Does The Lotto Store Till Really Have To Chime For Every Winning Ticket?

You go into the lottery store clutching your handful of tickets after playing with the Silver Lotto System.

You're in the queue, and a few moments later you notice a couple of guys move in behind you. They're big, look a little tough, swaggery.

You step up to the counter and the girl starts putting them through the machine.

After just a couple of tickets the till chimes the winning sound. Great!

Then again! And yet again!

Now you're starting to get a little uncomfortable, sure the guys behind are mentally adding up the prize money.

I wonder if I'll be a target for them when I step outside, you think. Why can't they turn the ring chimes off so I can keep my multiple wins secret!

Well, they can't. Many lottery organisations require their stores to have a ring sound as a safety net for both the customer and the retailer.

It happens. Here's a New York store clerk stealing a customer's lottery ticket. YouTube

The ring sounds acts as an alert so there can be no chance of anyone forgetting to pay out, or concealing a winning ticket from the customer.

The UK National Lottery sets it out clearly in their player guidelines:

The National Lottery terminal will emit the 'win sound' every time a winning Lottery Draw Game ticket or Scratchcard is scanned.

Retailers have always had to inform a player if they have won a National Lottery prize. The 'win sound' simply standardises the process for how players are alerted to the fact that they are in possession of a winning ticket – it does not indicate how much the player has won or any other details.

And if a different sound means a big win over the retailer's cash payout limit, the retailer is not obliged to tell you the amount you've won and will refer you to the lottery headquarters.

Here's a video with the Texas Lottery terms and conditions for their winning tones: