5302134 Lottery and Charitable Games Control Board, DC - Notice of Final Rulemaking - New rules for the Lucky For Life Game.
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THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
LOTTERY AND CHARITABLE GAMES CONTROL BOARD
NOTICE OF FINAL RULEMAKING
The Executive Director of the District of Columbia Lottery and Charitable Games Control Board, pursuant to the authority set forth under Section 4 of the Law to Legalize Lotteries, Daily Numbers, and Bingo and Raffles for Charitable Purposes in the District of Columbia, effective March 10, 1981 (D.C. Law 3-172; D.C. Official Code § 3-1306 (2012 Repl.)), District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority Order, issued September 21, 1996, and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer Financial Management Control Order No. 96-22, issued November 18, 1996, hereby gives notice of the adoption of the following amendments to Chapter 9 (Description of On-Line Games) and Chapter 99 (Definitions) of Title 30 (Lottery and Charitable Games) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR).
This rulemaking implements the multi-jurisdictional Lottery game called LUCKY FOR LIFE™. The game expects to launch on February 15, 2015.
A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published in D.C. Register on December 26, 2014 at 61 DCR 13180. Final action to adopt these rules took place on January 29, 2015. No comments were received, and no substantive changes were made to the rulemaking. These rules will become effective upon publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.
Title 30, LOTTERY AND CHARITABLE GAMES, of the DCMR is amended as follows:
Add a new Section 973, DESCRIPTION OF THE LUCKY FOR LIFE GAME™, to Chapter 9, DESCRIPTION OF ONLINE GAMES, to read as follows:
973 DESCRIPTION OF THE LUCKY FOR LIFE GAME™
973.1 Lucky For LifeTM is a five (5) out of forty-eight (48) plus one (1) out of eighteen (18) lottery draw game which pays the jackpot and set prizes. Drawings are on each Monday and Thursday.
973.2 The price of each Lucky For Life play shall be ($2.00).
Add a new Section 974, LUCKY FOR LIFE PLAY RESTRICTIONS AND PLAY STYLES, to Chapter 9, DESCRIPTION OF ONLINE GAMES, to read as follows:
974 LUCKY FOR LIFE PLAY RESTRICTIONS AND PLAY STYLES
974.1 Contribution to Prize Pool. A Party Lottery may offer Game Tickets as a prize or as part of an authorized promotion provided that all such Game Ticket sales are assessed and reported to the prize pool at the full gross sales amount.
974.2 Ineligible Players. Game Tickets Lucky For Life tickets shall not be purchased, and a prize won by any such ticket or share, either in whole or in part, shall not be paid to:
(a) A Party Lottery employee, officer, director, board member or commissioner.
(b) A contractor or consultant under agreement with any Party Lottery to perform audit and security procedures.
(c) An employee of the independent certified public accounting firm under contract with any New England Lottery to oversee Drawing Events.
(d) An employee of a Party Lottery’s on-line vendor.
(e) An employee of a Party Lottery’s advertising or public relations provider.
(f) An immediate family member (parent, stepparent, child, stepchild, spouse, sibling or person engaged in a domestic partnership or civil union) of an individual described in Paragraphs a, b, c, d, e, or f residing as a member of the same household in the principal place of residence of any such person.
(g) Those persons designated herein as ineligible to play the game in one (1) Party Lottery jurisdiction shall also be ineligible to play the game in all other Party Lottery jurisdictions selling the game.
974.3 A Lucky For Life ticket may not be cancelled or voided by returning the ticket to the Agent or Agency. A ticket accepted by the Agent as a returned ticket, and that cannot be resold, shall be deemed as owned by the bearer thereof. This prohibition also applies to a ticket that may be printed in error by the Agent.
974.4 A Lucky For Life ticket, subject to the validation requirements as detailed in Sections 603, 605, 975.17, 975.19, and 975.20 of these regulations, shall be the only proof of a Bet (or Plays), and the submission of a Winning Ticket to the Agency or an Agent shall be the sole method of claiming a prize or prizes.
974.5 A Selection Slip has no pecuniary or prize value and shall not constitute evidence of a ticket purchase or of numbers selected. Under no circumstances shall a claim be paid for a prize without a Winning Ticket.
974.6 Disclosure of Lucky For Life game winner and player information shall be in accordance with the District of Columbia’s laws and regulations as well as Section 614 of Title 30 of the D.C. Municipal Regulations.
974.7 Players may submit a completed Selection Slip to any Agent to have a game ticket issued. Selection Slips shall be available at no cost to the player and shall have no pecuniary or prize value, or constitute evidence of purchase or number selections. The use of facsimiles of Selection Slips, copies of Selection Slips, or other materials that are inserted into the terminal’s Selection Slip reader that are not printed or approved by the Agency, are not permitted. Agents shall not permit any device to be connected to a terminal to enter bets, plays, or wagers, except as approved by the Agency.
974.8 Players may convey their number selections to any Agent to obtain a game ticket. Such number selections shall be manually entered into the terminal by the Agent.
974.9 Players may either request a Quick Pick game ticket from an Agent or may select the Quick Pick option on the Selection Slip and submit the completed Selection Slip to any Agent. Quick Pick shall be differentiated from customer selected numbers in that Quick Pick shall refer to the random selection of numbers made by the Central Computer System rather than by the player.
974.10 Players may select their own numbers by completing a Selection Slip or by conveying their number selections directly to any Agent. Customer selected numbers shall be differentiated from Quick Pick in that customer selected numbers shall refer to number selections made by the player rather than the Central Computer System.
974.11 In connection with the winning numbers drawn, the holder of a Winning Ticket may win only one (1) prize per Play, board or panel, and shall be entitled only to the prize won by those numbers in the highest matching prize category.
974.12 A prize shall be claimed within one hundred eighty (180) days after the drawing in which the prize was won commencing with the day following the drawing, unless a shorter period of time has been authorized by the Executive Director.
974.13 It shall be the player’s sole responsibility to verify the accuracy of the bet(s) (or plays) and the other data printed on the Lucky For Life ticket. The placing of bets or wagers is done at the player’s own risk through the Agent.
Add a new Section 975, LUCKY FOR LIFE PRIZE LIABILITY LIMITS, PRIZE PAYOUTS, AND PRIZE LEVELS to Chapter 9, DESCRIPTION OF ONLINE GAMES, to read as follows:
975 LUCKY FOR LIFE PRIZE LIABILITY LIMITS, PRIZE PAYOUTS, AND PRIZE LEVELS
975.1 There are 10 prize levels in the Game.
975.2 Except as provided in Sections 973, 974, 975, or 976 of these regulations, the top prize (Prize Level #1) shall be annuitized and based on a top prize liability that will be split equally among the number of winning tickets.
975.3 A top prize winner may request the cash option, the amount of which is to be established by the New England Lotteries for a defined period of Drawing Events. Notice of the amount of and changes to the cash option shall be posted on the Lucky For Life game’s website and/or published in a manner determined by the Agency at least thirty (30) days prior to the first Drawing Event to which it is applicable (the “Published Notice”). Under certain circumstances, as defined in Subsection 975.6 of these regulations, the top prize is required to be paid in a single lump sum cash payment and no annuitized payment option is available.
975.4 If there is one (1) top prize winner, the annuitized prize value will be seven thousand dollars ($7,000.00) per week for life. As an alternative to the annuitized payment option, the top prize winner may request the top prize cash option in the amount set forth in the Published Notice.
975.5 If there are between two (2) and fourteen (14) top prize winners, the annuitized payment option, based on an annuitized prize value of seven thousand dollars ($7,000.00) per week, will be divided by the total number of top prize winners. The minimum annuitized prize value for this category will be five hundred dollars ($500.00) a week for life. Any of these two (2) to fourteen (14) top prize winners may choose the cash option as an alternative to the annuitized payment option. The amount of the cash option for this category will be the amount of the top prize cash option set forth in the Published Notice divided by the total number of top prize winners. The minimum cash option for this category will be the amount set forth in the Published Notice.
975.6 If there are fifteen (15) or more top prize winners, the top prize liability shall be capped at seven million one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($7,125,000.00), shall be split equally among all top prize winners, and shall paid in one (1) lump sum cash payment, without an annuitized payment option. The minimum prize value for this category shall not be less than any lower tier prize paid in that respective Drawing Event.
975.7 Winner(s) of the top prize who do not request the cash option shall be paid their appropriate top prize share on a weekly basis, or according to such other schedule of payments set at the discretion the Agency, as permitted in Sections 973, 974, 975, or 976 of these regulations, for a minimum period of twenty (20) years. The first Top Prize payment will be made when the prize is claimed at the Agency’s Headquarters or other location designated by the Executive Director.
975.8 Except as provided in Subsections 975.3, 975.4, or 975.5 of these regulations, the second prize (Prize Level #2) winner will be paid twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00) a year for life. A second prize winner may request the cash option, the amount of which is to be established by the New England Lotteries for a defined period of Drawing Events. Notice of the amount of and changes to the cash option shall be posted on the Lucky for Life website and/or by the Agency. Under certain circumstances, as defined in Subsection 975.10 of these regulations, the second prize is required to be paid in a single lump sum cash payment and no annuitized payment option is available.
975.9 If there are between one (1) and twenty (20) second prize winner(s), the annuitized prize value will be twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00) per year for life. Any of these one (1) to twenty (20) second prize winner(s) may choose the second prize cash option as an alternative to the annuitized payment option. The amount of the cash option for this category will be set forth in the Published Notice.
975.10 If there are twenty-one (21) or more second prize winners, the second prize liability shall be capped at nine million four hundred thousand dollars ($9,400,000.00), shall be split equally among all second prize winners, and shall be paid in a single lump sum cash payment, without an annuitized payment option. The minimum prize value for this category shall not be less than any lower tier prize paid in that respective Drawing Event.
975.11 The winner(s) of the second prize who do not request the cash option shall be paid their appropriate second prize share on an annual basis for a minimum period of twenty (20) years. The initial second prize payment will be made when the prize is claimed at the Agency’s Headquarters or other location designated by the Executive Director; subsequent second prize payments will be made annually thereafter.
975.12 For a single bet or wager, the measuring life of a prize winner used to determine the duration over which the prize is paid, shall be the natural life of the individual determined by the Agency to be the prize Winner. If the prize under a single bet or wager is being claimed by more than one (1) natural person or by a legal entity, the measuring life for that prize winner shall be twenty (20) years.
975.13 If paid in a lump sum cash or single cash payment, prize amounts will be rounded to the nearest whole dollar.
975.14 Except as provided in Sections 973, 974, 975, or 976 of these regulations, the third prize (Prize Level #3) will be paid as a five thousand dollar ($5,000.00) set prize. If there are more than one thousand (1,000) winners of this prize level in a single Drawing Event, the total prize liability of five million dollars ($5,000,000.00) ($5,000.00 x 1,000) will be split equally among the winners.
975.15 Under no circumstances, will the value of the third prize fall below a minimum prize value of two hundred dollars ($200.00) per winner, regardless of the number of Winners.
975.16 The holder of a Winning Ticket shall be entitled only to the prize won by matching the winning numbers in the highest matching prize category.
975.17 All Winning Tickets, including the top prize and second prize Winning Tickets, shall be paid in accordance with District of Columbia jurisdictional law, D.C. Official Code §§ 3-1301 et seq., and Title 30 of the District of Columbia’s Municipal Regulations.
975.18 The Agency shall withhold taxes and other required withholdings in accordance with applicable federal and District laws.
975.19 To be a valid Winning Ticket and eligible to receive a prize, a Winning Ticket shall satisfy all the requirements established for the validation of Winning Tickets sold through the Agency’s Central Computer System, and any other requirements adopted by the Agency and New England Lottery Directors.
975.20 The Agency shall not be responsible for game tickets that are altered in any manner.
975.21 Except in the case of a cash option payment or a lump sum cash payment paid in accordance with Sections 973, 974, 975, or 976 of these regulations, annuitized prize payments shall be made for the measuring life of the top prize or second prize winner.
975.22 All annuitized payments shall be made for a minimum of twenty (20) years. The measuring life as defined in Subsection 975.12 of these regulations shall be determined at the time the top prize or second prize is claimed.
(a) No rights of any person to a prize or a portion of a prize shall be assignable.
(b) In the event annuitized prize payments are assigned by a court order, the measuring life at the time the top prize or second prize was claimed shall not change and limit or extend the number of annuitized payments due any assignee, court-ordered or otherwise.
(b) In the event of the death of a top prize or second prize winner during the annuity payment period, the Agency, with the approval of the New England Lotteries, upon petition of the estate of that winner (the “Estate”) to the Agency, and subject to the Agency’s jurisdictional laws, may accelerate the payment of all the remaining lottery proceeds to the Estate.
(1) If the annuitant dies during the annuity payment period, but before the guaranteed prize amount has been paid, the Estate shall receive the remaining payments equal to the minimum guaranteed prize amount.
(2) If the annuitant dies during the annuity payment period, but after the minimum guaranteed prize amount has been paid, all payments shall stop.
975.23 All low-tier set prizes (all prizes except the top prize and second prize) shall be paid in one (1) single cash payment through the Agency. Prizes shall be rounded to the nearest whole dollar. The Agency may begin paying low-tier cash prizes after receiving authorization to pay from the Clearinghouse Lottery.
975.24 The following table details the Game’s statistical information.
Odds of Winning, Prize Payouts and Prize Funding as a Percentage of Sales.
Prize Level
Matches
Set #1
(5 of 48)
Matches
Set #2
(1 of 18)
Odds of Winning:
1/
Prize
% Sales
1
5
1
30,821,472.000
$7,000/Week for Life*
10.2201%
2
5
0
1,813,027.765
$25,000/Year for Life*
11.6380%
3
4
1
143,355.684
$5,000*
1.7439%
4
4
0
8,432.687
$200
1.1859%
5
3
1
3,413.231
$150
2.1973%
6
3
0
200.778
$20
4.9806%
7
2
1
249.749
$25
5.0050%
8
2
0
14.691
$3
10.2103%
9
1
1
49.950
$6
6.0060%
10
0
1
32.019
$4
6.2463%
Total Payout
59.4335%
Average Chance of Winning: 1 in 7.769
*Prize amounts may be split if there are multiple winners, in accordance with the provisions established in Subsections 975.6, 975.10, and 975.14 of these regulations. Split prizes may be lower than the published prize amounts.
Add a new Section 976, LUCKY FOR LIFE DISPUTES AND APPLICABLE LAW, to Chapter 9, DESCRIPTION OF ONLINE GAMES, to read as follows:
976 LUCKY FOR LIFE DISPUTES AND APPLICABLE LAW.
976.1 In purchasing a Lucky For Life ticket, the following provisions apply:
(a) The purchaser agrees to comply with and abide by the Agency’s rules, regulations, guidelines, jurisdictional laws and final decisions, as well as all rules established for the conduct of the Lucky For Life Game.
(b) Decisions made by the New England Lotteries, Agency, and Executive Director, including the declaration of prizes, the payment thereof, and the interpretation of these regulations, shall be final and binding on all purchasers and on every person making a claim in respect thereof. In the event of conflict, however, between these regulations and the Agency’s jurisdictional laws, the Agency’s jurisdictional laws shall control.
(c) Any claims or litigation relating to Lucky For Life tickets and/or prizes:
(1) Shall be subject to and resolved in accordance with the laws, rules and regulations of the Agency and jurisdiction in which the ticket was purchased;
(2) Must be brought in and strictly limited to the courts located within the jurisdiction of the District of Columbia; and
(3) Shall only be brought against the Agency in the jurisdiction where such ticket was purchased.
Section 9900, DEFINITIONS, of Chapter 99, DEFINITIONS, is amended by adding the following terms and definitions:
“New England Lotteries” – means the Lotteries responsible for and offering the Lucky For Life Game.
“Party Lottery” – means a Lottery offering or participating in the Lucky For Life on-line game.
“Clearinghouse Lottery” – means the Party Lottery or other duly authorized entity who is responsible for collecting and transferring prize payouts for the Lucky For Life game on behalf of all Party Lotteries.
“Lucky Ball” – means the number selected from the second set of numbers in each Lucky For Life Drawing.
