Don't oversell lottery prizes
Current advertising is misleading
Rocky Mountain News
Sunday, July 20, 2008
A person buys a lottery ticket, loses, and files a lawsuit. Sounds like material for The Onion. But the story was in the Rocky, and Colorado Springs resident LaVonne Bazemore Watkins isn't joking.
Sad to say, Watkins has a point, if not (in our view) a claim that should be decided by the courts. Watkins is one of several litigants suing state lotteries or their retail outlets for continuing to sell tickets for scratch games after all of the top prizes in a game have been awarded. In her case, she bought a $2 ticket hoping to win a $10,000 prize that had been claimed two months earlier.
If a licensed casino advertised a game with a large jackpot that was not available - and the owners knew it - regulators would shut the gambling house down and put the bosses behind bars. The Colorado Lottery can't be sued for engaging in such deception - the state Supreme Court recently ruled that it was protected from litigation by governmental immunity laws - but it should change its policy and end any scratch games when the top prizes are gone.
Unlike the continuous jackpots in Lotto and Powerball, scratch games operate for a set period of weeks or months and offer anywhere from three top prizes to 20 or more. A recent USA Today story said roughly 20 state lotteries end scratch games when all the top prizes are gone.
Colorado does that occasionally, but not always. The Rocky recently found that five of the 35 scratch games run by the Colorado Lottery were selling tickets after all the top prizes had been claimed.
Moreover, a "top prize" may not be the payday printed on the ticket. The most recent "Colorado Millionaire" game stayed open after the three $1 million prizes were claimed because a $250,000 jackpot was still available.
The Colorado Lottery publishes on its Web site how many top prizes are still up for grabs in its scratch games. Retailers can also access that information and notify customers when top prizes are gone.
That said, there's something fundamentally deceptive about enticing people to play a game advertising a $1 million jackpot that is, in fact, not available. LaVonne Watkins' attorney Rob Carey makes the plausible argument that people select specific games because they want to win the largest prizes - and if players knew the main jackpot was no longer available in one game, they would choose another.
Now that Watkins can't sue the state, she has instead targeted Texaco, because she purchased her ticket at a Texaco retailer. Carey hopes to have the suit certified as a class-action lawsuit.
We hope that doesn't happen. Retailers should be held harmless; they honor winning tickets, even if the potential jackpots are smaller than the top prize. The Colorado Lottery could stifle the prospect of future lawsuits by pulling all scratch games that have awarded their biggest paydays.
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July 20, 2008
1:05 a.m.
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roger44 writes:
I think that when any Government, from city on up, operates outside the normal scope of what Government is for, should be able to be sued. Gambling promised things it never kept, some went to parks, but the state raised the price to enter these parks in the following years. The black hawk fiasco should be dealt with in a criminal court, failure by the state to clarify the use of funds is at fault. The Governor going to Spain and Norway is baloney, stay here and do the job he was elected for. Don't care if someone else paid for the trips, his job is here. They don't read their E-mail because of the high volume, might tell you that means things aren't right. Maybe they read these comments, doubt it, they're in their own little world.
July 20, 2008
6:37 a.m.
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Mike_In_Hartsel writes:
Roger, you have a problem in your rant; you.
They'll likely fix the issue with a disclaimer. My question asks "is what they are doing illegal?" Unethical, yes. Legality?
July 20, 2008
6:55 a.m.
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woodwose writes:
It is frankly absurd for governments to be running lotteries. They have no business being in the gambling business. Gambling has traditionally been illegal for moral reasons. There is no problem with recognizing that morality has changed over the years and legalizing formerly illegal activities. But for government to step in as the monopolistic provider and promoter of such an activity is flat out wrong, regardless of whatever the money raised is going to be spent on. What's next? Government run bordellos and crackhouses? When your government starts acting like the mafia, it's past time to clean house.
July 20, 2008
8:59 a.m.
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dlwr writes:
Tbe other deception is that the same game will have 2-4 different looks of the tickets. I called the lottery office and was left on hold and transfered, finally I left a message that was not returned. I checked on line to see which game still had million dollar winners. The people that sell the tickets at the gas staions didn't have a clue when I asked for a specific game number (and they shouldn't have to,lottery tickets shouldn't be brain surgery) and I was sold tickets with no chance of winning because they look just like the other game. I made photo copies of these tickets, this is the most deceptive because if you know one game has no winners left and all of the sudden there is what appears to be a new style of million dollar ticket, how is the customer to tell. You have to have a huge lottery education, and even the people selling them don't have that education. I'd like to join this suite!
July 20, 2008
9:02 a.m.
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bxwatso writes:
Just like everything else the Government does, the lottery is overly expensive and provides poor value.
The lottery provides a return to its customers of about $.40 or less for every dollar spent. On the other hand a slot machine returns about $.85, and a well played craps table $.96. On top of that, the latter gambling offerings come with free drinks and buffets.
The lottery is another example of how a government monopoly is inefficient. Government education is more expensive per student ($10K/yr) than any other country and yet the results are a pathetic failure. 50% of food stamp money is diverted to fraud. The Pentagon is a classic example of bad management (try to get body armor in a hurry).
With all that, why does anyone want government health care? Why did Bush socialize prescription medicine for old people? Why do people look to the government first to solve their problems?
July 20, 2008
9:50 a.m.
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peterpi writes:
Quite frankly, I don't see what the fuss is. Yes, if the top prizes are gone, the merchants selling those scratch tickets should be told and the public be informed. And the state and the merchants need to do a better job of that. But, I know people who buy scratch tickets who are perfectly happy when they get a $5 or $20 winner. Even after the top prizes are gone, those types of tickets are sill out there. So, if the state and the merchant are timely informing the public, and the public buys the tickets anyway in hopes of claiming the small stuff, I see no harm.
I think LaVonne Watkins is a sore loser.
July 20, 2008
11:06 a.m.
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Coco writes:
I sincerely hope this lawsuit against Texaco does not gain traction. The retailer should not be held liable. I shudder to think what is waiting in the wings for other retailers should this persevere. This is a case of a hungry lawyer and a greedy individual looking for a payday.
July 20, 2008
2:33 p.m.
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Brain writes:
The Colorado Lottery publishes on its Web site how many top prizes are still up for grabs in its scratch games. Retailers can also access that information and notify customers when top prizes are gone.
If you are going to play maybe you ought to do a little homework first, no one has been forced to play. Most smart people would not play if they did a little homework.
The people of Colorado voted many years ago to allow the government to offer the games.
July 20, 2008
10:40 p.m.
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arby writes:
Isn't that is why it is called gambling?
If you keep your money in your pocket where it belongs then you have no problem. If you buy lottery tickets, scratch or otherwise you are a fool who is gambling. End of story.