Gotta Lose to Win: Texas Lottery's Billion-dollar Scratch-off Asks More Questions Than It Answers

The state's new Willy Wonka Golden Ticket lottery game is the darndest thing.The Texas Lottery is offering a chance for one player to win a record billion dollars.So many questions.How can Texas afford to pay $1 billion to a winner?Why do the billboards and TV commercials feature the late actor Gene Wilder who died eight months ago?Does the game overly appeal to children?And most important to The Watchdog, why do you have to pay $10 for a ticket but pray that you lose the three different scratch-off games on it? Only losing tickets may be entered into "the Billion Dollar Challenge."Comprende? You gotta lose to win. You scratch off all the spots on the oversized, colorful ticket, lose and then get to re-enter the second-chance drawing to go to Vegas for the billion.I always thought you wanted to win with your ticket. Not here.  Continue reading...