Abstract: A lottery ticket validation system validates a probability lottery ticket that has predetermined play rules and that includes a plurality of player removable material covering play spots that in turn cover play indicia located in predetermined locations on the ticket. In addition, validation data is printed on the ticket in the form of a bar code. The validation system includes a housing, a controller located in the housing, a document channel configured in the housing, a sensor, a data reader, a transport mechanism, a scanning circuit, a memory, a processor, and a stigmatization circuit. The sensor includes an optical detector located in the housing and operatively connected to the controller. The data reader is operatively connected to the controller and is adapted to read the bar code. The transport mechanism is located in the housing and is operatively connected to the controller. The transport mechanism includes at least one roller, a plurality of ticket sensors, and a motor.

Abstract: A lottery ticket validation system reduces or eliminates spying on the status of tickets. The system uses a compression and encryption process to store its data compactly. The system is not a flag system. No particular bit in the memory corresponds to any given ticket. Thus, spying on a ticket's status by accessing the data base is extremely difficult. The amount of memory allocated to the system is altered dynamically during the lifetime of a game depending on how many tickets have been validated. In this way, memory requirements are kept-low.