Big-ticket price offers players a big-ticket prize
By Kate Northrop
This week, the Michigan Lottery celebrated its 50th year in operation with its first-ever $50 scratch-off ticket to match.
The Michigan Lottery's newest and most expensive ticket is now available at retailers, and it's offering a top prize that Michigan players have never seen come from an in-state instant game before.
"$300,000,000 Diamond Riches" is Michigan's first $50 scratch-off game, offering over $300,000,000 in total prizes and a record instant game top prize of $6 million.
Players have a chance to win one of the game's three top prizes of $6 million, along with 100 second-tier prizes of $500,000 and 735 third-tier prizes of $2,500. None of those prizes have been won yet since the game's launch on Tuesday.
The lowest-tier prize in the game is the ticket's price point, $50.
Winners of the $6 million top prize will have two options for claiming the prize: 30 annual payments of $200,000 or a one-time lump sum payment of about $4.1 million.
Players with non-winning tickets from the "$300,000,000 Diamond Riches" game may enter them in a second-chance promotion by Nov. 13, 2022 for a chance to win prizes ranging from $500 to $100,000.
There will be ten second-chance drawings, in which each drawing will award one winner of $100,000, five winners of $10,000, 20 winners of $1,000, and 60 winners of $500.
Lottery players are not the only ones who have a chance to win big from the $50 game. The Lottery is offering retailers the largest total in commissions ever at $30.7 million.
Scratch-off games are available at the Lottery's 10,500 official retailers across the state.
Lotteries across the U.S. are joining the growing trend of offering high price point lottery tickets. In May, the Texas Lottery released the nation's first $100 scratch-off ticket.
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3 top prizes of 6 million certainly gets your attention. But I think I would be playing for one of the $500,000 prizes, since there are 100 of them out there. Good job by Michigan. If anyone knows, I would be curious as to how the $100 scratch-offs in Texas have been doing. Whether it has been a boom or a bust.
Just looked it up. On the $100 game there hasn't been any top prizes ($20 million) claimed yet.
3 of the 25 $100,000 prizes have been claimed.
Personally, I rarely play scratchers. Generally there aren't very many top prizes in those games, and Texas is a really big state. $20 million prize sounds good until you realize just how much territory those 4 prizes could be lurking. But, scratchers outsell traditional lottery tickets. I think it's more about instant gratification than waiting for a drawing.
Yikes , I think I might splurge, not something I would do on a regular basis.
Great story Kate. Nice prizes too.
rcbbuckeye just looked up your lottery...no Fast Play? Ours in KY is the highest of all states that offer this. Just over $1.02 million. I play the $20 on occasion, today won $100 and gave a $5 tip to the three employees there..better than nothing. Anyway the reason I go for the most expensive one is because if the RNG awards you the top prize, they add $250K as well. The cheaper tickets pay proportionally less, of course and no bonus offered.
Anymore effort by your foolish Legislature to get rid of the lottery there still???
Fast Play kind of games aren't Tx Lottery type of games. One of my biggest complaints about TX is the jackpots aren't that great for the odds of the games.
The Legislature nonsense got started with a State Rep from Southlake (just a few miles from where I live, and used to sell furniture) which is a very affluent city. In fact, a Lotto Texas jackpot was won there maybe 10 years ago or so. Can't recall the Reps' name but it was several years ago that he decided the lottery was bad for the citizens of Texas.
It darn near got passed until someone realized just how much money was at stake. That woke them up. Never heard about it since.
A little side note. A few years ago some folks wanted to change the laws so they could put in a casino in Dallas, at old Reunion Arena where the Mavs used to play (if I recall). Anyway, the Legislature decided that casinos are bad for Texas even though Texans want casinos. All the idiots in Austin had to do is drive to Winstar just across the OK border. 99.9% of the cars in the parking lot are from Texas.
I'm more of a numbers guy with the exception of the $2 Triple 333 ticket. The only way I'll purchase one of these tickets is if I win $100 on the Daily Spin to Win game
It seems interesting that your pick 3 and pick 4 are drawn four times/day EXCEPT Sundays. Guess that's to appease certain folks? Anyway LP says you guys still have Mechanical Ball Drawings. Ours changed to crappy RNG and you should see the LOW payouts--especially pick four.
We have a similar problem with the Legislature not voting for sports betting again last session. I think KY has six 'gaming' sites, and like stack47 and myself say, the machines look and act just like regular slot machines..but based on Historical Races--old horse races. The Family Council (anti-gambling/lottery/abortion group) not happy with this, but too bad. It sickened me with that guy on the news a few weeks ago griping about the lottery (still). Trying not to get political so will stop!!
Yeah...4 times a day, including jackpot game All or Nothing. That was all about one thing. Getting people to spend more money. I will say that it is practically impossible to play 4 times a day and win more than you spend.
$50.00 for $6 mil?
Check this out!
I certainly would not second your "good job Michigan". It's just disgusting how greedy these lotteries have gotten.
The Texas $100 game seems to be quite popular as people fall in love with a $25 mlion dollar prize they won't win. While people are saying it, it is a horrible game. Payback minus top tier prizes at about 60% means you lose, on average $40 a ticket. Ouch. This game makes the state of Texas a profit of over $208 million dollars. Absolutely disgusting
Are you saying that the lottery should not offer expensive tickets to people who want to buy them?
You seem to be forgetting that the lotteries are a business, and like any business, they are in business for what? Charity? No, they are in business to make money, not lose money. No one is forcing people to buy anything they don't want to buy, including lottery tickets. I would never put down any entity for making as much profit (legally) as possible. Why be in any kind of business to lose money?
As far as the $100 tickets, if there is a market for them, ie:if people buy them, then the lottery commission will provide them. If people don't buy them, then the lottery commission will stop providing them.
Isn't the MUSL a non-profit? Seems kinda odd (no pun intended) Their services are provided at no cost.
I get all the points mentioned above, but I can't help but picture somebody with only 50 bucks spending it on this hoping to win and losing instead of something like food or gas.
I've seen people at the gas station buy $100 worth of low-dollar scratchers. Not much difference between doing that and buying a single high-dollar scratcher.