Friends sue NJ Lottery, saying they're owed $1 million for discarded ticket

Comment #53

Stack47 — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 13:19:18 GMT

Lack of details in this story doesn't change the fact there are precedents where players were paid without a ticket.

Pedro Quezada, a Dominican immigrant and the owner of the Apple Deli Grocery in Passaic won the March 2013 jackpot, the fourth largest in Powerball history. Quezada took his lottery winnings in a lump sum of $221 million or $152 million after taxes. Imagine... so much money, Quezada said at a press conference held a few days after he'd won. But it will not change my heart.... [ More ]

Comment #52

KY Floyd — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 07:11:35 GMT

I noticed that despite the lack of detail you specifically said there's precedent, so I asked if you know if there's precedent that matters. I take it you don't?

I don't know whether or not an unclaimed ticket was sold, but when I speculate about the possibilities I do it based on what makes sense. Since it doesn't make sense for the lottery to deny their claim based on failure to present the ticket if they could deny it because a winning ticket was never even sold the sensible guess is that... [ More ]

Comment #51

infiniti30 — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 04:01:58 GMT

Their lawyer should google bearer instrument. If an agent of the lottery swindled the player like previous instances they may have a case but because the failed to look closely at the online results too bad. Most lottery websites have disclaimers that state they do their best to post accurate info but are not responsible for mistakes.

Comment #50

Stack47 — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 01:42:12 GMT

Is there a precedent in NJ?

Did you miss the part where I said the story doesn't go into much detail?

It may not specifically say that, but it seems pretty clear.

I would have said the same thing if I thought somebody was going to nit-pic. For the record, was there a unclaimed ticket worth $1 million sold at the same store

Comment #49

miracleplay5 — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 21:47:55 GMT

Well I was laughing in the beginning but as I got towards the end I can see how they have a pretty good case...to blame the website/state of New Jersey is frivolous...here in Florida the tickets have the store number,time and ticket number on all purchased lottery tickets...the state of New Jersey knows exactly where that winning ticket was purchased...and the ticket number so on so forth they can look at the remaining tickets and see whether or not they are telling the truth...but dont give the... [ More ]

Comment #48

TNPATL — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 19:35:50 GMT

He threw out the ticket oh well. That's not the fault of New Jersey. Hold your tickets until you are 100% certain you did not win some kind of prize

Comment #47

KY Floyd — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 05:29:53 GMT

Except we have precedent where a winner was able to collect despite no longer having the winning ticket

Is there a precedent in NJ? Each state gets to set their own rules for many aspects of multi-state games, without the consent of other states. That other states may bend their particular rules is irrelevant to NJ's choice to enforce theirs. I don't know about other states, but NY specifically allows people to claim without a ticket. In the case of Willis Willis mentioned earlier, the ticke... [ More ]

Comment #46

Stack47 — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 21:05:14 GMT

It doesn't matter if they bought the winning ticket. The rules on every single website states that they have to present the ticket, signed, with the appropriate ID.

And examples were shown where players were paid without the winning ticket.

The lawsuit is nothing but a smoke screen being used to get around the rules.

Their lawyer will show where lotteries made exceptions to the rules and why I said they have the beginnings of a case . The N.J. Lottery knows if a winning $1 million PB... [ More ]

Comment #45

Stack47 — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 20:41:13 GMT

When the two men went to the commission earlier this year with their claim they were told they were out of luck, their attorney says. They were told that without the ticket they were not going to pay, said attorney Edward Logan.

From that I assumed they did make a claim without a ticket within the correct time. Their reason for not having the ticket is probably irrelevant in any court, but their case will involve trying to prove the unclaimed winning ticket was theirs. The story doesn't say i... [ More ]

Comment #44

mediabrat — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 00:23:15 GMT

Except we have precedent where a winner was able to collect despite no longer having the winning ticket in their possession. Others have mentioned this as well, so I know I'm not making it up.

I'm not saying these folks should get the million. Frankly, I'm inclined to agree with the majority here that since they don't have the ticket, they don't have a claim. All I'm saying is that if everything else is in order, then maybe they have a case. If you were in their shoes, wouldn't you at least t... [ More ]

Comment #43

Pita Maha — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 19:04:07 GMT

Isn't it kinda late even if they could prove it was their ticket? It's over a year later. I thought you had 6 months to claim?

Besides, it was their own fault. They admitted they were careless by not checking the date of the posted results. It's not as if the website posted incorrect information.

Comment #42

Teddi — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 18:34:11 GMT

I think you're all missing the real point. It doesn't matter if they bought the winning ticket. The rules on every single website states that they have to present the ticket, signed, with the appropriate ID. The lawyer threw the red herring of them being able to prove they bought the winning ticket to distract from the real issue, which is, without the ticket you don't get paid. The lawsuit is nothing but a smoke screen being used to get around the rules. The fact that they were dumb enough not... [ More ]

Comment #41

KY Floyd — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 15:47:19 GMT

Since they regularly bought tickets for each other and their lawyer says the 3 tickets were bought in immediate succession it's pretty unlikely that there was a meaningful time between the sale of the first and third ticket. Even though 3 separate tickets were issued it was probably done as a single terminal transaction, and that would mean that proving conclusively that they bought all 3 tickets is probably very easy.

The real challenge will be the simple rule that the NJ lottery requires th... [ More ]

Comment #40

NJJim — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 01:50:47 GMT

I was about to comment and I saw your post, noise-gate, and I agree, for that reason alone, they do not want to start up all the crazys. It's tough, if it was me I'd be very unhappy, but it has to begin and end with the physical ticket. The fact that they are trying to say it's the Lottery's fault for not changing the number quick enough is a bad choice. You want to garner compassionate support, build social media popularity, go on Ellen, make the Commission see its good public relations to mayb... [ More ]

Comment #39

mypiemaster — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 01:49:39 GMT

Cry me a river. You snooze you lose .

Comment #38

gvpazkn — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 01:20:39 GMT

Too bad, so sad. Throwing out a winning ticket , especially BEFORE the claim period is over, is just plain STUPID!! You don't deserve a judgement in your favor.....

Comment #37

EdG1955 — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 22:16:45 GMT

I keep any tickets I purchase during the year. If you have a taxable winner, you can deduct the losing tickets. Why throw away a good tax deduction if you might need it

Comment #36

Goteki54 — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 19:52:50 GMT

If I was the judge, I would be laughing in their faces LONG TIME!!!! Mr. Cambria was the impatient one who discarded his ticket before waiting for the results of the draw. That's solely on him, cry me a river!!

There has been times here in Maryland where the Maryland Lottery website has been slow in updating, that doesn't mean that I say oh well I probably lost anyways so I destroy my tickets. Sounds like Mr. Cambria realized what a huge mistake he made yet wants the New Jersey Lottery to som... [ More ]

Comment #35

Artist77 — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 11:08:20 GMT

I don't buy the middle of the series claim. Someone could have bought that ticket then these two came back in and decided to buy one more ticket.

Comment #34

mediabrat — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 01:29:12 GMT

Stack makes a good point. It's tempting to say that if you're dumb enough to toss your ticket because you weren't paying attention when you're checking it then you deserve to lose. However, as far as facts go, if the other two tickets that they do have were bought at the same time and place as the missing winner, that's enough evidence to say that it is plausible that they had the winner and they can at least start a case. They might not win, but it's enough to get the ball rolling.

It would... [ More ]

Comment #33

Stack47 — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 18:49:05 GMT

https://www.lotterypost.com/news/74344?q=Store+clerk+accused+of+cheating

If and only if there was a ticket matching five numbers sold at the same store and if they made their claim of discarding the ticket before the expiration date, they may have the beginnings of case. But even if they can prove it was likely they bought the winning ticket, N.J. might have a no ticket, no money law.

Comment #32

Stack47 — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 18:42:07 GMT

The plaintiffs here may not have produced the winning ticket but have tendered two of the three tickets purchased in immediate succession and can prove that they in fact purchased and possessed the original ticket, Logan writes in the lawsuit.

If there was no ticket sold matching five numbers without the bonus number, there is no case. If there was such a ticket sold and was in immediate succession , it depends on N.J. law or if there are any precedents where a prize was award to a player wit... [ More ]

Comment #31

Stack47 — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 18:21:12 GMT

It looks like we're talking about two different things because if the store where they bought their tickets never sold a ticket matching 5 numbers, there is no $ million dollar law suit. If a state lottery can determine where and when a jackpot winning ticket was sold, they also can determine where any 5 number match was sold.

I said they have the beginnings of a case if there is an unclaimed ticket matching five numbers and that doesn't necessarily means a good case . Do you believe they are... [ More ]

Comment #30

Teddi — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 16:03:39 GMT

Well, if you count Willis Willis, they have paid out money without a ticket. But at least in that case there were extenuating circumstances.

Comment #29

Teddi — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 15:57:53 GMT

Ouch

Comment #28

noise-gate — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 00:35:41 GMT

They may have a beginnings of a case Stack- which l may add is going nowhere fast.

Unless there has been an incident in the past where a lottery Commission paid out a large sum of money without a ticket - these guys are chasing smoke. If they did win, it opens up a can of worms.

Comment #27

RJOh — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 00:28:19 GMT

These two guys from New York claim New Jersey had such a ticket that went unclaimed and they want NJ to prove they didn't. Since they are both from NY I wonder why they didn't check the NY website too since both states sell PB. Their problem isn't for NJ to prove no such ticket exits but to prove they brought it. Tickets go unclaimed all the time but states have no obligation to give the prize to any one with a good story.

Comment #26

winwi5 — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 23:46:51 GMT

You know this story is probably true my mom threw away a pb ticket last year and she won $1 million dollars on the ticket.

The lottery office can look at video and clearly see you on the video, however if you don't produce the ticket you don't get the money.

We tore up the house looking for the ticket but she knew she threw it away some people just don't check their tickets

Comment #25

dallascowboyfan — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 21:42:20 GMT

WOW you had a $1 million dollar ticket in your hand

Comment #24

haymaker — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 20:57:34 GMT

This story is not found on the Jersey lottery website, wonder why ? LMAO

Comment #23

Teddi — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 20:39:19 GMT

They still don't have the beginnings of a case because the clinchers are:

1. They didn't have the sense to check the date of the numbers on the website. Unless they can prove there's a law that the lottery websites are required to update the numbers within a certain timeframe they have no case. And as long as the date of the draw of the numbers posted is there, they can't blame anyone but themselves.

2. It's their responsibility to keep, and present, a signed ticket to the lottery commissi... [ More ]

Comment #22

Get paid — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 20:02:39 GMT

No Ticket, No Money: Remember willis willis. I hold on to tickets,until the next day. To make sure if they are winners or not.

Comment #21

Stack47 — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 19:07:00 GMT

On March 23, 2013, Onyango bought three tickets, keeping two for himself and turning over a third to Cambria. The friends say they can prove the ticket that went to Cambria is the winning one because it was the middle ticket of three they purchased that day. Onyango kept the other two tickets, which include their serial numbers.

The story doesn't mention a 5 + 0 winning ticket that wasn't validated, but if there is one, the lottery knows exactly when and where it was bought. Without one, the... [ More ]

Comment #20

ThatScaryChick — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 16:17:18 GMT

I find it funny that they only tossed one ticket not all three and it just happens to be the winning ticket . Hey you never know though, they might win their case. lol

But let's say hypothetically they do win. How much money are they going to get after attorney fees, taxes and splitting the win amongst the both of them? Probably not a lot. So this should probably be a lesson to them to not toss their tickets in the garbage before they actually take the time to check them.

Comment #19

fwlawrence — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 16:12:20 GMT

They must be suffering in Suffern

Comment #18

haymaker — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 15:11:43 GMT

Onyango owes Cambria a half million but Cambria doesn't deserve it, he should have checked the tix. himself.

Jersey can tell these guys to go jam it !

It's true that Jersey can be slow to update their site, everyone that uses the site knows that,

but the dates are there and plain to see.

In any case I hope the c-store gets their prize for selling the winner, don't try and weasel outta that JERSEY

Comment #17

sully16 — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 13:15:39 GMT

Yikes, they have the losing tickets

Comment #16

Gleno — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 13:08:52 GMT

Nice try guys but if you did not check the winning tickets with another retailer or at a latter time and threw out the winning ticket, you lose.

Pedro Q who won the Powerball in March 2013 proves the streets here are sometimes paved with gold.

Comment #15

dr65 — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 12:28:38 GMT

No ticket, no payout. What do people think? How can you collect on assumptions and no winning ticket to show?

People are crazy and will try anything. What does ticket order have to do with anything

Comment #14

maringoman — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 05:37:09 GMT

The funny thing is I've almost done this at least once. You look at the website soon after the draw and because losing is so common, you quickly look at the results and see the ticket is a loser and toss it. But I'm never in a hurry to toss my tickets. I gotta recheck them a few days later

These NJ friends will not win the case especially because it's a game run by MUSL. Had it been a state game they might have had a small chance.

Comment #13

noise-gate — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 05:30:08 GMT

How about this scenario RJOH : They Did purchase 3 tickets, they discard the winning one, someone picks that one out of the trash or wherever and cashes it.

Would these two have a case in telling the court that the ticket they threw away was found and cashed by this person?- the answer would be, if you did not sign the back of the ticket, you lose!

There is nothing in this story that tells us whether they signed the back of the ticket or not, in any event they up a creek without a paddle

Comment #12

Teddi — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 04:24:53 GMT

Brilliant point. They just happened to keep the two losing tickets for over a year, but the ticket with the winning numbers is the one they threw away. Sure, that makes sense.

How stupid does a person have to be to not check the date of the numbers? How many times can people in this country bring lawsuits against others for their own stupidity. I pray to God that they are made to pay the fees for the defense once they lose.

Comment #11

RJOh — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 03:36:52 GMT

Not only would any attorney taking this case expect half of the winnings but also a non refundable large deposit just in case he lost.

Comment #10

noise-gate — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 03:29:38 GMT

A good Attorney would stay away from this case, unless these clowns promised him Half.

Comment #9

RJOh — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 03:22:06 GMT

It may turn out the third one was cashed and the two losers were discarded by the real winner. It makes no sense to discard the winner and keep the losers.

Comment #8

noise-gate — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 03:14:06 GMT

Having the TWO tickets does not translate into having the 3rd winning one.

Remember that scene in one of the Indiana Jones movies where he throws a German officer out of the Zeppelin for having No Ticket! No proof, no cash.l cannot see any court siding with these guys.

Comment #7

grwurston — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 02:35:20 GMT

I just clicked on the NJ lottery website winning numbers page. For each game it has the name of the game, then says current winning numbers , with the day of the week, the date, and the number. Apparently they didn't bother to look at the day and date. If they still have the other two tickets, they should be able to prove they had it. However the fact that they don't, is pure stupidity on their part.

Another question is, even if the lottery agrees that it was their ticket, would the lottery c... [ More ]

Comment #6

noise-gate — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 01:44:46 GMT

No Lottery Commission is going to go ahead and honor this missing ticket - it would open up a flood gate of other silly complaints from lottery players.

If these guys tossed their ticket, how is that the Commissions fault?

That's like rear ending someone and complaining that the reason you did is because the person in front of you...Stopped

Comment #5

LottoMetro — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 00:46:33 GMT

Did they consult with Mr. Shaske before filing this lawsuit

Comment #4

Drenick1 — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 00:45:17 GMT

Comment #3

Nikkicute — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 00:19:47 GMT

Unfortunately no ticket, no money, this isn't Canada! lol kinda sucks

Comment #2

BellasBMWLucki — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 00:19:28 GMT

LOL

i will be following this story though. i remember this significantly huge jackpot

by Mr.Pedro Quesada think his name es.In any event,the plaintiff is suing,so i will await to see

obtuse or not on their end,i still want to see the adjudication on this lawsuit,pretty interesting.

adios

Comment #1

PERDUE — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 00:12:20 GMT

they're too frickin lazy to get the printed results and check their numbers, they carelessly toss a winning ticket and wants to cry foul....

these two should be posted on world's dumbest lottery players along with many others.

the state doesn't owe these two morons squat.

ok.....

maybe the state does owe them a swift kick in the butt.

Friends sue NJ Lottery, saying they're owed $1 million for discarded ticket

Lottery Post — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 23:43:41 GMT

Two friends who claim they bought a Powerball ticket worth $1 million at a Mahwah convenience store last year sued the New Jersey Lottery Commission yesterday, claiming they tossed out the ticket because the state was too slow to update its website with the winning numbers.

Salvatore Cambria and Erik Onyango claim in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Trenton that they picked five of six numbers drawn on March 23, 2013, the same day a Passaic deli owner scored the $338 million Powerbal... [ More ]