[ex-Texan]

What the article is not talking about:

There are rumors that players are drifting away from Oregon Lottery Games because the Lottery Commission has been tinkering with the odds on video poker and bingo games. How do I know about the rumor? Because I was present when the owner of a video club was complaining that the new chips that were installed back in 2002 had changed the possibility to winning from very slim to 'totally remote.'

Just what is being done with state lottery funds to boost the Oregon economy is a total mystery. They never report publically about what they are doing.

Oh well . . . What do I know? I refuse to play those idiotic video poker games or Bingo because I have never seen anybody actually winning.

[Consort]

The state just has to create bogus players, rig it so that they win from time to time, and the state keeps the money. Or they can hire petty criminals/homeless/etc to buy rigged lottery tickest that win and they can keep a small percent of the prize and give the rest back to the state.

[suzyq5558]

they are a waste of $$ IMHO. and with $ so tight around here i just cant see playing video poker with my grocery budget.
and your right, i never hear a thing about where lottery $ go except when we all voted the state lottery in it was going to go for schools .well i have yet to see where its helped any school in oregon.
i remember hearing how the lottery will help people start a small business but other than that i have never heard nada.

[suzyq5558]

Oh i did read in the paper about all the waterford crystal the lottery commisoner bought for the staff and all those expensive meetings with some important group to help make the lottery more appealing to the peons to get em to play more . and then, when everyone found out about that it just disappeared .
i didnt hear about anyone getting in trouble for the misuse of the lottery funds or anything.
now if i had done something like that at my place of work i'd be fired and facing charges but not these guy's. it just P.O.'s me./rant off for now

[randog]

There are rumors that players are drifting away from Oregon Lottery Games because the Lottery Commission has been tinkering with the odds on video poker and bingo games.

Nevada realized a long time ago that people would not play gambling machines (slots, video poker, etc.) if they perceived the games to be rigged. Nowadays, every machine in operation in Nevada has a guaranteed payback -- somewhere in the 90% range, and the Nevada Gaming Commission verifies that these paybacks are being met. Why does Nevada take such an interest in maintaining integrity in all these gaming machines? As I said previously, if gamblers perceive these machines to be fixed then they won't play them, and that means less revenue for the state.

Oregon would have done well to pay attention to the Nevada gaming model. Now they've got a huge PR problem on their hands, much like Nevada did back when the mob ran the casinos.

[suzyq5558]

Oh yeah ,lottery $$ were going to save our schools they said.
So everyone hit those poker machines play that video blackjack, what garbage!
IMHO the state made gambling addicts out of a lot folks,including my own mother for awhile intill dad found out and put the kibosh on it.
I can say that ive never once put a quarter into one those machines. but then iam a tightwad with a dollar and believe these games to be a utter waste of time and money.
state indorsed gambling, it leads to many problems in many homes around the state IMO.
If i want to gamble ive always gone to Reno or Vegas.

[Viva Le Dissention]

I refuse to play those idiotic video poker games or Bingo because I have never seen anybody actually winning.

What, as opposed to the other lottery games where everybody always wins? The state rigs it so you don't win--that's the point.

You play the lottery, you pay your stupid tax, the state is happy.