No full jackpot for man

TORONTO—An Ontario man hoping to cash in on misprinted scratch-and-win lottery tickets won’t be showing off his happy dance after all.
Following a week of sleepless nights believing he’d be paid $135,000 for an error made by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., Thomas Noftall learned yesterday he’ll receive a financial settlement for his grief—but not the full prize.

Emerging with his lawyer after a meeting with officials at OLG’s Toronto headquarters, Noftall said the rules were explained to him—and he acknowledged he did not have any winning tickets.
“I understand the rules now. We’ve sat down and we’ve spoke and gone over the rules several times,” said Noftall, who entered into an agreement not to disclose the payment amount.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that I didn’t win—it wasn’t my dream.”
As many as 1,100 misprinted “Fruit Smash” scratch-and-win lottery tickets selling for $3 each were in circulation in Ontario before being recalled. OLG is now pulling its remaining cards from all stores in the province.
The lottery corporation said a small portion of the three million “Fruit Smash” tickets had some misaligned or mismatched symbols underneath the latex surface that players scratch away.
The misprinted tickets were pulled from stores the same day the first complaint was received, and it’s estimated only 50-150 of the tickets actually were sold.
While some 15 people have called the OLG to complain about misleading tickets, CEO Kelly McDougald called Noftall’s case “unique.”
The 27-year-old from Brampton, Ont. had talked with an employee at the lottery call centre and was told he would be paid despite the fact the ticket was a misprint, she said.
“[The financial settlement] was in respect of a miscommunication that we had made to him,” she said.
“In recognition of the grief that that caused him over the last few days, we’ve reached and acknowledged a settlement with him.”
Believing he’d be paid the full amount, Noftall, who’s originally from St. John’s, N.L., had planned to make a down payment on a home and pay off debts and child support.
He said he was worn down fretting over how to handle the situation and even had been prepared to sue the lottery corporation if necessary.
But the fiasco doesn’t mean Noftall will stop playing lotteries; he said he’s already picked up a Lotto 6-49 ticket.
“I think me and my family are going to be happy,” he said. “I’m going home to sleep.”