Friday, August 29, 2008

Lottery Luck


Does anyone in Ontario, Canada play any of the lottery games sponsored by the OLG (Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation?)
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If you do play and win a large prize, there is something that you probably didn't know.
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On Monday, Mike Walsh of Cambridge, Ontario found that even though he held a winning 6/49 lottery ticket worth $1,000,000, the Toronto OLG office would not honour it until a five-week investigation was complete, because he couldn't remember the exact time and day he bought it.
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This information is not printed on the ticket, nor is there signage stating this rule, posted at any lottery retailers in the province.
Even the OLG web site does not have this rule listed on their site.
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So what's a brand new millionaire to do?
Well fortunately Walsh contacted the Toronto Sun newspaper with his story.
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Just over 24 hours later, he got a call from the OLG office to come back to Toronto to pick up his cheque for $1,000,000.
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Perhaps the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, after consulting with legal counsel, realized that if you are going to have stipulations on when and how you can cash in a winning ticket; they have to let the lottery players know about these rules in advance of the sale of the ticket.
And they probably didn't want a bad press report about this incident either.
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In the future whenever I purchase a lottery ticket, I will make sure that I clip the cash register receipt to the ticket.
This happened in Ontario, but I would suggest to lottery players from other provinces or states, to take my advice and retain your receipt and clip it to the hopefully, winning ticket just in case you might need that information.
And don't forget to sign your ticket immediately after the purchase.
Good Luck!
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Bear((( )))

17 comments:

kenju said...

Apparently that is good advice! I seldom play, but when I do, I'll do as you suggest!

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

I stopped playing the lottery, but I'll be rooting for you.

If you pick the numbers yourself, use the number 7 somewhere in the mix. I have a good feeling about that. If you don't select the numbers, try to locate a card that has 7 on it.

Sometimes I have a sixth sense about these things....plus I'm just a litle weird. Good luck.

david mcmahon said...

What an amazing story! I'm glad he got his money.

Mental P Mama said...

I only buy the powerball tickets when they get over 300 million. Because anything under that is not worth winning? That is a good word to the wise, however...

Anonymous said...

Sound advice Bear, as usual.
Glad he got his winnings too.

Becky said...

That is a Cherished Teddy, isn't it? My mother, sister and I collect those figurines! My Mom has just about all of them ever made in 5 curio cabinets... they are so darling. They are harder to find than they used to be...maybe it's just that way here in Boise, ID.

thanks for the lottery words of wisdom!

JeanMac said...

Crooks:) He would lose a lot of $ in the wait period.Glad it worked out.

Anonymous said...

Goodness, I wonder if such rules apply in Europe. We buy tickets occasionally but have never been in a position to find out what happens if you win!
Strange that Chesapeake Bay Woman has a good feeling about the number 7. My mum always said it was lucky (she was born 27th July 1927) but we've never won the lottery with those numbers.

Anonymous said...

That's just strange. Who remember exactly when they buy a lottery ticket especially when you're like me and buy them and stick them in the visor of my car until they stack up and then I check them all at once.

Smart Mouth Broad said...

I usually can't even remember to buy a ticket. And when I do I can't always remember where I put it let alone where and when I bought it.

Baino said...

Aww poor sap. At least it all worked out for him. I have no luck so restrict my lottery efforts to a $5 scratchie after I shop . . all it tends to win me is another $5 scratchie *sigh*

bobbie said...

Excellent advice.

I don't play the lottery, but most people I know do. Here in southern NJ, I know of one woman who hit it big. When she went to collect, the official looked really surprised. She jokingly asked, "Was it a mistake that someone from Cape May County won?" Without missing a beat, he said "Yes". It seems these things are set up so that the big winners buy their tickets in the more heavily populated areas. There are all kinds of things we don't know about lotteries.

Gary ("Old Dude") said...

the more heavily populated areas buy more tickets, so its no surprize they win most of the prizes. If I gamble I go to Las Vegas, its been (sigh) over 12 years now since I have been there.

Golden To Silver Val said...

I'm just about the most unlucky when it comes to winning things. I have only won one thing in my entire life and it was a $2 shoe tote when I was 18! But I'm not complaining really...there is a lot of heartache that goes with winning millions, according to several magazine articles. It would, however, be nice to experience that....just for research purposes of course. Ahem.

i beati said...

omg what's a bloke to do - taxes are enough. I plan to win tonight ./sk

kml said...

Wow - I wonder if those rules are in the US too. Will have to try to remember if I am ever lucky enough to win!

Wendy said...

I wish I had that problem! LOL!