First of all I'd like to state that none of this is meant in a negative or derogatory way to the OP, anyone who has already posted
in this thread, or anyone that will after wards.
There are two things being discussed here, and I feel it's important to separate them. The first being that lottery games are created
with the notion that the game will be profitable to the state, and the second being how the winning tickets are being distributed.
Lets start off with the idea that these games were designed to be profitable for the state lotteries that run them. This concept is no different
then what a casino does, or what a claw machine does. The idea is that a percentage of the money taken in is going to be paid out, and
of course that the percentage taken in will be more then the percentage paid out. For a slot machine or even a claw machine, something like
a 60/40 split is fairly average. This means that for every $100 the machine takes in, it will pay out $40 (in prizes) and retain $60 (in profit).
Scratch cards aren't any different. When a new set of cards come out, they determine the quantity and quality of the winners and then determine
how many losers they need to print to create this positive cash flow. If they pay out 200 million in prizes, they are probably going to sell 300 million
worth of losers. In my opinion, this is not an absurd idea. The lottery system (and any gambling systems) were created with the notion of being
profitable. It offers "that chance" to the player... put your money down and spin the wheel. Most will lose, the lucky few will hit it big.
Then we can move on to winning ticket distribution. I personally do not believe the lottery targets winners either by length of time into the game
or by area. Right now our PA lottery has a $10 scratch card that has been out over a month and still has almost all of it's top prizes remaining. I've seen games drop half or more of their top prizes in a month or two before. Our own little area has had a 300K winner, a 250K winner, a 100K winner and others I'm sure I've missed in the last few years. A little po dunk town like the one I live in, with a population of 1000-1500 people with winners like that.
Other people on this board feel differently, the feel that more people seem to win in certain bigger areas or maybe even areas that are of a certain demographic. I guess it's a little harder to prove one way or the other, but I've seen my small little town full of nobodys win quite a few big payouts (instants atleast). Heck even 15 min away from where I live a woman won a million in the millionaire raffle we have around two years ago.