Therefore, if your straight bet wins, you win both the straight amount and the boxed amount. If your numbers do not come up straight, but a combination of your numbers come up, you win only the boxed amount. Many times an instant ticket has expired and there is no visible way of knowing. The Lottery cannot place expiration dates on tickets because an expiration date is not known when the ticket is printed. Sales of each instant game determine when that game will be closed.
Some games sell much faster than others.
If an expiration date is printed on a ticket, the Lottery would have to pull a game off the shelf as of that date, regardless of its sales. Instant tickets are valid for 180 days after the closing date. Lottery agents can tell you when a certain game is closing or is closed and when tickets expire. A Lottery is a game of chance, and to preserve the integrity of the Ohio Lottery, printing winning tickets is done randomly. We cannot program winning tickets without compromising integrity.