 Despite it being the lottery with the highest sales in the United States of "traditional" draw games, the New York Lottery has been increasingly criticized for offering low payout percentages; and, until 2013, not allowing scratch-game winners of annuitized prizes to choose cash in lieu of periodic payments.New York Lotto, begun in 1978, which has the lowest payout (of each dollar wagered no more than 40 cents are paid to players) of a U.S. lottery game.