We have a $5 game called Holiday Gifts here in GA. It came out a few weeks ago. I got 1 $10 winner and 3 $15 winners the first 4 times I played, then nothing. I do not understand it. Maybe they put out a bunch of teasers at the beginning of the game. But if as some have stated, the distribution is random, then why would it matter when they were shipped out? I believe that they continue to print tickets; I do not think they print them all at once. The lottery website says that 2 of the 5 $250,000 top prizes have been claimed. I have been tracking them by book number, as well as ticket number.
I had something strange happen today. I purchased a $10 Jingle Jumbo Bucks ticket #019 [844-115596-019] Wednesday from a very busy lottery retailer. I have never been in there that there was not someone playing the lottery in some form or another. For example, Tuesday, I bought 2 tickets, #011 and #012, and went home and scratched them. None of them won, so I went back maybe 15 minutes after I had purchased them. The numbers had gone up to #015. I purchased it, and went home to scratch it, and it won $20. I went back later that day, and traded it in for tickets #028 and #029. #029 was the last ticket on the roll, and won a free ticket. So this store can obviously go through quite a few tickets.
Well here comes the strange part. Thursday, I went to the same store, and ticket #029 was there, so I purchased it and went home. I scratched it and lost. I usually ask the clerk for the ticket number, before I purchase a ticket, because I have worked out a pattern sometimes. Well I think they had a big winner on #028, and decided to save #029 for me, assuming that it would be a loser, this to teach me a lesson for not purchasing a ticket recently, after hearing the numbers. Well guess what, the "last" ticket in the pack was 10 later from the same pack, which I had bought from the day before. Knowing that that store can go through 15 tickets in 4 hours, I found it a little strange that there was still one "last ticket" from what turned out to be the same pack as the day before. I purchased #019 [844-115596-019] on Wednesday afternoon, and #029 [844-115596-029] from the same pack roughly 24 hours later.
I have been in there enough that the clerks probably know that I like to buy the last ticket in the book, and I can tell from looking in the trash that a lot of folks keep on scratching till they win. I wonder if he was having a hard time selling that last ticket, and quickly put it in the bin when he saw me walk in, knowing I often buy the last in a book. I know it sounds like I am crazy, but I find it hard to believe that this store only sold 10 extremely popular tickets, in a 24 hour period. They were from the exact same book! I wonder how I can figure this out. Maybe I should send someone in before me, to keep watch. Do you think clerks would do this, or am I just paranoid? Has anyone else had anything strange like this happen to them before? Have you ever been suspicious?
I can say for certain that there is a relatively slow gas station near me that has a bunch of $100-$500 winners posted on the wall. I have never won anything at that location before. I found something interesting on Yahoo Answers today. I do not know if it is possible, or someone is just trying to pull one over on readers.
The question is "Is it possible to look through the gray substance on scratch-off lotto ticket?If so how?"
Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
"It depends where the lotto ticket was made...most places have been a step ahead of crooks with a special formulation of aluminum dust mixed with a binder to cover lotto numbers. You'll need a few hard to find chemicals...in S'pore they are all regulated. The most common way is a mixture of Calcium Carbonate powder (5% by volume), Sodium Acetate (2%) solution, Isopropyl alcohol (40%) and Ammonium Thiocyanate(2%), after these are dissovled in the alcohol, take a cotton swab and brush over the silver substance. The aluminum dust will react with the Thiocyante for 30-40 seconds and then return to its natural state. During this 30 second period hold a black light to the numbers, you will be able to see through the covering.
Good luck and be careful."
I have no idea if this is true or not, it sounds like b.s. to me, but this could account for all of the small, slow gas stations with bunches of winners on the wall. Either that or the clerks watch people scratch tickets, and buy one themselves, after watching someone throw away 5 non-winning $20 tickets in a row. We need to find a way to install hidden cameras in these stores, to see if there is any funny business going on.
Hell, maybe they have video cameras already installed in these gas stations. I know that you can get security cameras that can transmit wirelessly to a computer for viewing and recording. I wonder if there is anyway to intercept these? Now that is a good idea, if I say so myself.