Thursday she was expressing her frustration to a clerk at a Columbus area Speedway, and sales rep Randy Daugherty was there. Tina told the clerk she never wins. Tina asked Randy to touch her Pick 3/Pick 4 Play it Again tickets for luck. Randy thought nothing of it, and he reached over and touched the ticket.

Tina Garnett thought she was unlucky, but it turns out she's Lucky Times Ten!

While he was busy in the back working with the store manager, he heard loud screams coming from the front of the store where the Win Station is located. Guess who won? Tina bought a Lucky Times Ten ticket and won $5,500! 

I’m not sure Randy has the magic touch since he didn’t touch Tina’s instant ticket, but it’s fun to see a player’s luck turn around regardless!

Congratulations, Tina!

Last week we held the drawing for the winners, and since Thursday they have been stopping at Ohio Lottery offices across the state to claim their prizes!

Jon McCarthy of Delaware won the Trick Out Your Cave grand prize

Jon McCarthy of Delaware won the $10,000 grand prize.  Jon says Keno is his favorite game and with good reason. He says he has won six out of six a few times and five out of five over a dozen times. He bought the ticket that landed him the Trick Out Your Cave grand prize at Wedgewood Pub in Powell. 

“I was driving in the mountains on my way back to Ohio when I got the call. I was shocked, and at first I thought it was a joke! It took over 50 miles for me to realize it was for real!” Jon says.

That ten grand will go a long way. Jon says he plans to buy some gifts and items for his home that he wouldn’t normally splurge on with his gift card. 

Jon wasn’t the only winner in our big Keno promotion!

Five players won $2,000 gift cards, 20 won $1,000 gift cards and ten walked away with $500 gift cards to hhgregg. Our winners had plans to buy everything from iPods to computers to new TVs!

Congratulations to our cave men and women!

For five weeks starting January 29, 2012, Pick 3 players can boost their prize by 20% in both the midday and evening drawings!

Here’s how Red Ball works! The Lottery places seven balls, one red and six white, into a special Red Ball drawing machine. Once the Pick 3 numbers are drawn, the Lottery will draw from the Red Ball machine. If the white ball is drawn, Pick 3 players who match the numbers win the standard prize. The white ball is removed, improving the odds of drawing the red ball for the next drawing.

When the red ball is drawn, Pick 3 winners receive about 20% more when they cash their ticket. After the red ball is drawn, all of the balls are returned to the drawing machine for the next drawing. If the red ball isn’t drawn in six consecutive draws, it’s an automatic Red Ball bonus for Pick 3 winners that drawing.

It’s a fun bonus that could put some extra winnings in players’ pockets!

Cash Explosion Producer JC Carothers and Community Outreach Coordinator Karen Russo make the second delivery of 540 pounds of food to the Cleveland Foodbank.

During the month of December, Cash Explosion fans donated 540 pounds of non-perishable food items! That’s 40 pounds more than what we collected in November! Cash Explosion producer James Carothers and Community Outreach Coordinator Karen Russo had the honor of delivering the food to the Cleveland Foodbank.

In January, the donations got even bigger! We collected 585 pounds of food that was donated to the Mid-Ohio Foodbank.

Dawn McNichols with the Mid-Ohio Foodbank and Ron Stills of the Ohio Lottery's Sales Division stand next to 585 pounds of donated food.

Cash Explosion fans can continue to bring non-perishable food items to any Cash Explosion taping through the month of May. In the coming months we will be dropping off donations at Ohio’s Second Harvest Foodbanks throughout the state.

Tom's ready to Trick Out His Cave with a $2,000 gift card from hhgregg.

Tom Reed of Valley View was online looking to see if the Ohio Lottery had posted the list of winners for the Trick Out Your Cave promotion that just ended Jan. 15.  Not a second after he started surfing, he got a call from an employee of the Ohio Lottery telling him he had won an hhgregg gift card.

He came down to the Ohio Lottery’s headquarters the very same day.  He knows he wants to buy an iPod.  Between himself and his girlfriend, Amy, he knows he’ll think of something for the rest!

He’s a regular patron of Towne Tavern in North Royalton, and that’s where he played Keno and took advantage of the Trick Out Your Cave promotion.  Check back Jan. 21 to see the complete list of winners: http://www.ohiolottery.com/Promotions/Online-Contests/Trick-Out-Your-Cave/Enter-the-Contest

If you are contacted by someone when you didn’t play, contact your local law enforcement office immediately.  To learn more about staying safe, you’ll want to check out the FBI website:  http://www.fbi.gov/.  The FBI site provides information on how to protect yourself and your loved ones from Lottery scams, as well as others that aim to take away your hard earned money.

 If you still have questions, call us or check out information available on our website at www.ohiolottery.com. We’re happy to help.  An informed consumer is the best consumer.

This year, the 25th anniversary of the show, is going to be a fun one! We are celebrating Cash Explosion’s silver anniversary with six months of winning themed ‘Celebrating 25 Years of Cash Explosion Winning in 25 Weeks’! It means bigger prizes, more winnings and a special show for Cash Explosion fans!

Starting February 10, 2012, you can buy the new 25th Anniversary ticket! You’ll recognize it because it’s a little bigger and it has the 25th Anniversary logo. We’re all about the number 25! Players who reveal the 25th Anniversary logo can enter on-line for a second chance drawing. 1,000 players will be selected from the on-line entries to win $2,500 each and 12 very lucky players will be drawn as contestants on a special Cash Explosion ‘super’ show where they have the chance to win up to $250,000!

Speaking of the show, there will be a lot of fun changes that mean more winnings for more players! In addition to the existing $45,000 in Bonus Bucks, we will be adding five $5,000 bonus squares to the game board. That means $50,000 more dollars could be won every single week during the Cash Explosion Anniversary Celebration.  And viewers can expect some exciting new visual changes to the show including a redesigned Championship game to add drama and suspense.

And because we love our Cash Explosion fans so much, we will have a Cash Explosion Fan Appreciation Day! There will be lots of fun and family oriented activities for adults and children, from clowns, face painting and bands to our Cash Explosion Mini Games and Express Games where players can win money right on the spot!

Get ready because 2012 is going to be fun for us and our Ohio Lottery fans!

Retailer of the Week: Windsor Pub, Akron

The next time you receive outstanding service from your local Ohio Lottery retailer, give the person who helped you a pat on the back and a great big “Thank You” for their service.  It’s probably human nature that people don’t stop often enough to show their appreciation  for a job well done.  When a store employee really stands out – for explaining a game to you, helping you cash or claim a winning ticket or sharing a fun story – it all adds up to good service and good relationships.  Ohio Lottery retailers, and the people who work hard for them, appreciate your thoughtfulness and acknowledgement of their work.

If you live in Akron, you might want to thank Windsor Pub, located at 1322  East Tallmadge Avenue, for all its employees do to help you and their other customers this week.  If you live somewhere else, we’ll be coming soon to a town near you to recognize another outstanding retailer. 

http://www.ohiolottery.com/Retailers/Retailer-of-the-Week.aspx