Already Sold Out? That Store Didn’t Have The Tickets I Wanted To Buy

A lottery player who wanted to buy tickets in a new scratch game said that when she couldn’t find tickets at her local store, she thought the game had been removed from sale because all the top prizes in it had already been claimed.

In reality, the store was just temporarily out of tickets in that particular game. It was popular and the location’s initial supply had sold out. The store was able to order more tickets and the game was available there again within a few days.

When a new scratch game is released, businesses that sell lottery tickets place orders for a supply of tickets to have available in the first days that the game is for sale. Stores do their best to estimate the number of tickets they’ll need, but sometimes a particular game may sell faster than expected.

Stores can and do place additional orders for more tickets, but it can take a few days for the next batch to arrive. When that happens, there can be temporary outages.

The customer was correct that when all of the top prizes in a particular scratch game have been claimed, the game is removed from sale here in Iowa.

In this particular instance, that wasn’t what had happened, and we hope that the next time she visits her local store, she’ll find the game available!

Comments

[Mary Neubauer]

Hi, Teresa! We will have our folks get more supplies out there! Thanks for letting us know.

[Teresa Frerichs]

The casey's store in Greene Iowa needs Lotto America play slips.

[Mary Neubauer]

Hello, Wanda. In our scratch games, winning tickets are randomly distributed throughout the game so that no one – not even those of us who work at the lottery – knows when or where the next big winner will hit. It's all random, but over time, there will be winners in Ottumwa and the rest of the state. We’ve made a video that addresses the odds of winning and what they mean. I’ve included a direct link to it here and I hope that its visuals help illustrate the details involved: https://youtu.be/N66WI9yzTRw

[Wanda Torres]

Porque los raspaditos con los premios Grandes siempre Caen en todas partes? Mas no es asi en ottumwa? Siempre los raspaditos con los premios grandes Caen en todas partes menos en Ottumwa.