Massachusetts Lottery has a +EV Game.

Interesting article in today's Boston Globe about a Massachusetts lottery game that has a +EV during certain timeframes (rollover periods when the consolation prizes increase). I found the discussion of the syndicates that have been set up to exploit this game interesting. According to the article and professor/statistician (Kon from BU) with $500k, you have nearly a 100% chance of having a positive return. I would have like to have heard more about the syndicates, but naturally, none of them wanted to talk and are upset about being exposed. Overall a very interesting read.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/07/31/a_lottery_game_with_a_windfall_for_a_knowing_few/?page=1

Very interesting read.

My state lottery site lists how many prizes are remaining
at each level for the scratch-off tickets.

It wasn't as clear to me how many prizes there were to
start with, but that info may be there as well. I'm pretty
sure it is on the actual ticket.

From time to time, the lottery commission sends out a
mailing where you can get a free $ 2 ticket. I got one
of those a few months ago.