eye out for it.
I think the bottom line here is for the average lottery player to steer clear of scratch-offs. They are just teasers and designed to take your money very quickly. Whatever winnings that are won are usually lower-tier anyway and you'd be lucky just to break even. At least with draw games you can have some forms of better strategies and play your favorite numbers.
From talking to a few lottery retailers I have learned that if they scan too many tickets that are losers the machine somehow lets the lottery headquarters know that something is fishy. I would consider 1 ticket scanned dishonestly TOO MANY! Lets say I walk in and purchase that previously scanned ticket, I am a sure loser and the retailer knows it. This is no way to run a lottery. These stores opperate 24 hrs a day and it is usually 1 person alone in the store. Even if they check 1 ticket a day they are still selling a guaranteed losing ticket to somebody. I try to buy my tickets from stores that I know are always busy and not open 24 hrs. I cant help but wonder if I am being ripped off or not. Anybody with a brain would think the same thing if they saw that the machine can tell if it is a winning ticket but just scanning the reverse side. I dont know how many more people will read the messages relating to this story but I will try to post it as often as possible. I am knew to this board and not sure how things run around here so if repeatng stories on here is a NO-NO then I am sure someone will let me know.
Good Luck to All......It seems we need it more than ever
2nd that WOW>>>>>
THAT'$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ A LOTTO $ALAMI >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Much butter than that 6/42 WIN for LIFE "KRAP" in some states!
LOL
PSYKOMO
G@@D>>>>>INFO pontil:
I think UR within UR........RIGHT's with this post & I "LIKE-IT" !!!!!!!
Something does sound FISHEY about retailer's buy'n UP ticket's ??
Lot of them seem to be BIG WINNER's for one reason or other ???
YOU>>>>>> REPORTED WELL, "I'm STICKIN to YOUR STORY" !!!!!!
LOL
PSYKOMO
Taking into account the arguements given here, that does seem appropriate. I hope they make that official then.
I always thought if the retailers scanned the tickets to see if they were winners, there was some way the lottery headquarters could tell if it had been sold first or not. That seems a better option. Maybe they should fix it to where they can't scan the ticket unless it has been scanned to sell first.
What do you think? Sounds better, huh? Then no one could have an unfair advantage, except those clerks paying attention. Which, in my opinion takes effort in a busy store. So if they are willing to spend their time doing that, it isn't any different than some other strategy we come up with to pick 3's and pick 4's, mega millions and powerball. We observe and strategize. Does that mean we have an unfair advantage? Still, no skin off my back if they change it to where clerks/retail owners can't buy them at the store they work at.