Game sales should resume next week
Includes video report
The Connecticut Lottery has halted the sales and payouts for its 5 Card Cash game after it learned some retailers might have been cheating the system.
According to Connecticut Lottery officials, some retailers might have intentionally manipulated the reporting mechanism on the lottery terminals for their own personal gain. Officials did not say which retailers or exactly how the terminals were being manipulated.
The game was suspended to install new software to enhance the security features of the game, the CT Lottery said in a release on Thursday night.
"Integrity is paramount, and this temporary suspension, an unusual step, allows us to bring the game back in a very short period of time," Anne Noble, CT Lottery president and CEO, said.
The game allows players a chance at winning a progressive jackpot by having a winning "hand" of cards, like in a poker game.
The cost of a standard ticket is $2, but players have an option of going "All in" for $3, and a chance a greater winnings. A daily drawing gives players a second chance at winning a jackpot of up to $255,555.
The Department of Consumer Protection is investigating the incidents.
Players with winning 5 Card Cash tickets will be able to cash them when sales resume, according to CT Lottery officials. That could be as early as next week, they said.
No other CT Lottery games are affected.
VIDEO: Watch the news report
NOooooo you don't say.....
Please...no Patel's!!
This cheating is probably with the second chance jackpot, but the KY version of 5 Card Cash had problems with clerks cashing instant winners without asking players. The problem was the player never knew the value of the "instant win" making it possible for clerks to short change players.
Shane! Say it isn't so Shane!
Watching the video makes me wonder if the clerks disabled the terminal speaker, i.e. reporting mechanism, so players couldn't hear the "You're a winner!" on winning tickets, then they would just keep the cash.
I complained about this in my earlier post about Idaho Lottery's instant win component on this year's raffle. Retailers can cheat on just about any instant win game. Some of them have the radio up loud so you can't hear. Others turn the sound off the terminal. Here in Idaho, they're not required to hand you a receipt, so you don't know how much you won. Like a previous poster already mentioned, they could hand you $5 and tell you congrats when you really won $100. You'd never know the difference.
If lotteries want to do instant wins, they need to have you put your ticket # online like for the 2nd chance draws or scan it on a phone app and at that time declare it an instant winner or not. That's the ONLY way to keep some retailers from cheating.
That's likely it. PA Lottery ages ago offered a terminal game Lucky for Life, which featured a $10 instant win component, which too would trigger a special sound from the terminal. Many players have difficulty with multiplay games, including instant tickets with a separate bonus play area; overlooking that part and tossing in the trash.
Fastplay terminal tickets, which many states, such as NJ, offer, come with similar dangers and can be easily gamed by a retailer. All the more reason to play from a self-service terminal. While there are risks of malfunction, I nearly exclusively play using such machines, and the overall experience has been much better...
I can see exactly what I'm playing / play the way I want, have physical control over the ticket the entire time, and know exactly what the winners are worth; redeem myself for more play and/or voucher that can be redeemed at other lottery locations, including self-service terminals.
The bar for being a lottery retailer seemingly has never been lower. Not that cheating is anything new though. I recall many, many years ago, PA Lottery retailers could check instant tickets ($1s and maybe $2s, though not sure those were around yet) in bulk without scratching them, and take out some winners for themselves. Took awhile for the PA Lottery to fully resolve the issue by adding a 3 digit security code that had to be scratched off to cash.
Likewise, many lotteries, while aware of the risks to players, likely won't do much until the negative publicity becomes too large to ignore. In the meantime, players are relegated to taking precautionary measures, including being selective in where and how they play, and keeping a close eye on what's going on.
Fastplay tickets present a unique problem in that a retailer can openly decline to sell the ticket. A crooked retailer will print the fastplay ticket(s) before accepting payment, and then if it's a winner, refuse payment. The player can't claim the ticket was stolen, because the player hadn't yet paid for it. Good luck getting the lottery to payout in such an instance. Anyone doubting that, write your local lottery and ask what their procedure is in such a scenario. Fastplay is best avoided, or at minimum, play from a self-service terminal.
Rambling on. The ultimate solution is on-line lottery and subscriptions offered directly by the lottery. That saves on retailer commissions, less chance of players being cheated, and more types of games can be offered.
Funny they can suspend a game that fast because there's too many winners but won't suspend a State when they don't pay its players.
Is this old news. https://youtu.be/JD5jPuFT9T8
Posted this in the other thread. But here is how the scam works.
This is what i think is the real scam with this game.
I noticed a few months ago these tickets started having a bold text warning on the top about verifying the time your ticket was printed.
You can get an instant win with this game when its printed for matching a set number of cards. I believe lotto clerks were printing lets say 5 tickets knowing that the odds are there will be an instant win and them putting the winners aside for themselves and handing the non instant win losers to unsuspecting customers when they purchased a ticket.
So lets say some elderly lady orders a 5 card cash. Shes not paying attention or doesnt notice that the machine didn't print a ticket and the clerk hands her a losing ticket.
The amount of clerks here in CT that try and scam you is unreal. I don't hand over any money until I inspect my tickets.
Temptation meets the weakness of Human Nature and the lack of Self-Control...
Any one can avoid being short changed on the win. All you have to do is ask for a receipt when you cash the ticket. I would love to see the clerk squirm and stammer when after he's paid you, you say, "Oh, can I have a receipt for that?" And then you ask, "Where's the rest of the $$$?"
That wouldn't change the ratio of winners to losers, so that's not what's happening. The state noticed the problem because there were more winners than expected.
Finally found out what was going on. When the clerk hits the "Print Ticket" button, there's a delay in printing the actual ticket and the machine will instantly say if the "Instant Win" is a winner or loser. If the "Instant Win" is a loser they can void the ticket before it's printed. It probably has to be done very quickly, so if you were friends with the clerk you made out well.
They removed the game so it might not come back.