Lotteries are one of those things in life where we hope we win while at the same time know that our chances of actually doing so are very slim. That certainly doesn’t deter us from buying tickets though, and lottery ticket sales continue to increase all over the world.
To ease the blow of lottery jackpots’ long odds, some operators provide players with the chance of winning a guaranteed prize just by purchasing a ticket. Some other lotteries have guaranteed prizes as part of their regular draw. Others provide special guaranteed prize draws in which they distribute unclaimed winnings. And then there are lotteries that always offer the jackpot as a guaranteed win.
So, if the lottery is based on the drawing of random numbers, how can some operators ensure that a guaranteed prize is actually won?
Today, in a society with such intricate technology, lotteries are able to run very efficiently and effectively. Since lottery draws rely heavily on computers, everything about a lottery can be stored and retrieved.
Saving Information and Making Calculations
So, when you buy a ticket with either your chosen numbers or Quick Picks, the information on that ticket is stored in the system. The time, date, location, numbers selected or generated, and other information are all placed in an electronic database.
Essentially, every single ticket issued for a draw has its information saved. That’s why you are able to scan your ticket at a retailer and see if it is a winning ticket or not before going to the cashier.
As every ticket purchased is stored, every ticket can therefore be retrieved by the system. For regular draws, the system can scan the ticket database to see which tickets are have won, and how many - if any - have won the jackpot. So, it has a list of all winning tickets, how many wins there are on each ticket, and which prizes a ticket may have won.
With these regular draws, there can be many prizes that don’t get won, including major prizes and even the jackpot. With this information, the system can also limit draw results to only tickets that have actually been bought.
With this method, the system knows exactly what to generate for a guaranteed win. It could be that the entire sequence of numbers on the ticket, a certain amount of numbers, or a special guaranteed win number generated by the system at the time of purchase.
For the particular draw to take place, the system is programmed to only generate a random number sequence from all of the purchased tickets. This means that whatever results are generated by the random number generator will match at least one of the purchased eligible tickets residing in the system. So, whatever numbers are drawn, there will be at least one winner of that particular prize.
Benefits of Guaranteed Prizes
Guaranteed prizes are offered for a number of reasons. One is to distribute unclaimed prizes. Another is to offer a value-added benefit. Another reason is to increase sales. For instance, if a lottery always offers a one-million-dollar guaranteed prize on top of its jackpot prize, it is more attractive for players as they know they have a consistent chance to win that prize rather than the possibility of no one winning the jackpot. They know that the guaranteed prize will go to someone, so why not them?
The guaranteed prize portion of a lottery is not only an attractive extra prize, it’s also a guaranteed. Anyone with an eligible ticket can win and at least one person is really going to win.
The odds are a little better and the anticipated excitement a little more heightened.
Not much in life is guaranteed (other than death and taxes) but if you have a chance of winning a guaranteed lottery prize, you really should consider taking part.