Play at the Pump, the California Lottery's latest expansion of the lotto market, is both convenient and controversial.
Convenient because it allows credit card users to both fill up and buy up to $20 worth of Quick Picks without ever having to go inside.
At the same time, it's controversial because the offerings are a sharp change from the lottery's long standing cash-only rules aimed at cutting down on overspending by poor people and chronic gamblers.
The concerns are valid," said Alex Traverso, a spokesman for the California Lottery. "But we've put controls in place (for the gas pump game) to make people skew to responsibility and security."
Lottery officials are being cautious with their expansion to credit card gaming. The gas pump game, for example, is available at only 87 stations in the state, Traverso said, most of them in the Sacramento and Los Angeles areas. Lottery tickets are sold at more than 21,000 locations in California.
Lottery tickets brought in $5.5 billion last year, including $1.3 billion for the schools.
"It's being used a lot," said Allen Enriquez, a clerk at a station in Campbell. "A lot of people don't know how to use it yet — but it looks like it is going to catch up."
At the pump, drivers insert their credit card and then their license to prove they are of legal gambling age. After making their picks and filling up, the lottery numbers show up on the receipt.
Expanding slowly
While the project, which began nearly a year ago, is past the test stage, "We're looking to expand slowly," he said. "Once we get to 100 stations, we'll take a look and decide what to do next."
Only stations with updated gas pumps that include a display screen can host the lottery function, and players must use a credit card or debit card and not a gas company card, Traverso said.
Under California Lottery rules, players can only spend up to $20 a day or $50 a week buying tickets at the gas pump. A player also is required to insert his driver's license or state ID card into the pump to verify his age.
There have been few complaints from either the early group of players or the gas station owners who have joined the program.
Lone Bay Area outlet
Sunny Oaks Valero, on South Winchester Boulevard at the San Tomas Expressway in Campbell, is the only Bay Area gas station now participating in Play at the Pump. The busy corner station has freestanding signs promoting the program, along with "How to Play" stickers on the pumps and placards about the games hooked to the hoses.
"It's being used and we're getting a lot of nice feedback," said Andre Wilson, the station's owner. "We've had it in for a couple of weeks and our customers like it."
Wilson wanted to be the first in the Bay Area with the program because he thought it would bring in more business. That seems to be happening.
"We get people coming by to play who aren't our regular customers," he said. "I've got no complaints."
Growing that customer base is key to the state lottery, which after dipping below $3 billion in sales in 2009, brought in a record $5.5 billion in the year that ended June 30 and sent about $1.3 billion to California schools.
New games, including a $30 scratcher ticket slated to debut this month, new programs like the gas pump games and new efforts to bring in more players are all important, Traverso said.
"We're in this to sell lottery tickets to benefit our state schools," he said.
But that puts California in the sometimes uncomfortable position of spending millions of dollars for advertising to persuade people to gamble.
"About two-thirds of Californians never or hardly ever play lottery games," said Les Bernal, national director of Stop Predatory Gambling, a group opposed to state lotteries. "And about 80 percent of lottery revenue comes from about 10 percent of the players."
There's a reason the California Lottery promotes what it calls "responsible gaming" with a blizzard of ads, warnings and announcements. The California Council on Problem Gambling found that of the 4,000 people who called its hotline ( (800) 426-2537) in 2014, the lottery ranked third behind Indian casinos and card rooms as their primary gambling preference. But more than half those people listed the lottery as their second choice.
"The future of state lotteries depends on getting a whole new generation hooked," Bernal said. "You do that by getting lottery games on the Internet and letting people use credit cards."
That's not so far-fetched an assumption. Millennials, the generation born between 1980 and the mid-2000s, as a group are notorious for using credit or debit cards to buy everything from a lunchtime taco to a pack of gum.
Seeking younger players
A 2014 survey by the Independent Community Bankers of America found that 24 percent of Millennials carry less than $5 on a daily basis, bad news for a cash-only business like the state lottery.
"Lotteries and casinos are having trouble getting new players among younger people," said I. Nelson Rose, a professor at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa (Orange County) and an expert on gambling and the law.
California's Play at the Pump program "sounds much worse and more dangerous than it is," Rose added. "People now can go to an ATM in a convenience store and get cash to buy Lotto tickets. The state puts limits on credit card use and doesn't allow it for instant games, which is a good idea."
But with a generation of young and not-so-young people used to fast-paced online video games and convenient access to anything they want from their smartphones, it's a question of how long — or even whether — the California Lottery can hold the limits on credit card gambling.
"It's the power of incremental change," Rose said. "If you allow some games to use credit cards now, when it comes up next, how can you say no?"
Showing how it works
At the California State Fair in Sacramento last month, representatives for Linq3, which is partnering with the state for the technical side of Play at the Pump, were out in front of the California Lottery booth with a dummy gas pump, showing passersby how to play.
"You can play the Lotto at the gas pump now and maybe later at ATMs and any other device with a screen," one young woman in a company pullover said.
That's not going to happen in California, at least not quickly, Traverso said. While one of the reasons behind Play at the Pump was to provide "a nice little entry point" to get a new group of people playing the lottery, "we're not going to take the lead" when it comes to advancing gambling in California, he added.
A pair of bills designed to legalize online poker in California look to be dead for the year in the Legislature, and lottery officials are perfectly happy to let that part of the gaming industry take the heat for making it easier to gamble in the state.
"We're not busting down the door to legalize online gambling," Traverso said.
Play at the Pump
When a motorist inserts a credit or debit card at a gas pump, he can chose between "Gas only" and "Play Lotto" options. If Lotto is selected, the motorist may buy $5, $10 or $20 worth of Quick Pick tickets for any of the three main Lotto draw games: Powerball, Mega Millions and SuperLotto Plus.
The cost, along with a $1 service charge, is placed on the credit or debit card, and the gas pump prints out a receipt, including the Quick Pick numbers. Any winnings below $600 are paid directly into the card account, while larger jackpots can only be collected in person by providing Lottery officials with the credit card that was used at the gas pump.
Players also have the option of providing a telephone number that will allow Lottery officials to text the results of the drawing.
There's a limit of $20 per transaction at the gas pump and $50 total per week.
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Just another way for states to get more of our hard earned cash on a daily basis. They are not interested in making themselves accountable for responsible gaming, otherwise, they would not try to shove it in our face so much.
This equates to impulse buying, but now at the gas pump. North Carolina is trying this as well and after posting another record quarter, why wouldn't they? People talk about corporate greed, but state greed is starting to surpass corporate greed on an almost daily basis. It is just sad, they never have enough (money) because they cannot be fiscally responsible with what money they do have and now they are trying to drag us into their "money gutter" even more.
It is time to say NO to big lotto!
I can see the headlines now, skimmers put over the legit ones and criminals getting a wealth of information. Credit card and license #'s galore.
If this worked for tourists, too, they would get even more money dumped into their coffers.
Yup, and the the Egg Heads will be ripping them out with tow trucks.
I predict a lot of winning tickets being inadvertently thrown away. That ticket looks a whole like like a plain ole receipt in that photo.
This cuts out the middle man, the gas station attendant . At least for the three big games now.
More freedom for us - the people.
I personally would never use this "convenience" I have no desire to scan my drivers licence into the gas pump and then to use a Debit Card to buy my lottery tickets. Plus they charge you $1 for this service. For a dollar I will walk the additional 50 ft. to go into the store! In addition I really don't want the person in front of me at the pump to use it either it will slow it down while they put in their phone number punch in what tickets they want!! I just want them to pump and go!
The California Lottery should also reintroduce a subscription service, it had a subscription service in the past. It would raise additional revenue for the state and be very convenient for players.
F it is the same play at the pump as NC, it wont work most of the time! Have tried twice now and down everytime for dys.
Buying with a credit card does not sound like a wise idea from the consumer's point of view,
when and if you don't pay the entire amount of the credit card bill,
you will be paying interest on the monthly balance.
FYI, you can only purchase with debit only....
Yeah it would be dumb to charge what you can't pay for at the end of the month and paying extra for losing tickets. But I use mine for lottery because I can usually find a store that accepts credit cards for lottery in a category that gives 5% back. It's usually a grocery store but for this quarter I get 5% at gas stations. Even on off months I get 1% back which isn't much but better than nothing.
But I don't have a gambling problem nor an overspending problem. I haven't left a balance on a CC in decades.
I'm not sure accepting CC for lottery would make any difference tho. Consumers can go to the ATM and get $300 a day, a lot more than the lottery machines are allowing to be put on a CC. Then whatever they were gonna spend that ATM cash on, they can put on a credit card. There's always a way to overspend if a person wants to.
The lottery industry should be selling lottery tickets through the Internet, it is the future. I see a few states selling their lottery tickets online like Europe.
I agree wholeheartedly, however you have to remove Uncle Sam's 1961 law prohibiting this. In your state of NY, MD and VA who have subscription services you have to have a physical address in said state.
While home in Massachusetts, I was able to get my subscription for Lucky for Life (confirmation came today), Mega Bucks Doubler and Mega Millions. I did not need a MA address for these. Only drawback IMO is that you can't do Megaplier and when they offer Powerball next sale, you can't get Powerplay. Anyway I'm not playing for a year in KY for Mega Millions and Lucky for Life since I never win here!
It is typically the state politicians who are getting in the way of this. Take a look at the Minnesota Lottery, which was really doing a good job of pushing ahead with online sales, until the Minnesota legislature got in the way and forced the lottery to shut it all down.
Any politicians who trumpet the same old tired lines of "bad for poor people", "bad for children", "bad for people who can't stop gambling" are the enemies of online play. Target your frustrations towards these people -- the ones who are preventing you from playing online.
If we ever have a another jackpot frenzy, people might be waiting hours to get gas.
The Owner of the gas station is going to get his piece of the action if you win. Personally, l will not be supporting this idea anytime soon- thank you very much.
I guess this will be convenient for some people but I think I would stick to buying my tickets inside the store.
8/5/15
Printing lottery tickets on the debit card receipt is kind of funky. Seems like it would be easy to lose those receipts.
I think I see the bar code printed on that receipt but is there a signature requirement on the back ? Is the Lottery depending upon the card and that number for identification ?
The scary thought is if you forgot or lost your ticket and it's getting closer to the deadline- What's stopping the LC from posting your name off your debit card on TV with the caption " Hey Mr Music, you won, we looking for you !"
Tell the whole wide world that you are a multimillionaire . I guess that the LC does not need my signature and other relevant information. You might not have to provide two forms of identification at claim time.
Will this trial period be a success or failure ?
Good Luck to all with Mega Millions and SuperLottoPlus in California.
Winnings under $600 are credited back to the debit card used to purchase the ticket auromatically. Larger prizes require you to present the ticket, the debit card used to purchase the ticket and a photo id with your birthdate on it in order to claim.
Hope you win the SLP or part of it *Music- 3 way split is Better than no split.
..Sharing is Caring.
Just made a successful lottery purchase at the pump. Just did it this one time for the experience. Will not do it again this way.
there is a $1 fee per purchase. For powerball you can only choose 3, p5, or 10 tickets for one draw, all QP. Chose three because I dont normally play PB with the cost increase. Upon completion of purchase lottery numbers printed. Once gas was dispensed the gas portion of the reciept printed. Here in NC, it does not have a bar code. It has a receipt number that is two lines lomg. States "receipt is not a bearer instrument and not accepted to redeem prize". Then proceeds to direct me to the ncelonthego website for terms and conditions. Receipt shows the last 4 of my debit card. To redeem for a prize above $600, I am to present my debit card at the claim center. We shall see tomorrow if I get to see that part of the process.
What if you filled up gas as well Zinniagirl , would there be a separate charge for that in addition to $1.00 fee that is tacked on for the lottery tickets? Why pay a buck extra for a transaction that doesn't cost you when you hand in your own filled out playslip or requested a few qp's?
I did both. The lottery purchase is first, then you start the fueling process. Your card is only charged one time for the grand total of the tickets plus the gas. You need to let the machine print the whole receipt before tearing it off. If you dont, you may lose all the codes. I verified on my bank account of the one charge.
Example: fuel total $ 17.42
Nc-powerball: $6.00
Tranfee: $1.00
Net total:$24.42
this is at the bottom of a very long receipt. No signature lineon the back because it is not a bearer instrument
Hopefully, will experience even a tiny prize win tonight to see how the rest of the process goes.
I agree about the waste of paying the fee. This was a one time purchase to experience it. I can see people puchasing at the pump when lines are long for the HUGE jackpots. Whats a dollar compared to a half houpr wait in line. Espe ially if someone is tying up the clerks time with multiple playslips. Thereis only 1 gas station in the city/county that does this. It is a very busy gas station, on a normal dy there is a wait just to get to the pump. There were two cars ahead of me tonight. I can also see people doing this if they dont have any cash in their pocket. It is way too easy to spend money for "fuel" on your bank statement that you sognificant other sees. It does not show that it was spent for lottery. This can be a problem for those who have the pbeginnings of a spending problem and affecting their marriahe/relationships.
:)
Your card is only charged one time for the grand total of the tickets plus the gas...Ok Thanks.
My pleasure!
It is with great sadness, I must say I only matched 2 nonpowerball numbers, so no experiencing the winning side. Maybe someone else can say from experience the winning side!!
I have yet to see one of these pumps yet. We have enough lottery terminals as it is. There are 5 machines within 4 blocks of me. Have never even had to stand in line for a ticket. Most of the time there is either nobody at the machine or maybe 1 or 2 people.