Texas/Southwest
Lottery to stop selling scratch offs once grand prizes claimed
03/30/2007
Associated Press
The Texas Lottery Commission announced Friday it will begin pulling scratch-off games after all the top prizes have been claimed.
The lottery has been criticized for continuing to sell instant tickets advertising big jackpots when only smaller prizes remain.
Lottery officials have historically decided when to pull games using a complex and subjective formula that didn't take into account the number of top prizes remaining, spokesman Bobby Heith said.
Under the new procedure announced Friday, as soon as the final grand prize is claimed, the lottery will tell retailers to stop selling that game. A lottery contractor will then have 45 days to pick up all the unsold tickets.
The new protocol mirrors legislation filed by state Sen. Dan Patrick, a Republican from Houston who called the lottery's old procedures a "betrayal of the public's trust."
The Texas Lottery currently offers about 80 scratch-off games. The 12 games with no top prizes remaining are set to close between early April and mid-May. |
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