News Families Outraged After Illinois Fails to Pay Out $288 Million in Lottery Winnings

[brassmonkey]

stop selling tickets!! is this fraud?
The Illinois lottery is not paying out winnings more than $600 until it resolves its budget crisis.

Lottery winners in Illinois may have hit the jackpot - but they have not been paid.

The state recently announced that it was not paying out any winnings worth more than $600 until its budget crisis is resolved - but it's still running TV ads promoting the lottery.

An attorney representing some of the winners, Tom Zimmerman, has said there is a staggering $288 million in winnings waiting to be paid out.

One winner, Susan Rick, told INSIDE EDITION: ?We won. We finally can have a comfortable life. Suddenly you're gonna the rug out from underneath us. We had a ticket for $250,000.?

A group of Chicago city employees had joined a lotto pool and won a million dollars - but they still haven?t seen a penny of it either.

Rhonda Rasche, a 49-year-old hospital clerk, said that after winning $50,000 in a scratch-off lotto, officials told her she'd receive a check in the mail in four to six weeks. That was a few months ago.

?I've been waiting for a check for $50,000,? she said.

Families Outraged After Illinois Fails to Pay Out $288 Million in Lottery Winnings - Yahoo News

[Barry-xlovecam]

You mean stop BUYING tickets ...

[brassmonkey]

Originally Posted by Barry-xlovecam

You mean stop BUYING tickets ...

if they are not available well yeah. some people won't see the news report and purchase tickets.

[blackmonsters]

Only the government can run a gambling operation like this.
Anyone else would go straight to jail.

[SilentKnight]

Originally Posted by blackmonsters

Only the government can run a gambling operation like this.
Anyone else would go straight to jail.

How much time did the owners of iBill spend behind bars?

[Idigmygirls]

Originally Posted by Barry-xlovecam

You mean stop BUYING tickets ...

Yeah, I've been wondering for weeks, since the news first broke, what idiots are still playing the Illinois lottery?

Long ago, they announced that "winners" would be paid in IOUs, which IOUs are subject to invalidation as courts review and prioritize creditors.

You wouldn't gamble in a casino if you knew you would get chips for your winnings, but you couldn't ever (or at least might never be able to) cash them up into money.

More evidence that Idiocracy was a movie ahead of its time.

[brassmonkey]

Originally Posted by Idigmygirls

Yeah, I've been wondering for weeks, since the news first broke, what idiots are still playing the Illinois lottery?

Long ago, they announced that "winners" would be paid in IOUs, which IOUs are subject to invalidation as courts review and prioritize creditors.

You wouldn't gamble in a casino if you knew you would get chips for your winnings, but you couldn't ever (or at least might never be able to) cash them up into money.

More evidence that Idiocracy was a movie ahead of its time.

like i said b4 some people won't see the story.

[Sly]

Originally Posted by Idigmygirls

More evidence that Idiocracy was a movie ahead of its time.

Perhaps. Lotteries target market is poor, uneducated people. These poor, uneducated people likely don't pay attention to government affairs like that.

"Numbers games" have existed for a long, long time. In the early 1900s they were run by gangsters and were incredibly profitable. The government shutdown those "numbers games" and started their own: the lottery. Playing the lottery may not get your kneecaps shattered, but it legitimizes a "game" that is designed to take the targets money even though the probability of them getting ANY money back is absolutely minuscule.

Lotteries target the vulnerable and offer them a glimmer of hope and fun.

[MiamiBoyz]

The richer and the poor get poorer...it is a story that has been ongoing since day one.

The government can also give their blessing to WHORE HOUSES in one state and yet PROSTITUTION is illegal in the United States of Hypocrisy.

So...is it really any surprise that they allow states to rip off those least able to afford it OR defend themselves when being butt fucked by the government?

The government no longer fights crime but fights its citizens instead!

[directfiesta]

I would not pay my tax bill if more than $600 until my budget crisis is resolved ....

[L-Pink]

Since payouts are a fixed percentage of income what kind of shenanigans have been going on with the finances?

[brassmonkey]

Originally Posted by directfiesta

I would not pay my tax bill if more than $600 until my budget crisis is resolved ....

omg! you have a good point! take this out of my future taxes muther fuker!!! 2-3 hundred grand dayum cake. give me full solar take it out of my winnings!

[brassmonkey]

Illinois lottery sued for not paying winnings due to state budget impasse - Chicago Tribune