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  • Lottery

    A few things I wish people knew about scratch off tickets.

    1) All the tickets are the f-ing same. You don't need to take 10 minutes deciding and holding up the line. The one where you match 3 numbers is the same friggin thing as the one where you match 3 geometric shapes.

    2) These are pre-printed tickets. They are not at all random. Just because you don't know whats there doesn;'t mean its not over and done with. No little good luck charm, or what day of the week it is, or a full moon, are going to change whats already been printed on the ticket. If its a loser, it was a loser 6 months ago when it was printed, it's been a loser every single day and it's still going to be a loser when its sitting here tomorrow. Unless some loser buys it.

    3) If you're going to buy 50 tickets, buy 50 tickets. don't buy one ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket and then another ticket.

    4) Do not save up all of your damn winners from the past ten years and cash them in all at once. Little hint: If you've already been a pain in the ass all day, I will do your tickets right then and there, and make everyone else wait so they can give you dirty looks.

    5) There is no way I am scanning the ticket you found on the floor of your pickup truck. I'm not going to accept the one you found while digging out a sewer, either.

    6) The games all expire at some point. Don't complain to me if machine rejects the ticket you bought in 1956.

    7) I am not going to play your ticket for you. If you bought one of the more complicated ones and can't figure it out, tough shit. I'll explain it once, but I am not going to sit there and scratch for you. And I don't have time to scan every ticket through the machine just to check if its a winner. Every time I do that it resets the machine and it has to redial and connect to the state server or something. It takes like 5 minutes per ticket.

    8) Oh, you ripped the barcode off it? I can't scan it and I can't read the numbers to manually enter it. You fail.

    9) No ma'am, we do not sell powerball tickets here. Just like we didn't yesterday when you called. Just like we didn't the day before, either. Or last week. Or every day that you've asked for the past 3 years.

    10) I hate lottery.

  • #2
    Quoth DrFaroohk View Post
    7) Every time I do that it resets the machine and it has to redial and connect to the state server or something. It takes like 5 minutes per ticket.
    I agree with everything you said. I really hate lottery too. But this one confused me.

    I can scan everyone, If it's more then what they paid for it, (Ie dollar tickets that are dollar winners, or ten dollar tickets are ten dollar tickets etc), it'll scan and automatically pop out the amount. More then that, I have to enter a four-digit code that's somewhere on the play area. Or enter the long code. No waiting for five minutes per ticket for me.
    Military Spouse Support.
    http://www.customerssuck.com/board/group.php?groupid=45
    Plaidman's Minions: Telecom_Goddess: Dungeon Minion

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    • #3
      Yeah, we have this ancient machine that's on a dial-up modem and is really slow. Any winner that's for 20 dollars and over, or any ticket that's not a winner, or sometimes just random, it'll just reset itself and have to redial. Granted, that's not the customers fault, but these are regulars and they know how it works.

      Comment


      • #4
        Quoth DrFaroohk View Post
        1) All the tickets are the f-ing same.
        I would have people who knew when the distributor came in and would call to see if "their" tickets came. Pathetic.

        Quoth DrFaroohk View Post
        2) These are pre-printed tickets. <snip>over and done with. No little good luck charm,
        Although you can use this to your advantage - "Hey, the last one's always lucky, buy it too." What really irritates me about this one is how so many SC's are very cocky about how "good" they are about playing scratch offs, but NOT ONE that I ever asked knew what the state of the payoffs were - in other words, they'd buy at a game with three $25,000 top prizes totally unaware that those three tickets were already paid out. Yeah, you iz teh odds wizard!

        Quoth DrFaroohk View Post
        3) If you're going to buy 50 tickets, buy 50 tickets. don't buy one ticket and then another ticket and then
        Or more likely: buy one ticket, scratch it off right there at my freshly wiped down counter, lose, buy one ticket, scratch it off right there at my freshly wiped down counter, win, use that dollar to.......... there're places for that kind of time squandering behavior - they're called CASINOS!!!!

        Quoth DrFaroohk View Post
        4) Do not save up all of your damn winners from the past ten years and cash <snip> make everyone else wait so they can give you dirty looks.
        While saying to them cheerfully so they don't know it's sarcasm, "Sorry folks, we've got a big winner here!"

        Quoth DrFaroohk View Post
        6) The games all expire at some point. Don't complain to me if machine rejects
        For me, these often came in #4's pile o' winners

        Quoth DrFaroohk View Post
        7) I am not going to play your ticket for you. If you bought one of the more complicated ones and can't figure it out, tough
        I'd explain that I don't know how, I don't play scratch offs. The boss made it clear that it wasn't part of my job description to learn it either. If I didn't have to provide instructions for frozen foods, or window cleaner, or anything else in the store, why lotto?

        Quoth DrFaroohk View Post
        8) Oh, you ripped the barcode off it? I can't scan it and I can't read the numbers to manually enter it. You fail.
        Nor will I guess at the verification number. Barcode scans just fine and says "Winner" but you got a little too excited and rubbed one of the four code numbers off? Tough.

        One small bonus during my time in lotto hell. There used to be a ISL office about four blocks away. Bad bar codes, expired tickets etc. could wander down there. Then about two years into my clerkdom, they closed the office and I got to tell SC's that the closest office was downtown - at LEAST a forty minute drive and rarely less than $10.00 in parking. Of course someone who is spending 4.17 dollars to win 1.00 dollar isn't likely to make that kind of weighty decision correctly.
        Last edited by sms001; 09-01-2007, 10:05 AM. Reason: Match plurals.

        Comment


        • #5
          Speaking of verification numbers....I hate that pissy look I get from customers when I hand them back their ticket, give them a penny, and ask them to please scratch off the remaining numbers (I do this so that if the ticket was printed wrong and the numbers come right off, they can't say that _I_ screwed it up....)...stupid asses.

          Comment


          • #6
            A few weeks ago our store lost power. The number of customers who came in ans wanted to purchase or cash ticket sat the at time was staggering. No, the lottery machine is not on the generator, it is not considered and emergency need. The coin star and the bottle machines are not on the generator either. If they hand only read the big hand written sign by each door and smaller one by each register, they would have realized that in addition to the lotto, bottle room, coin star, red box being down all the perishable food depts are closed also. No, we can't control the idiot on his phone who wrapped his car around a telephone pole.

            Comment


            • #7
              Quoth DrFaroohk View Post
              And I don't have time to scan every ticket through the machine just to check if its a winner.
              Not only that. In Mass, if you scan more than x number of non-winning scratch tickets in y time......well, actually I forget exactlywhat happens, but it causes the machine to become locked out or something like that. Plus if the lottery people are in a bad mood they might call down to yell at you for not following the rules (yes, it was an official lottery regulation that you aren't supposed to scan non-winning scratch tickets). At least it used to be this way; it might have changed since then.

              During the relatively short time I worked lottery at the supermarket. I can't tell you hpw many people would want me to scan a pile of non-winners. I'd hve to manually check them all, then scan only the few-and-far-between winners. Then they'd get pissed, and insist I could indeed scan the losers. Sorry, these are scratch tickets, not draw game tickets (those you could scan to your hearts content), so SOD OFF!
              "We guard the souls in heaven; we don't horse-trade them!" Samandrial in Supernatural

              RIP Plaidman.

              Comment


              • #8
                I'm a regular scratch ticket player, but I'm not going to say anything in defense of other players, because I know there are many morons out there.

                Probably the most annoying thing from my point of view, is when on of the Lottorons will slip their 5 or 10 or whatever dollars into the machine, then stand there and stare at it for a moment, select one ticket from one game, stare, select one more from another game, lather, rinse, repeat. At some point they'll usually look like my way, and I'll just be staring off into space, acting patient as hell, when in reality, I can see enough of them out of the corner of my eye, to see the "duh" look on their face as they look at me, and I'm thinikng "hurry the f**k up!" Bonus Lottoron points for them, if they stand there and scratch their ticket(s) at the machine, when I want to be able to buy mine, and get the hell out of the store. In reality though, this doesn't happen very often, and I can usually just walk right up to the machine, so it's not a big deal.

                Now, as for the type of lottery customer that I am.

                For whatever reason, for the past couple of years or so, I have bought most of my tickets from the grocery store where I do all of my shopping. There's a C-store right next door to it, ans both are across the street from where I live, so both are about equally convenient. The G-store has the scratch machine, the C-store the under counter setup. Once I select any given game, if it's "been good to me" I usually stick with that for awhile, so at the machine, I feed my $$$ in, and quickly make my selection. At the under counter set up, I try to spot my game as quickly as possible, and give the game name, (admittedly, lately, I often don't have the name on the tip of my tongue, so will otherwise describe the ticket. Basicallly a moot point though, as I said above I buy most form the machine at the G-store.)

                I can't even remember when I last scratched "on-site". I generally scratch them after I get home, or I frequently will buy, or "reinvest" winning tickets on my way to work, and will scratch them at the bus stop, as I wait for my bus. One reason I don't scratch at the place of purchase, is that I don't want to leave a mess of the latex crap for someone else to clean up. At times over the years I might be visiting freinds and maybe grab a ticket or two when picking up the beer to bring along, I'd scratch outside, or maybe in the garage, or if inside the house over the kitchen garbage, where it's unlikely to leave a mess.

                About the only time I would scratch at the place of purchase,was when I used to regurlarly visit a tavern, and I'd scratch at the bar. I figured there, it was expected. Even so, I'd try to clean up my own mess if possible, or at least take a losing ticket and scrape the latex crap into one pile to make it easy for the bartender to clean up with a couple swipes of the bar rag. I would also try to keep any winners in an obviously separate pile than the losers, and would try to keep the winners out of any beer puddles on the bar.

                In any case, I generally will scratch away enough to expose most of the playing surface, but especially the three, in my States case, "Vallidation" numbers that are distinguished by seperate little squares surrounding each of them. I double check my tickets visually myself, so I'm not one of those bring in a ton to be scanned to see which few are winners. (I just wish for a "ton" to bring in that I know are winners! ) The only exception might be is if it's a new to me game, in a new to me format, that isn't as simple as matching numbers or basic symbols. But, I try to stick mostly to those familiar to me formats, just so my brain doesn't hurt as much trying to figure it out.

                Another way I can easily seperate winners and losers, is that I pretty much know the three letter codes that appear on each ticket, and can tell from that the amount won, if any, or if it's s loser.

                FWIW, I know it's a "tax on the stupid". But, hell, it's about the only vice I have anymore. I've never smoked, done drugs (tried pot a couple times 20 plus years ago) and rarely even drink anymore. I usually plunk about twenty bucks into the machine each payday, and "play that out", cashing in any winners, and "reinvseting" just about anything around ten dollars or under, and doing a combo of that, and cashback, with larger winners.

                I actually do pretty fair, getting a decent amount of one to five dollar winners, the occasional ten to twenties, and it seems about every couple of months, a fifty dollar winner. The most I've won, was $2,500.00 a few years back, on a two dollar game.

                So anyway, I just try to not be a Lottoron, and try to have a little bit of fun with the scratch tickets. I do however, have a great deal of sympathy for the posters here, that have to deal with the actual Lottorons, on a daily basis!

                Mike
                Meow.........

                Comment


                • #9
                  Quoth Dave1982 View Post
                  Not only that. In Mass, if you scan more than x number of non-winning scratch tickets in y time......well, actually I forget exactlywhat happens, but it causes the machine to become locked out or something like that. Plus if the lottery people are in a bad mood they might call down to yell at you for not following the rules (yes, it was an official lottery regulation that you aren't supposed to scan non-winning scratch tickets). At least it used to be this way; it might have changed since then.
                  As far as I can tell, the limit on scanning non-winning tickets is to prevent some unscrupulous character from blindly searching through a book of unscratched instant tickets looking for winners, while leaving the unbought-yet-claimed winning tickets in the book with the losers. In Massachusetts, it works something like this: if you scan one or two losing tickets, you have to enter a three-digit check code (normally used for scanning in winning tickets worth more than $15), and then are given a warning. If you scan in two or three losing tickets, the machine henceforth forces you to manually enter said check code for all winning tickets, whether they're worth $1 or $100. Any more than three, you're liable to get a call from the lottery commission concerning your actions.

                  At the store I work at, the check-code penalty has only occurred two times while I've been there, both times as a result of my boss screwing up before I got there. As you can probably imagine, this sort of situation can be pure hell, especially when the Lottery Lingerers start showing up, and they almost always do on those nights...
                  Goofy music!
                  Old tech junk!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Quoth JustaCashier View Post
                    FWIW, I know it's a "tax on the stupid". But, hell, it's about the only vice I have anymore. I've never smoked,
                    Huge difference between entertaining yourself with "$20.00 a paycheck" and being a SC Mike

                    Quoth AdamAnt316 View Post
                    As far as I can tell, the limit on scanning non-winning tickets is to prevent some unscrupulous character from blindly :
                    All those years dealing with them and I never even thought of that. I guess the overnight person COULD just pull a book and start scanning. I know I was never warned off of scanning losers, so I wonder what Illinois does to prevent it. (Probably the same, I just never encountered it.)

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Wow. Just wow. I bow to you.

                      Everything you said is completely true and I totally relate because lottery tickets annoy the HELL out of me and I have to deal with them all the time.

                      Most annoying thing is when people buy a couple. Then they win, say, £10. They spend that on more. Then more. Then more. Then more. And they'll keep going until they have no money left. And when they're gambling like their life depends on it, they're in and out of the store CONSTANTLY choosing tickets, cashing them in, choosing tickets, cashing them in...GAH!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Quoth DrFaroohk View Post
                        If you're going to buy 50 tickets, buy 50 tickets.
                        Not the sixty-six that you suggested they bought. That's right out.
                        "I call murder on that!"

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I have a guy come in almost every day driving a BMW. He buys $20 scratch offs like crazy. I've seen him drop almost $240 in scratch offs and barely break even

                          He even complains that he's won big before but doesn't at our store.

                          He's a car salesman if you're wondering...drives a different BMW to the store every day...straight off the lot...without an inspection sticker and "DEALER" plates on the thing. I don't know how much more obvious I can get.

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