Something funny happened at the Mohegan Sun casino on Oct. the 3rd.
A lucky player bought a Powerball ticket and won one of the biggest prizes – $150,000. The ticket got four out of five white balls correct, as well as the red Powerball.
It’s funny because on the same day, two $50,000 lottery tickets “Pick 5” expired. The Mohegan drew the unknown winners on Oct. the 5th 2017. According to the rules, winning tickets last one year before they expire.
The winner of the $150,000 has not yet claimed their money, but they have a full year to do so. Hopefully, they won’t let their prize forfeit.
Mohegan Sun earned a $500 commission for selling the winning ticket, but here comes the fun bit.
Mohegan is suing the PA Lottery
Yes, Mohegan Sun along with six other Pennsylvania casinos filed a lawsuit against the PA Lottery. They claim the lottery is providing games that resemble the casino and slot experience. However, they don’t hold a casino or gambling license and operate under a lottery license.
The PA Lottery launched Xpress Sports on Aug 15th. The platform provides virtual sports betting, simulating real games whose results are generated randomly by computers.
The casino coalition argues that some of the online games in Xpress Sports resemble too much regular casino games, by allowing players to make bets and turn wheels. And that, according to the seven casinos, is illegal.
The press person for Mohegan Sun and company spoke for Press and Journal expressing the coalition’s willingness to support the PA Lottery.
David La Torre assured that the casinos happily provide space for buying lottery tickets, not only because the law requires it, but also because they take part in the lottery’s mission to aid elder Pennsylvanians.
The lottery spends $0.26 out of every dollar for supporting senior citizens in Pennsylvania. The money is used for support programs and services.
However, La Torre argues that a good cause does not give the PA Lottery the right to manipulate the rules and use technicalities to enter a new market without a license to do so.
Furthermore, casinos require visitors to be 21 years old or older, whereas, the minimum age for participating in a lottery is 18 years. In effect, the PA lottery is lowering the age requirement for people who want to gamble. This is perhaps the most critical factor, as the minimum age prevents young people with malleable psyche to develop dangerous and destructive habits.
PA Lottery Is Not Slowing Down
The lawsuit will take time before a court decision. Xpress Sports will not go down without a court order and that can take years to resolve.
In the meantime, PA Lottery is going strong. Casinos are legally obliged to provide space for lottery ticket machines. And, some of them have become top-selling locations for lottery tickets. The lottery will use that leverage to sell even more tickets.
That’s good news to PA senior citizens, who make use of their support programs and services. It’s also good news for lottery players who are taking the big prizes home.
In Sept, the lottery gave out rewards amounting to almost $160 million.
Three lucky players took home a million dollars each. 18 people won high-value six-figure prizes :
- 4 people got $300,000
- A lucky player won $250,000
- And 13 folks received $100,00
It doesn’t end there, as the lottery gave out many smaller prizes. Seventy-two lottery players won a 5-figure sum ($10,000 or more) and almost 7,000 tickets brought rewards of a thousand dollars or more.
PA Lottery claims that 65% of the collected money goes back in the hands of players as rewards.