While a Virginia man is suing that state's Lottery, alleging that it continues to sell scratch-off game tickets even after all major prizes have been claimed, safeguards in the West Virginia Lottery would make similar lawsuits unlikely here, the Lottery's marketing director said Tuesday.

A key difference, said the West Virginia Lottery's Libby White, is that the Virginia Lottery has a number of ongoing instant ticket games with multiple printings of tickets.

That means retailers could be selling tickets from an earlier shipment, where all major prizes have been claimed, along with new tickets, she said.

"The only game we've had like that, that has had that kind of longevity and we've reordered, is the $2 scratch-off keno," she said.

All other West Virginia Lottery scratch-off games are single-printings, and end as soon as the last major prize is claimed, she said.

"The minute we know all the top prizes are gone, we pull the game," she said. "We do vigilant monitoring of these claims, especially once a game gets down to its last three or four major prizes."

She said the Virginia Lottery tends to emphasize scratch-off games with a small number of large-dollar amount prizes, even up to $1 million, while West Virginia games generally offer larger numbers of more moderate jackpots, usually in the $5,000 to $15,000 range.

The rationale of having games with a larger numbers of smaller-amount top prizes is that it generally extends the lifespan of any given game.

"It's costly to us to have tickets returned and shredded," she said of games that end prematurely because all major prizes have been claimed.

To contact staff writer Phil Kabler, use e-mail or call 348-1220.

A key difference, said the West Virginia Lottery's Libby White, is that the Virginia Lottery has a number of ongoing instant ticket games with multiple printings of tickets.

That means retailers could be selling tickets from an earlier shipment, where all major prizes have been claimed, along with new tickets, she said.

"The only game we've had like that, that has had that kind of longevity and we've reordered, is the $2 scratch-off keno," she said.

All other West Virginia Lottery scratch-off games are single-printings, and end as soon as the last major prize is claimed, she said.

"The minute we know all the top prizes are gone, we pull the game," she said. "We do vigilant monitoring of these claims, especially once a game gets down to its last three or four major prizes."

She said the Virginia Lottery tends to emphasize scratch-off games with a small number of large-dollar amount prizes, even up to $1 million, while West Virginia games generally offer larger numbers of more moderate jackpots, usually in the $5,000 to $15,000 range.

The rationale of having games with a larger numbers of smaller-amount top prizes is that it generally extends the lifespan of any given game.

"It's costly to us to have tickets returned and shredded," she said of games that end prematurely because all major prizes have been claimed.

To contact staff writer Phil Kabler, use e-mail or call 348-1220.