Luckily the discrepancy was they were paying a few bucks too much, so I didn't make a fuss. ;)
But still, I don't like it when things don't add up properly. So I looked into it some more and found that the CA Lottery website has some incorrect prize values shown. I notified them of this but they haven't responded yet. Some example prize values I have come across that are wrong, for 10-spot at least (which is all I play) are:
match 6/10: shown on website as $12, should be $15
match 6/10+Bulls-eye: shown on website as $62, should be $65
Basically they goofed when they updated the website last month for this special "Hotter" Bulls-eye payouts promotion, and they somehow got some lower amounts mixed in the totals there. This is the 3rd revision to the prizes for Hot Spot since the new version was released last year.
I also noted that if they really wanted to promote Bulls-eye play, they should revise their stated overall odds. Right not they have overall odds for Hot Spot as 1 in 9.1 which is correct.(9.05 to be precise) But they have the w/Bulls-eye listed as 1 in 8.0 which is kind of misleading. Yes, if you pick 10 spots out of 80 then your odds of having a bulls-eye will be 1 in 8, DUH! This makes no practical sense and does not relate to any specific prize or overall odds like all the other odds quoted for games. What they should do is state a correct 1 in 4.25 odds overall for Bulls-eye play, that might entice more players. That is close to Scratchers overall odds, which is the best of any lottery game. They said they would look into it.
You really should play with Bulls-eye all the time, it is better than just Hot Spot alone. Better overall return, and overall 1 in 4.25 versus 1 in 9.05. Sure, you spend twice as much (or half as many plays) but you get more hit percentage and the overall return is better, especially during this promotion.