Ohio Lottery to ditch Lot 'O Play game over lack of interest

Comment #18

Jani Norman — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 21:40:18 GMT

THERE WAS NO WINNER OF THE FINAL JACKPOT OF

$4,300,000.

Since there is no jackpot winner, each lower tier prize will share 33.33% of the cash-value ($2,150,000) of the advertised jackpot.

Match

*Total Winners

Prize Amount

Current Prize

Match 4 of 5

45

$15,926

$1,000

Match 3 of 5

3,477

$207

$10

Match 2 of 5

88,024

$9

$2

*Final low-tier prize amounts were determined by dividing the number of winning tickets at each prize... [ More ]

Comment #17

Stack47 — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 21:23:52 GMT

People could win a lot of money playing it on the last day, Cohen said. (Mardele Cohen, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Lottery)

The Ohio Lottery was lucky the jackpot wasn't hit or the lower prize payoffs would have been the same. I bought 10 tickets ($20) and had 3 numbers on two tickets and 2 numbers on another; matching 3 numbers in row paid $207 instead of $10 and matching 2 paid $9 instead of $2 because the jackpot wasn't hit. But the problem was on one of the tickets none of numbers were... [ More ]

Comment #16

RJOh — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 04:10:14 GMT

Well, I played Lot'O Play for the second and last time. I played two slips with four $2 boards each for $16. I had a program that searched for winners on the eight 5X5 grids and it showed three matched 2 and I thought I had won 3x$9=$27 but two of them were on the same grid so I made 2x$9=$18-$16=$2. I'm glad I only played it once when a match 2 paid $2.

Comment #15

RJOh — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 05:02:05 GMT

If you can't travel to Ohio to play Lot'O Play before it ends, you won't miss much. I played the games once when it first started because I did well in the last game of Super Lotto Plus. No one won its jackpot and it was distributed to the lower tier winners and I matched three several times which paid $27 each.

Lot'O Play winnings will distributed the same way for its last game so I will be playing again during its last game.

Comment #14

rdc137 — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 21:32:43 GMT

Ohio is a rather long drive from Delaware.

Comment #13

RJOh — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 21:29:36 GMT

You still have to January 20,2007 to play and if you wait until the last game to play you could win even more since if no one wins the jackpot, it will be distributed among the lower tier winners.

Comment #12

SassyOhio — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 18:45:52 GMT

I wonder if the person that convinced the Commission that the players would buy a $2 ticket to win $2 or $3 million when they could buy a $1 ticket to win at least $12 million at the same lottery terminal, sold the Commission members ocean front property in Arizona too?

COULD NOT HAVE SAID IT BETTER MYSELF

Comment #11

Stack47 — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 18:39:24 GMT

It's been many years since the Ohio Lottery Commission was player savey and this isn't the first time a $2 lotto type game has failed. If they believed people would play it because they think Lot 'O Play similar to the popular scatch-off Bingo games, the Commission doesn't understand why people like to play the scatch-off games. It's a known fact that more people play lotto games when the jackpots are high but without a solid player base at the lower levels, the jackpots will never grow high en... [ More ]

Comment #10

rdc137 — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 17:59:18 GMT

I wish I could've had a chance to play this for myself before it disappears. My friend who went to Ohio forgot to buy me a ticket. Oh the agony

Comment #9

Todd — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 16:32:42 GMT

Thanks for the story about the store clerk. I agree with you, and I am happy for you, that Ohio will be getting a classic lotto-style game again. The fact that there was no standard Pick 6 game was a gaping hole in the game lineup.

Comment #8

SassyOhio — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 16:00:40 GMT

I am so HAPPY that they got rid of Lotto Play... It was a waste of time! For example I played occasionally and one day I FIANLLY got a ticket that had some profit and it was $10.00. The cashier at the local market said and I QUOTE!!!! OMG I have NEVER seen one of these hit for so much!! HELLO!!!! that was my sign NOT TO PLAY AGAIN lol. SO I am excited to see how the exchange works out and I think that it will be a more intersting game to be playing

Comment #7

jeffrey — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 07:35:54 GMT

The problem with the Ohio Lottery is that it is monopolistic. Their true effort is to reduce the jackpots and increase the profitability. People who win want to be millionaires not thousandaires. I doubt they will listen to this although I have written them before.

Comment #6

Todd — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 21:59:58 GMT

I understand, and I do appreciate that you bring these things up, because it's very important to keep the lotteries on their toes.

After all, that's the power we all have by sticking together on issues like computerized drawings vs. real drawings, payout percentages, honesty in prize redemption, etc., etc.

Please just try to keep comments about various topics together.

If this news story is a good example of how Ohio listens to its players, then let's use the opportunity to point... [ More ]

Comment #5

CASH Only — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 21:28:08 GMT

Towards the end, it says more or less that the Ohio Lottery listens to its players. I'm of the opinion that there are US lotteries that DO NOT listen to its customers. Lotteries tend to be monopolistic, even though they do compete against each other, and with other forms of entertainment. Lottery players should not only have their voices heard, but lotteries should make an attempt to reach out to the people who make them work. It just so happens I live in a state that is anti-lottery player, and... [ More ]

Comment #4

Todd — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 21:05:24 GMT

This is a great example of what I (and others) are referring to in this thread.

I have no problem with any points you're making about the name, the annuity issue in Ohio, or the payments.

However, your insistance on bringing up the NY Lottery in every thread, regardless of its relevance to the NY Lottery is called thread hijacking, and I have asked you to stop doing that dozens of times. I would really love to see you stick to the topic a time or two, it would be a real novelty. You obvi... [ More ]

Comment #3

CASH Only — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 20:40:10 GMT

I don't think Lot O'Play is a bad name. I don't see any other US lottery trying out out such a game.

Ohio has a problem with jackpot winners who choose lump sum. The cash value percentage of the LOP annuity is fixed (currently at 50%,) unlike in MM, where the cash value is a floating percentage, which is a number of points higher, even though both games use the same type of annuity (26 equal payments).

I don't think all lotteries listen to their players. Where I live is a very good example... [ More ]

Comment #2

cps10 — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 20:22:07 GMT

I am very happy about this too, seeing as I play in OH a good bit.

Comment #1

Just6ntlc — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 20:20:05 GMT

I'm happy that classic lotto returns Todd.

Ohio Lottery to ditch Lot 'O Play game over lack of interest

Lottery Post — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 18:24:00 GMT

...or maybe over a lack 'O good name?

The bingo-style Lot 'O Play game that the Ohio Lottery launched slightly more than a year ago will disappear Jan. 20 after a long struggle to win the hearts of players.

In its place, Classic Lotto, a more traditional and preferred game of chance, will debut Jan. 21, lottery officials said.

Lot 'O Play didn't catch on, and it's not what our players wanted, said Mardele Cohen, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Lottery.

Lot 'O Play, which replaced th... [ More ]