Woman Sues Over Can't-Win Colorado Scratch Tickets
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Updated: 5:59 PM Jul 12, 2008
Woman Sues Over Can't-Win Colorado Scratch Tickets
A Colorado Springs woman who bought scratch tickets with no chance of winning the top prize is suing the owner of the gas station where she bought the tickets a decade ago.
Posted: 5:30 PM Jul 12, 2008
Reporter: Associated Press
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A Colorado Springs woman who bought scratch tickets with no chance of winning the top prize is suing the owner of the gas station where she bought the tickets a decade ago.

LaVonne Bazemore Watkins said she bought a $2 "Luck of the Zodiac" scratch ticket in hopes of winning the top $10,000 prize. However, she later learned that the last $10,000 award had been claimed more than two months before.

About 20 states, including Colorado, continue to sell scratch tickets after all of the top prizes have been given away.

Colorado Lottery spokeswoman Erika Gonzalez said most games end after the top prizes are gone but she said people aren't just interested in the top prize.

Watkins originally sued the Lottery but recently the state Supreme Court said they were protected the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act.

Players can ask retailers to check which games no longer have a top prize or check the Lottery's Web site -- coloradolottery.com -- before they buy a ticket.

That information wasn't available when Watkins bought her ticket in 1998.

Latest Comments

Posted by: LOL on Jul 16, 2008 at 07:27 AM

OMG- THIS IS SOOO FUNNY... I PLAY SCRATCH TICKETS ALL THE TIME AND MY CHANCES OF WINNING ARE VERY SLIM, I DO KNOW THIS.. AND IF I GET MONEY OUT OF IT, THAN AWESOME!! BUT IF I DONT THAN OWELL, WHO CARES... IM NOT GOING TO RUN AND CRY TO A LAWYER AND SUE BECAUSE THE SALES CLERK DIDNT TELL ME THAT SOMEONE WON THE GRAND PRIZE!!! LOL. THIS LADY IS A HOOT.. LMAO.. O MAN.
Posted by: Native Location: CS on Jul 15, 2008 at 07:02 PM

Glad to hear you won the money on a lottery ticket instead of getting it from the taxpayers. Have fun spending it!
Posted by: Troy Location: Loveland, CO on Jul 15, 2008 at 05:26 PM

Consider this, folks: Each scratch ticket game has a certain amount of prize money allocated to it. It is not wrong to continue selling tickets for a game in which the top prize has been won because there is still plenty of money left from that game's "pot" to win. Sheesh....everyone wants the biggest and best and can't just be grateful to have an opportunity to win anything at all. Say you spent $2 on a couple scratch tickets with no top prize available and won $100. That's $98 more than you had. Would you still be ungrateful?
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