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A lottery jackpot worth $3.5 million has officially
expired in Connecticut, USA. The jackpot was
for the Classic Lotto game and the winning lottery
ticket was purchased at Coventry Getty Mart
in February 2006. Connecticut Lottery Corporation
officials had been hoping that the lucky player
would come forward to beat the deadline, but
this didn't happen, so the winning ticket is
now worthless.
The only possible reprieve for the winner is
if they have already mailed the winning ticket
and the letter was postmarked prior to the deadline.
In that instance officials say that the ticket
would be considered as valid, but in reality
that particular set of circumstances looks very
unlikely.
This is not to say that nobody has come forward
to "claim" that they are the elusive
winner. Connecticut Lottery Corporation officials
have in fact received 190 "lost ticket"
claims. Filing such a claim costs a flat $100,
but 190 people obviously believed the $3.5 million
prize at stake to be worth the outlay, even
though it should have been common sense to anyone
that the Classic Lotto organisers would look
into each claim thoroughly, and not simply write
out a cheque to the first person with an almost
convincing "I lost it somewhere" story.
The Classic Lotto game requires players to
pick six numbers from 1 to 44. If they match
all six numbers, they win the jackpot prize.
The odds of them doing this are 1 in 7,059,052.
Three lower prize tiers offer consolations -
$2,000 for matching 5 numbers, $50 for matching
4 numbers and $2 for matching 3 numbers. The
overall odds of winning any prize are therefore
1 in 39.3. Tickets cost $1 each.
The unclaimed prize of $3.5 million jackpot would have
equated to a lump sum payout of $2.2 million,
so Connecticut Lottery Corporation officials
are now deciding what to do with this money.
Their options are to share the money among other
prize winners, add the $2.2 million to the general
fund or use it for marketing purposes.
And the moral of all this? Well, no matter
what kind of lottery you play, you should check
your tickets as soon as you can and make any
claim you are entitled to without delay. If
you don't, and as this story illustrates, you
could miss out on millions...
23 February, 2007
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