The latest New York Lottery scratch game offers the state's biggest scratchoff prize ever — along with the most expensive scratch game in state history.
Lottery officials unveiled the new game last Friday. The record-breaking game has a top prize of $1 million a year for life.
The cost to play is also a New York record — $30 per ticket — $10 more than the highest-priced instant games peviously on the market in New York.
The "$1 Million a Year for Life" game began Tuesday, Sept. 2.
The first-of-its-kind game gives players a shot at winning the largest jackpot prize on a scratch off ticket in the Lottery's over 40-year history.
The new ticket offers fifteen chances to win a variety of different prizes with overall odds of winning a prize at 1 in 2.93 on tickets randomly distributed statewide.
Lottery spokesman John Charlson calls the new ticket, "The most lucrative prize on a scratchoff ticket in lottery history."
The current top scratchoff prize is the $20 "Win for Life" game with a jackpot of $10,000 a week for life. The odds of winning the jackpot in that game are 3.5 million to 1.
David Gale, executive director of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, said he believes the $1 million a year for life would be the highest payout ever for any state scratchoff game.
The $30 per ticket cost may also be a national record, Gale said.
Plans for the new game drew harsh criticism from gambling opponents, including state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Queens).
"It's just another way to get people to part with their money, which is unconscionable during this period of economic uncertainty that all people are experiencing," Padavan said.
Padavan said those who can afford it least will likely be the ones shelling out the $30 for a ticket.
"It's morally unethical," he said.
Some New Yorkers were critical because of the cost.
"I can't afford it," said Roseanne Quinones, 55, a receptionist from Bay Ridge. "If I could afford it, I probably would, but $30 is too much. I don't even buy the $5 ones."
Hyquam Dixon, a 42-year-old Brooklyn construction worker, agreed. "It's too much, and the odds are always against you. People rarely buy the $20 tickets."
Scratchoff game revenue totaled $3.6 billion in the 2007-08 fiscal year that ended March 31, the division's annual report says.
One upstate vendor who is selling the $30 instant game said she expects it to do well.
"We've been telling people about it and they seem psyched," the vendor said. "We get a lot of people who already play the $20 tickets, so this isn't that much more."
I can think of a lot better things to do with $30.00
In NH, most all the $20 and $30 tickets don't even offer a one-time prize/payment of $1 million, nevermind for life!
Yep $30.00 for a single ticket isn't going to go over to well. I'd rather take that $30.00 and play the mega-million $5.00 twice a week and take my chances.
I've got some advice for the people in the article complaining about the cost.
DON'T BUY IT ! !
Duh !
Nobody is putting a gun to their heads....
I am considering buying once a month. $1 million a year is a life changer!
Itz a scam. If someone 20-year-old wins, and lives up to 100 years - where will they get 80 millions? And also it is not the most expensive scratch-off in the nation - I read somewhere Texas used to have (or still has?) a 50-dollar game.
Has anyone bought one yet?
can i buy a ticket. er ah no. i can't buy one because i am on the wrong coast. dang it. i wish i was there and i would buy a few.
Actually we have THREE $50 scracth off. 2 of the rolled out last year and one this year. Wealso have one $30,one $25, and FOUR $20 scratch offs....
I'll play from using the winnings of other games. When games offer better odds to be a millionare I'll take it. Of course, with moderation.
I hope someone buys one on their 18th birthday and wins. Then goes on to live for a long long time. Since they're "only" getting a million dollars (before taxes) I'm sure that the revenue taken from this would grow at a faster rate than a million dollars a year.
I would hope I'd be the doorman, and not the doorman's friend across the street.
I don't know what the odds are on the prizes. Maybe there are a lot of winners for $30 back i.e. free plays. Ironically the cheaper scratch-offs can eat more money than the expensive ones because most people they win $2 or so they immediately play it back and keep doing so until they lose whatever they were going to spend. Thus it would make strategic sense to have it chock full of small prize winners.
You would have to calculate what is the "return" for the $30 (expected average winning including the top prize) vs. waiting for a $50M Mega or PB prize and buying 30 tickets or whatever. Not to mention the top prize is an annuity only, right? And not to mention forget about systemizing a scratch-off, at least on MM or PB you can filter out bad numbers.
Has anyone bought one? What are the other prizes? Are there 30 chances to win on this $30 ticket? Guess I should go into a store near me and see, huh?
My hubby will buy one! He isn't afraid to take chances on the scratch-offs. I would rather put my $30 in the slot machine; the penny ones! One pull of the penny machine brought me $216.00 last Monday! Woo Hoo!! LOL
player345
Alternatively, you could just go to your computer:
http://www.nylottery.org/ny/nyStore/cgi-bin/InstantGameDetail_Cat_201872_SubCat_1435688_NavRoot_301.htm
The odds of winning the top prize are 1 in 3.528 million. Spending the same $30 on MM tickets would give you odds of 1 in 5.857 million. The same $30 in MM tickets would make you about twice as likely to win the 250k 2nd prize as you are to win the 50k prize in the new scratch game.
I 100% agree! Does anyone know if there are 2nd and 3rd prizes and what they are?
my thoughts exactly.
if i were in NY I would mos def get one of these scratchers......and I'm not a scratch player. I like the numbers games only
but that payout is quite tempting to me....
I have no desire to put 30.00 down on one ticket ...in new york no one ever gets $$$$ 500,000 from the pick 10 ;
so the thought of getting a million a year in a state that will take your winngs from you at any given moment through legal proceedings I think not .... the scratch offs are 75%% loosers per game ......
Today, I went to my favorite candy/lotto store. I noticed the store clerk unrolling a new pack of the new $30 Scratch offs. I asked him for one and I won $500. The ticket number was #50. Got 8 coins adding up to $500. I noticed in all the stores I go to, they give you tickets starting from the last ticket number. Have anyone experienced this too. Going shopping today. Seeya!
Yesterday, the lady in front of me won $500 on a ticket. She had a couple of $50 pairs and the rest were $100 pairs adding up to $500. The store clerk hung it up immediately showing the winning amount so that people would be influenced to buy it. The ticket number was #30. What's funny is that every time I went to the store, I would look at the game and see that it always had 30 tickets there and kept wondering when somebody would buy one.
The lady was VERY nice and paid for my numbers and for the other person's numbers that was in the store at the time.
The question is, "How many did she buy?"
I would agree, It is foolish to buy a ticket with a big winner on the same roll. I would not buy too.