California State Lottery Reviews 18

There many reasons NOT to play ANY of the lotteries. I will just stick with one in partucular, the California 2nd Chance. Most know what this is. For those who do not, a person can scan 2nd Chance codes from non-winning scratchers, any Super Lotto ticket, and any Fantasy 5 ticket that has five dollars/five lines of play. So that is three types of 2nd Chance games. Every week you enter, the next week there is a random drawing conducted by a "Stand Alone Draw Machine." I have been entering these codes for over EIGHT YEARS religiously and have never won a single time. Winners are made public every week on the Cal Lotto website. You see many of the same winner's names multiple times. One does NOT have to be a statician to see something is VERY wrong when a person enters and not exaggerating tens of thousands of codes and NEVER wins anything all compounded with seeing many of the same people win over and over again. SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG and it is my opinion the California 2nd Chance in some way, shape, or form is either rigged to benefit certain people or is fake.

This person, jesse that works in the california lottery office was very rude and disrespectful they did not wanna help me. They had smart remarks and had a terrible attitude. Like, how hard can your job be? All you do is answer phones enjoying A/C or the heater.... very disappointing.. i bought $520, scratches, and I ended up winning a $150. And I come to find when I go to cash them in that I can't, because the retailer I bought him from in greeley, hill, california didn't activate or however it works with the scratchers so now I cant cash and he wont even give my money back and every time I call the lottery office. They're rude and disrespectful. So all I did was buy some scratchers and try to cash them. And the person I bought the scratches from disrespectful. The people that disc out the the tickets also disrespectful, y'all need to sit down and drink some humble tea...

Worst web sight. Put it back the way it used to be. Most of the reviews tell the truth star one. You don’t know what your doing. Go back where you came from. You suck

The California Lottery’s “2nd Chance” is
A Year-Long Waste of Time.
The 2nd Chance program is presented as an ongoing opportunity 4 players 2 win after their initial ticket is unsuccessful.
In practice, however, it functions primarily as an annual promotion rather than a continuous weekly contest.
The California Lottery’s own website and mobile application confirm when the promotion is “closed,” meaning that all entries submitted outside of the active promotional period hold no immediate relevance.
I consistently submit approximately 400 entries each month nearing the stated limit of 500 I find it implausible 2 believe that submitting an additional 100 entries would meaningfully alter the outcome.
The California Lottery’s 2nd Chance is sold like a weekly shot at redemption, but in reality, it’s a once-a-year promo dressed up as an ongoing contest.
I submit around 400 tickets a month close 2 their 500-ticket cap and somehow I’m supposed 2 believe a 100 more will change my odds I find it implausible 2 believe such thing? (RASPBERRIES)Please.
That’s super laughable and the California commission's five-board R straight 🗑️.
The truth is,if the draw only happens once a year, then all of those “extra” entries in between are just collecting dust in their system. (PERIOD)
They even tell U not 2 bother saving Ur scanned tickets… probably because the “contest” ended 6–7 months ago.
No public proof of winners, no independent audit, no transparency and shockingly, no class action lawsuit yet.
When there is only a single draw each year, the incremental advantage of additional monthly submissions is, at best, negligible.
Adding 2 the skepticism, the program clearly states there’s no need 2 keep the physical scratcher ticket after it has been scanned that tells U everything U need 2 know honestly.
Instead of weekly drawings as many players might reasonably assume, there is only a single yearly drawing, rendering most of the year’s submissions functionally meaningless.
This lack of transparency raises serious concerns.
There is no verifiable evidence regarding how entries R stored or managed, no public disclosure of the full list of winners, and no independent auditing 2 ensure fairness.
Players keep scanning and entering tickets throughout the year, believing there R regular draws, when in truth, those entries go into a digital void until the single annual event rolls around if they’re even included "AT ALL".
There’s no public proof of how entries are handled, no independent oversight, and no verification that “WINNERS” aren’t just hand-picked 4 PR.
They’ve been running this scheme for many years.
This setup doesn’t just feel misleading it’s a deliberate way 2 keep players engaged without offering a genuine, transparent, ongoing chance 2 win.
Until the program provides year-round draws with verifiable results, submitting 2nd Chance tickets is nothing more than false hope wrapped in fine print.
Unless the California Lottery implements year-round draws for every week w/ independently verifiable results, the 2nd Chance program remains less a true second opportunity and more an exercise in misplaced trust.

This is 3rd time ive played same numbers and the moment i stop my number hits exactly. I will never play again. It is rigged.

From my personal experience and what I've read, they seem corrupt. They do everything so that you don't get paid, they make everything on their website damn near impossible.

Beware of lottery machines that dispense scratchers the one I used took my forty dollars and then said temporarily out of service didn't get my money back!
50 N. Ashwood Ave, Ventura CA 93003
6/22/2025
Lottery rip off!

The California Lottery is incompetent and ran by a bunch of people that never know what’s going on whenever you phone the 800 number and ask questions about why you’re going on month 6 of NOT BEING PAID OUT MY $10,000.00 winning scratcher ticket!
They’re refusing to pay me because there was a discrepancy on the ticket that was sent in and therefore , needed to be “investigated” and all kinds of written statements and people
To vouch for me needed to be contacted!!
It’s ridiculous!
Pay the winning customers their winnings, otherwise it’s a total sham and basically organized and legal thievery!

One star, it's very disappointing that the california lottery put $5.00 prize on tickets of $30.00 dollars or more to add up to the ticket price or more, it a darn shame to spend $30. $40 or even $50., buck only to uncover $1.00 or $5.00 on these tickets.. minimum should be no less than $10.00 this is the reason I don't buy find number games.. This is a poor structure from marketing and management

This 2025 now I have been playing 0000 since 2010 and it has hit yet my family really think I’m crazy 🤦🏾‍♂️

Stop playing the CA Lottery folks - literally doesn’t matter what game you play, the cost of the tickets, the odds, the different rolls, it’s all a load of losers and stress, it’s not fun when you don’t win a damn thing. It’s a total pipe dream to win a huge amount on a scratcher ticket, I’ve been playing scratchers for a good 10 years, over that time span I am 100% in the red, I had one period in this time span where I was buying only 20 /30 dollar tickets and for a about a month I got lucky with hitting a couple $500 wins and one $1k win, but for certain all that money has gone back to them with the hopes of “my luck must be turning around”, kept buying more tickets and just loss after loss. And now, over the course of the last 4 straight months (time period of August to now being December 2024) and have played mainly 20, 25 (the newer 2025 scratchers) and 30 denominations and literally, I mean LITERALLY, every single ticket I have purchased is a loser (dear CA lottery - if one spends $100+ on scratchers and can’t win a thing, it’s not fun, it’s just frustration, and the 100+ being spent is on same game, tickets in a row, just literally scratched [5] 20 dollar tickets and every one was a loser, and this has happened multiple times over the last 4 months, I don’t know why my brain keeps thinking today will be the day). Can’t even get a free ticket these days it seems. It’s a total joke, and we the people are the ones funding this joke of an operation in our state. If people just quit playing CA lottery scratchers maybe they will turn this BS around and start releasing more winning scratcher tickets, but for now, I’m done playing and I strongly suggest to others out there to quit too. Even reading the win below of $10K and can’t cash the check, wow. Hopefully the people that run this for our state actually read these reviews. I’m over the CA lottery scratchers and you should be too.

I did not want to give calottery not even one star. I hear and feel everyone's complaint on this post. I'm PISSED OFF. This tickets are sucking more & more by the minute. I like playing crossword SCRATCHERS IN 2015 I won 500 on $5.00 scratcher like 7 time and once $5000 on $5 Scratchr well never again has that happened. I can't even win a f@#ck ticket. What the HELL is going on BUNCH of rip off I quit. They say they have so many winners. Where the HELL at not here on earth. We will never know because it's not announced so is anyone really winning it or are they pocketing the money. Might as well have no lottery stop playing everyone
We are making the government rich. We are Bunch of ALL DAY LOLLY POP'S SUCKERS ! Save your money

Everytime I played here in California I won a free ticket only! Barely win that. They are ripping us off. I'm gonna stop playing😡

I think that CA Lottery is so full of BS first of all they ripped us off for a $1000 scracher winner. They wont pay us for our $ we are owed. I dont see what the big deal to them is its only $1000 dollars that is chump change to them its nothing. Butfor people like me its every thing. So why do that to some one like me that needs that $. I spend so my $ on scrachers and never win more than $100 dollars. So that $1000 would help in more ways than that i can explain. Then on top of all that the 2nd chance deal is a joke. Ive been playing for so many years and summit so tickets but never have won i dont know any one that ever has. So i don't think its even real. I need to get me a new gambling habbit cause this ca lottery is BS and are a joke stealing from disabiled people that have nothing like myself

I’ve been playing 10th spot on hotspot for the last few months . I spend $100-$200 a day I play 50 to 100 times consecutively . I have yet to hit a jackpot. or anything close I’ve been playing patterns that I’ve seen and watched continuously. they bunch up a lot ! The difference between Powerball mega millions etc. and hotspot is while playing hotspot the computer knows exactly what numbers were picking before the game is played so it can avoids them . So I put it to the test. I played my patterns without actually purchasing a ticket and lo and behold I hit the jackpot. I also check all the results and during the week there’s maybe 10 to 15 people playing on the weekends maybe 20 to 30 on the 10 spot . And the average win is $2-$3 I was shocked when I saw that. My advice to you California lottery is let A few of us win . Loosen up the computer I feel like I’m playing at a tight casino in Vegas.
PS I thoroughly enjoy playing the games it will be nice to win a bit more then chump change once in a while 😊🙏

They make you wait over 2 months for a check that you can't cash unless you have a bank account with one of the crooked bank institutions. I won 10k and got a check for 7600. I went to 6 different check cashing companies and none could(or would) cash it. I called the Sacramento lottery office to see what I can do and they just said sorry for my problems but they can't help me. NEVER PLAYING AGAIN!

The website has been down for days. No reason given typical bureaucratic farce!!

I won on lottery ticket. They do not want pay out. It's takes 10 weeks to process, now 16 weeks . Every time I call its new rules I mail my claim in and of August 2021.they still are not allow me to collect my winnings