Lottery players learn tough lessons

Comment #17

KY Floyd — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 17:35:28 GMT

A man tosses a ticket into the trash and gets $2 million?

You're looking at it the wrong way. A man who bought a winning ticket but couldn't produce it got $2 million. The money he got would have gone back to the state as an unclaimed prize if it wasn't awarded to him. Sure, he was an idiot, but if we were always penalized every time we did something stupid we'd all be in trouble.

if Chris Ramesar sent in his subscription and can prove it, I think he deserves to be paid.

When they p... [ More ]

Comment #16

justxploring — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 00:28:12 GMT

Yup, CALottery guy, I think you are right. Need to go back and read it. I try to keep abreast of posts and articles on LP in-between appointments rush sometimes, so maybe I'm not concentrating enough. Sorry.

Anyway, this is ridiculous isn't it? A man tosses a ticket into the trash and gets $2 million?? I think I should have stopped at my original post. Both of these players weren't acting responsibly. However, if Chris Ramesar sent in his subscription and can prove it, I think he dese... [ More ]

Comment #15

CA LotteryGuy — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:59:26 GMT

justxploring....if I read the article correctly here is what happened to these two guys:

Chris Ramesar: this is the guy who did not get his subscription ticket processed in a timely manner; he got nothing.

Howard Reid: this is the guy who tore up his ticket ; by having a law passed about claiming a lost ticket he got awarded $7 million, his share of the jackpot.

Comment #14

Coin Toss — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:43:22 GMT

In over two years of a daily list of winners, the subscription winners just seem to be very, very low. since you have to be a resident of the state to play them, I'm nit sure why people would. Even if they were a shut-in they can just ask someone to play a ticket for them.

In the NY case I'm surprised the lawyer didn't mention anything about a reasonable amount of time passing from the time he mailed his ticket and the numbers they guy played hit.

I mean, unless they were still using ho... [ More ]

Comment #13

justxploring — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 10:22:29 GMT

I should have read the article more carefully or it wasn't clear. Sorry. I didn't realize his payment was received and processed. I'm glad he got some money. He took quite a cut, but $2 million net is a nice prize. I agree with KY Floyd that he shouldn't have just assumed everything was being processed. I probably would have kept playing until I had the receipt.

I still agree (as Guru wrote) that both of these men were foolish. I'm not familiar with NY games or laws, so maybe Rick is cor... [ More ]

Comment #12

Guru101 — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 03:45:17 GMT

To tell you the truth, I think they're both idiots. The first guy is an idiot because he couldn't get off his lazy butt and drive down to the gas station and buy a ticket. Whether it be through a 3rd party, or directly from the lottery itself, I would never use a lottery subscription service. The second guy is an idiot because he tore up his tickets without checking them. Then when he finds out it was his numbers, he ACTUALLY thinks that he's owed money. What a loser.

Comment #11

Coin Toss — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 03:39:53 GMT

This is more onfo on the Illinois subscription play:

HOW LOTTERY SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE PAID OUT

Small prizes won by Lotto and Little Lotto subscribers are accumulated until the end of the subscription term and mailed to winners in one check. For Lotto subscribers, all $3 prizes (for matching 3 numbers) are accumulated and mailed at the end of the subscription term; for Little Lotto subscribers, all $1 and $10 prizes (for matching 2 or 3 numbers, respectively) are accumulated and mail... [ More ]

Comment #10

KY Floyd — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 03:32:35 GMT

The subscriptions become active after the player is sent a confirmation of receipt. The confirmation indicates the date on which the subscription will begin.

How much clearer could it be? The guy made a bad assumption, plain and simple. He never got a confirmation saying his subscription had started, so he didn't play those numbers for that drawing. You don't win if the winning numbers match numbers you were intending to play, you win if the winning numbers match the numbers you really play... [ More ]

Comment #9

Coin Toss — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 03:02:20 GMT

From the Illinois Lottery website subscriptions page:

Lotto (Drawings are Mon., Wed., and Sat. )

HOW TO START A LOTTERY SUBSCRIPTION

Lotto

Choose the number of Plays you want -- 2,4,6,8 or 10. Two plays are only $1.00.

Pick six numbers from 1 to 52 for each play. Or choose Quick Pick, and let the computer randomly draw your numbers. (See, you don't have to lift a finger.

Comment #8

TheGameGrl — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 02:14:15 GMT

Lottery subscriptions are contingent on the regulations as they stand at the time of issuants.

If NY Lottery had a loop hole on their side its the supposed confirmation letter.

There are many reasons for a state to allow mail in lottery subscriptions. One is: It helps those who cant drive or have weekly access to an area that has terminals. Take those that are shut ins YET still enjoy playing. Its actually another means for the state run lottery to collect a guaranteed percentage of sale... [ More ]

Comment #7

time*treat — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 01:55:27 GMT

Reid was awarded $7.4 million. After taxes and lawyer fees, he reportedly took home $2 million

That's quite a haircut. Yikes

Comment #6

Rick G — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 00:55:42 GMT

LckyLary,

This type of subscription service is run by the individual state lottery, not an independent online service and subscriptions can be purchased through the state lottery website for a period of time. In IL I think it goes up to six months. It's different than purchasing advance draws from the lottery agent, which is as you say, only a week's worth of advance tickets.

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The man's s... [ More ]

Comment #5

LckyLary — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 00:23:38 GMT

One thing, on the NY Lotto I think it only lets you do 2 drawings ahead. There is no mark on the betslip for multiple drawings at all so you have to tell the Agent I want this for Saturday AND Wednesday .

This story is a reason why I am leery of the online play, because the person at the other end has to go buy the tickets (at least for PB or MM, I have other theories about the other games). What if they don't get there in time or fill out wrong numbers? Remember the stacks of manually fill... [ More ]

Comment #4

Coin Toss — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 00:21:10 GMT

I don't know, Justxploring...the article does mention that his ticket didn't get entered as it was during the time the offices were moving from Albany to Schenectady:

In court documents, Ramesar said he had called the Lottery office in June and had been told he should soon receive confirmation that his application had been processed. The delay, it appeared, was caused in part because the Lottery's headquarters were being moved from Albany to Schenectady.

If you were a lottery commissi... [ More ]

Comment #3

justxploring — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 22:47:23 GMT

Sorry, I disagree with the 2 comments posted here.

Unless I am reading this incorrectly, someone mailed an application and never received any type of confirmation until 11 days AFTER he won? Sounds very suspicious to me. First of all, I don't see stated anywhere in this article how he paid for these drawings. You don't send cash through the mail, so did they cash his check? Did they charge the amount to a credit card? If so, the lottery is liable. If I didn't get a canceled check within... [ More ]

Comment #2

sirbrad — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 21:11:47 GMT

Another lottery scam, nice. They purposely dilly-dally and he is the one who has to pay for it.

Comment #1

MissNYC — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 20:46:33 GMT

Wow, that is terrible! I feel bad for Ramesar, because the fault was on the lottery, they should have given him something based on when the subscription was submitted. That's just wrong. As far as Howard Reid, that is his fault entirely. Of course no one ever believes they have the winning ticket, but to tear them up before checking for even smaller prizes? I'm sure he can now think of 70 million reasons not to do that...ever.

Lottery players learn tough lessons

Lottery Post — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 16:47:16 GMT

When Chris Ramesar plays the Florida lottery, sometimes he gets a warning from his 8-year-old daughter, Gabriela.

Daddy, she says, remember what happened in New York?

Ramesar is a 57-year-old co-owner of an auto body shop in Miami. He is thousands of miles and more than a decade removed from the day he found out his lucky numbers had come up in the New York Lottery.

But he hasn't forgotten what happened, or the lesson he eventually learned that it is very hard to sue the Lottery s... [ More ]