(Screen grab courtesy OLG website)(Screen grab courtesy OLG website)
Chatham

OLG Says Don't Turn Your Dream Into A Nightmare

The Ontario Lottery Gaming Corporation (OLG) is advising people to have a game plan when they're playing any lottery with someone else.

That advice comes after a Lotto 6/49 dispute surfaced in Chatham in which Maurice Thibeault and his ex-girlfriend, Denise Robertson, are fighting over $6.1-million.

OLG spokesperson Tony Bitonti says the number one tip is to have a group captain if you're playing with others to organize buying the tickets, collecting the money and distributing copies of the tickets. Bitonti says there's a lot of record keeping involved in group play and someone should be in charge.

"Communication is a big key in ensuring that group play is a lot of fun, it's very popular and we want to make sure that if you do win, that the prize claim process is very seamless and very easy for you guys," says Bitonti.

The OLG says over a third of lottery players participate in group play.  For more tools and information about group play, visit www.olg.ca under 'Group Play'.

The Thibeault/Robertson lottery proceeds are on hold while the OLG reviews the ticket bought in Chatham.

Bitonti says its important to follow OLG's guidelines to ensure a great experience.

"If you're going to pay $5 whether it's to the group captain or you're going to buy the ticket yourself, you're always going to get a receipt from the retailer, which is the ticket. In this case, if you're playing in a group make sure that you get a copy of the ticket from the group captain," Bitonti says.

He says proper documentation always makes playing the lottery more fun and getting paid easier if there's a winner.

"We have an extensive data analytics tool that knows everything about that ticket. The one thing we don't know is who bought that ticket and that's why we have this prize claim review process for an individual or group that wins $1,000 or more," says Bitonti.

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