Texas Lottery

- Part One of Two -

All About

The Big Ticket #2122



Is This Texas Lottery
Scratch Game Deceptive?

You decide ....

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brought to you by
The Lotto Report

Originally Posted: March 12, 2019
Revised: March 30, 2019 - Added links to
You Tube Video & Dallas Morning News Story

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Editorial & Opinions by Dawn Nettles
Publisher of The Lotto Report



- Part Two - Posted April 3,2019
An update to this story ... Click here


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A Special Thanks and An Apology

Before I get into this story, let me thank those of you who
called to tell me about this ticket. I had a number of messages
on my recorder and I regret to say that I did not return any calls.
It wasn't until Saturday, March 9, that I answered my phone
and it was a loyal follower calling to report this game to me.

Please let me explain why I didn't respond sooner ... my
husband had neck surgery on Feb 14th which was suppose
to be a 2 or 3 day hospital stay but complications set in and
he ended up having an unexpected second surgery on the 18th.
His hospital stay was extended to a week. The second surgery
made his overall recovery much harder and most of my
time has been devoted to him - and still is. As a result,
I hadn't looked at a scratch ticket since early February
and this game began on Feb 18th. My biggest regret is not
alerting my readers to the problem with this ticket sooner.

So many thanks for your alerts and please accept my
apologies for not returning calls, emails and not
posting a story before now. And please, continue to
call when you question something. I truly
appreciate your help.

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So What's The Definition of a "Deceptive Ticket"
In My Humble Opinion?


Simply put, a scratch ticket is "deceptive" when the instructions do
not correctly indicate where a player is to scratch to find either his
"Winning Numbers/Symbols" or his "Your Numbers/Symbols."
I've seen tickets where numbers were printed in locations that
a player would never scratch. And I can assure you, when
the game closed, the unclaimed prize figures clearly indicated
there was a problem on those tickets.

VIP - You have no way of knowing that a ticket is deceptive
by what you see when you buy it. You have no way of knowing
that the actual directions on the face of the ticket are misleading.
If the directions are not accurate, then players ultimately lose.
What type may appear below the latex does NOT matter because
players don't see that unless they "accidentally" scratch it off.

Using scans of The Big Ticket, I'm going to walk you through the
importance of having clear and precise directions on scratch tickets.
Then you will see how easy it is for players to err in playing scratch
tickets. You'll also have a better understanding of ONE of the
reasons
the unclaimed prize fund is unbelievably high every year.
Players, unknowingly, discard winning tickets and the state
(Texas) keeps the prize money you actually won but didn't collect.

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Texas Lottery Scratch Game 2122

Here is the ticket in question. As you can see, there are
four separate games to play. Upper left (Quick 6's)
and right (Wild 7's), lower left (Funky 8's) and
lower right (Neon 9's).

It is $10 ticket and started Feb 18, 2019.

Now let's look at each game individually.

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Game 1

Exhibit 2


On Game 1, the player is instructed to scratch off
the latex on each of the stars found above the printed
instructions. In this game, players are hoping to
find a Money Bag or a "6" to win.

FYI - Do understand, no where on any scratch ticket will you
ever read in words to "scratch the stars" or whatever the
design may be. It is simply known. Sorta like Tom Cruise
pointed out in Top Gun that the manuals don't tell you
where the "Mess Hall" is located on the base either!

So let's scratch the first two stars ... OK?

Exhibit 3

Well, that worked out well. I scratched the "latex star"
and my symbols were there and in place as expected.
Unfortunately, I didn't reveal a "Money Bag" or a "6" symbol.
But gee, I still have four more "stars" to scratch off!

NOTE
: I also scratched off the the prize amounts
but most players do NOT uncover prize
amounts unless they reveal a winning symbol.

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Game 2

Exhibit 4

Here's Game 2. As you see, the "Winning Numbers" are
shown to be under the three "$ Symbols." (It is hard
to recognize that the symbol is a "$" but that's what it is)

Then "Your Numbers" are under the ten latex
covered "Stars." Let's see ...

Exhibit 5

So far so good. I scratched where the ticket indicated
for me to scratch and my numbers were revealed
as one would expect. So let's move on to Game 3.

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Game 3 - The Problem Begins Here ...

Exhibit 6

Exhibit 6 is an overall glance at Game 3 on the Big Ticket.

Exhibit 7

This game is a traditional scratch game. At a glance, you see there
should be "5 Winning Numbers" under the five latex "$ circles."

Then below the metallic line you see the words "Your Numbers."
Under those words, there's five "dollar bill" latex covered symbols
per line and there's four lines total. (See Exhibits 6 or 10 to see
the 4 lines.) This means players have 20 numbers all total - 20
chances to match one of the 5 "Winning Numbers."

So let's scratch ....

Exhibit 8

Ooops, a player would think. It looks like these numbers are a little off
center. Ah, OK, we'll just scratch a little lower on the winning numbers
symbols so we can see the whole number. Here goes ...

Exhibit 9

OK ... looks like the "Winning Numbers" are considerably lower
than indicated - meaning the numbers are not centered inside
the latex "$ circles" - but I can live with that. No problem.
And it appears "my numbers" are inside the "dollar bills"
for the most part. So let's scratch all of my numbers now
and I always like to start at the bottom of the ticket ...

Exhibit 10

Oh no, look at this. I got screwed. My ticket doesn't have any
numbers below the latex dollar signs on my last (4th) line.
I only have 15 numbers - not the 20 like indicated.

OK, OK, I know. You want to see the whole bottom
half now????? OK, OK, here it is. I'll show you. We
don't want anyone calling this fake news!

Exhibit 11

I'm thinking I got screwed and based on my past experiences
|with the Texas Lottery, I'm also thinking there's not a damn
thing I can do about it. So I, like all other players,
simply throw my losing ticket away in sheer disgust.

As you just saw ... I scratched this ticket EXACTLY
as the ticket indicated. I uncovered my "Winning Numbers"
then I uncovered my "Your Numbers." Few people will
scratch all latex off on their tickets - players only scratch
the designated areas and the lottery KNOWS it.

For the People of Texas who purchased this ticket,
this is where the story ends for them. It was just
another loser that was thrown in the trash can.

How very sad that people can get ripped off like this by a
state agency. Especially after you see what's next ...

Now For the Really Bad News
The bad news is that the first line of numbers that I
scratched off and THOUGHT were my winning numbers
were NOT really the winning numbers. Meaning, when I
was checking my ticket to see if any numbers matched,
I wasn't even searching for the REAL winning numbers.

I felt betrayed when I realized I had been misled.

The "Winning Numbers" on this ticket are actually
located above the designated/marked area.

As you will see in Exhibit 12 below, there's actually
TWO lines of numbers above the words "Your Numbers"
even though that's NOT what the ticket indicates and is not
what any player would expect to find in looking at the ticket.

Exhibit 12

Hmm, this looks like I have 10 winning numbers
and only 15 "Your Numbers"

But that's not so. The first two lines you see in Exhibit 12 ...
Line 1 is actually the "Winning Numbers"
Line 2 is actually five of "Your Numbers"

FYI - If by chance I had scratched higher on the ticket
and actually found the winning numbers at first, then
I most likely would not have found the 2nd line of
"Your Numbers" because, as you can clearly see, they
are located above the designated scratch area
to find "Your Numbers."

See Exhibit 8 for a refresher on scratching the ticket as directed.

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Game 4

The Deceptions Continue ...

Exhibit 13

OK, here we go again. Exhibit 13 is the 4th game at a glance.

Exhibit 14


Because the play directions on Exhibit 13 are not
legible, here's how to play the game. Two ways to win ...
either match one of your number to a winning number or
reveal a "9".

Exhibit 15

This game is just like Game 3 meaning there appears to be
5 winning numbers and 20 numbers for the player to
scratch off and hope that one matches a winning number.

So, let's scratch this game and see what we have. Here goes ...

Hmm ... Again the winning numbers are not centered in the "$ circle "
symbol ... rather the numbers are located considerably lower than
the designated scratch area. But, it does appear "Your Numbers"
are in the general vicinity of the designated area - at least on
the first line of "Your Numbers!"

I only scratched two winning numbers and I started at the top of the "$ circle."
Please note that the winning numbers are ABOVE the "YOUR NUMBERS"
area therefore, I perceive these to be my winning numbers.

Like Game 3, I only have 3 lines of "Your Numbers" which indicates I got
screwed again! The ticket tells me that I have 20 numbers, but where are they?

Of course, the biggest screwing comes in that I'm not
really looking at the winning numbers so I'm couldn't win at
all unless I find a '9' in those 15 numbers!

Bottom line, Game 4 is the same as Game 3. Let me show you ...

I want to point out ONE more thing of significance.
Compare the position of the 1st number in lines 1, 2, & 3.
Specifically numbers 15, 18 and 25. They are indented -
each with a different left margin measurement. This indention
looks like a design of placement for the winning numbers.

It truly looks like you have a total of 10 winning
numbers especially in light of the fact that the printed
words "YOUR NUMBERS" is still highly legible after
uncovering those first two lines of numbers. Seeing the
words "Your Numbers" means that the players numbers
should fall below those words as they do on
most ALL scratch tickets.

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Summary

Folks, a friend said that in the REAL world, this would be considered
Theft by Deception but in the Lottery World - well, who knows what it's called!

It is my opinion that this ticket should be pulled immediately but I suspicion
it won't be pulled. I say this because this is NOT the first time I reported
a deceptive ticket to the Commission - in fact - I took deceptive tickets
to the Commissioners to scratch off and they failed to uncover all chances
to win the on the tickets and the TLC continued to sell those tickets.
Now this was many years ago so maybe things might change.

But I am pretty sure they'll stall in making a decision to pull it while
continuing to sell these tickets. Then they'll be smiling all the way
to the bank with the Unclaimed Prize monies earned solely
by deceiving the public AGAIN.

I almost forgot ... And Gary Grief will have an even bigger smile
when he releases the Press Release showing FY19 sales figures!

Two Very Important Tidbits ....
For 3 days I've been asking store personnel if they've
had any complaints on the Big Ticket. Unanimously
the answer has been that players are complaining
that there no winners in the game. Imagine that!
(This makes me very angry)

Finally, when the Texas Lottery receives a new
shipment of scratch tickets at the warehouse in
Austin, TLC staff pulls packs and scratches the
tickets to test them. I would love to know
how this ticket passed ANY test.

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Let's look at this again - A refresher of what you just saw ....

The first line of numbers shown here are NOT the winning
numbers
even though it appears they are. And the areas
were
scratched EXACTLY as the instructions indicated.
The winning numbers are actually higher up on the ticket.

And remember, IF I had scratched higher in the first place,
then I never would have found the second line of numbers that
are actually the players numbers. This is a no win situation.


Need I say more?

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What can you do and/or what should you do?

1. Call the Texas Lottery and nicely ask them to pull the game.

2. Call your State Representative and Senator to tell them about this ticket.
Demand that the TLC STOP selling THIS deceptive ticket immediately.
You can send them a link to this story to explain the problem if you like.

3. Call your local reporters and tell them about this ticket. Maybe they
will spread the word to UNSUSPECTING consumers.

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- Part Two -
An update to this story ... Click here

A Must See ....
You Tube Video Showing Texas' "Big Ticket"

Posted March 28, 2019 -Click here

A Must Read ....
Dave Lieber, Watchdog, Dallas Morning News

Questions Texas Lottery's Motive For Selling Deceptive Ticket.
Posted March 28, 2019 - (Appeared Friday, March 29, 2019)
Click here

 

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The Lawyers Blog
Updated June 23, 2020 - Mark Lanier, the lead
appellate attorney for the lottery players in the
Fun 5's case, won a $2.1 BILLION dollar
appeal in the Johnson & Johnson case. WOW!
No Sovereign Immunity for G-Tech/IGT.
Texas Supreme Court says, they can't lie
to us and get away with it. Our cases will be
heard in the courts. Click here

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Email

Texas Lotto Report
(All About the Texas Lottery)
Dawn Nettles
P. O. Box 495033
Garland, Texas 75049-5033
(972) 686-0660
(972) 681-1048 (Fax)