At least it is not the state ripping you off.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/184833
Lawsuit against Virginia Lottery to go forward
The suit estimates that the Virginia Lottery made about $85 million from selling tickets for which top prizes were no longer available.
By Mike Allen | The Roanoke Times
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* Professor to sue Virginia Lottery June 10,2008
A Washington and Lee University professor's lawsuit accusing the Virginia Lottery of breach of contract remains alive after the state sought to have it dismissed this week.
But a Richmond Circuit Court judge ruled that Scott Hoover cannot act as "virtual representative" for all Virginians who may have unknowingly purchased scratch tickets for which the top prizes were no longer available.
Hoover, an associate professor who teaches applied business statistics, played a scratch-ticket game called Beginners Luck in August 2007. He bought the tickets after checking the Virginia Lottery's Internet site, which appeared to show that several top prizes of $75,000 were still available.
Subsequently he noticed that according to the site, the top prizes were being given out at a rate slower than laws of statistics would dictate. His suspicions led him to discover that the last $75,000 prize for the batch of tickets he had purchased from had been given out the month before. The prizes listed online were for a new batch of tickets, he and his attorneys have said.
Hoover's lawsuit, filed in June, claims that in the game Hoover played, about 241,000 "defective" tickets were sold after all six top prizes for the first batch were gone.
The suit estimates that the Virginia Lottery made about $85 million over five years from selling 26.5 million tickets for which top prizes were no longer available. The suit demands that the lottery be found liable for that money and be made to repay it.
It's unclear how the judge's ruling Monday will affect the amount of restitution the lawsuit can seek. Hoover had sought to act as a representative for all ticket buyers in the state, but the judge ruled he can proceed only with his individual claim.
Virginia law does not allow class action lawsuits.
Hoover's attorney, Roanoke lawyer John Fishwick, said his firm is examining the judge's decision. "We look forward to moving this case forward," he said.
Virginia Lottery Executive Director Paula Otto has said that in the past a few of the popular scratch games did continue to sell tickets after all the top prizes for a batch had been awarded, but the practice was ended in July 2007. Now, a game is ended as soon as the last top prize is given away.