Kennewick Man To Fight State Lottery
A man from Kennewick, Washington, is planning on taking the Washington State Lottery in court over a scratch card payout which didn’t work out as planned. There are often subtle, unread rules and stipulations on physical and online scratch cards alike, but it doesn’t usual cause this much of an issue.
Ken Goldsmith recently purchased one of the latest scratch card releases, the Red Hot 5s card and thought he had won the massive $55,555 by scratching away to reveal a matching number. However, when he had the card scanned at a lottery kiosk, it came upon the system as a loser.
The 55-year-old immediately contacted the lottery office in Olympia to inquire about why it had not been a winner. According to Goldsmith, the telephone operator knew what he was talking about before he even mentioned which scratch card he had bought.
On the card, players are told that they must match a number on the card with one of the winning numbers to win that cash prize. It also states that more numbers can be found on the reverse of the card. It does not mention, however, that the numbers on the front and the back are part of two separate games, which turned out to be the main cause of confusion.
The man matched a number on the back of the card to the $55,555 number on the front and thought for certain that he had won. The representatives at the Olympia office told him that the website states that the games are separate and that it should state that fact more clearly on the card. It seems that Ken Goldsmith is not the only person confused.
Arlene Harris, a lottery spokesperson, told him that this card has caused a misunderstanding with many players. She went on to say that they are not planning on withdrawing the card from the market due to the cost it would cause. The Red Hot 5s card is the first double-sided card in the US.
After Harris’ acknowledgement of the vagueness of the card, Goldsmith was left very unsatisfied. In his opinion, the rules should be clearly stated on the card as no one goes onto the websites to check the rules.
Goldsmith plans to challenge the issues in court. He has requested that the Washington State Bar Association recommend a lawyer to represent him.
