March 18, 2009, 9:16 pm
Trailblazing N.H. had first-in-nation lottery
"A tragic mistake." "A scandalous experiment in state financing." "The shame of New Hampshire." Opponents of expanded gambling argue that it would hurt the state's image and cause more problems than it would solve. But the quotes above aren't from the current legislative debate; they're from newspaper editorials written in 1964, when New Hampshire launched the nation's first legal state-run lottery.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Auto workers collect lottery winnings
March 17, 2009, 7:37 am
There haven't been many happy stories involving Indiana auto workers lately, but one family is an exception. A mother and her two daughters, one retired from General Motors and two who work for Delphi in Kokomo, cashed in Monday, claiming an $11 million Hoosier Lottery prize.
It was the biggest check Jill Carver, of Kokomo, and daughters Brenda Carver and Ronette Kelley had ever received. While Delphi has struggled, along with all of the American auto industry, Carver and Kelley have claimed their own personal stimulus check. "You had to look at it four or five times to make sure you were seeing the right numbers," Jill Carver said.
There haven't been many happy stories involving Indiana auto workers lately, but one family is an exception. A mother and her two daughters, one retired from General Motors and two who work for Delphi in Kokomo, cashed in Monday, claiming an $11 million Hoosier Lottery prize.
It was the biggest check Jill Carver, of Kokomo, and daughters Brenda Carver and Ronette Kelley had ever received. While Delphi has struggled, along with all of the American auto industry, Carver and Kelley have claimed their own personal stimulus check. "You had to look at it four or five times to make sure you were seeing the right numbers," Jill Carver said.
N.Y. man claims $26M Mega Millions lottery jackpot
March 17, 2009, 7:57 am
A 45-year-old Wyandanch, New York, man is a mega-millionaire. The yet-to-be identified New York State Lottery winner came forward to claim his Mega Millions prize yesterday, lottery officials said. Depending on how he wishes to be paid, either in installments or a single lump sum, his winnings could be as high as $26 million before taxes. He will be introduced during a news conference at a later time, a lottery spokeswoman said yesterday. The man purchased the winning ticket Friday at the P&T Supermarket in Wyandanch. His computer-generated Quick Pick numbers were 10, 12, 26, 46 and 50 with a mega ball of 23, lottery officials said.
A 45-year-old Wyandanch, New York, man is a mega-millionaire. The yet-to-be identified New York State Lottery winner came forward to claim his Mega Millions prize yesterday, lottery officials said. Depending on how he wishes to be paid, either in installments or a single lump sum, his winnings could be as high as $26 million before taxes. He will be introduced during a news conference at a later time, a lottery spokeswoman said yesterday. The man purchased the winning ticket Friday at the P&T Supermarket in Wyandanch. His computer-generated Quick Pick numbers were 10, 12, 26, 46 and 50 with a mega ball of 23, lottery officials said.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Illinois Senate president hopes to expand lottery
Internet sales being contemplated
Hoping to squeeze more money out of the state lottery, Illinois Senate President John Cullerton wants to sell tickets online and hire a private company to manage and market the games.
Cullerton thinks new technology and fresh ideas could help Illinois — facing what could be a $9 billion hole in next year's budget — dramatically boost lottery revenues.
"I would venture to say you could potentially even double it," the Chicago Democrat said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
But lottery experts are skeptical, noting Internet sales could raise legal questions and might not attract many new customers because lottery tickets already are so easy to buy.
And changing lottery management would make little difference in sales, they say, unless Illinois also changed the kinds of games and marketing it allows. Would video lottery terminals, similar to slot machines, be allowed? Could the lottery be advertised aggressively without allegations of exploiting the poor?
"It really comes down to whether a lot of strings are attached," said Sen. Dave Syverson of Rockford, the top Republican on the Illinois Senate's gambling committee.
No U.S. lottery sells individual tickets online. A handful of states let people go online to buy long-term subscriptions, where customers sign up in advance to play the same numbers week after week. However, even that has been complicated by credit card companies classifying the subscriptions as a gambling purchase instead of a government service, triggering additional fees and red tape for customers.
Cullerton, D-Chicago, said he would like to sell online tickets to the state's major game, Lotto. He predicted that would attract impulse buyers who hear of a huge jackpot but don't want to stand in line at a convenience store. Then there would be even bigger jackpots.
"Buy it online, the jackpot goes up dramatically. Then you have the effect of more and more people buying," Cullerton said, estimating it might increase Lotto sales by $300 million a year.
Lotto sales for the past fiscal year totaled $113 million. Sales for the multistate "Mega Millions" game were $221 million.
Lottery experts say it's not clear whether Internet sales would be allowed under federal law.
I. Nelson Rose, a professor at California's Whittier Law School, said he thought it would be permitted so long as the computer system barred purchases by anyone outside of Illinois.
"It certainly would be successful, even if they limited it to Illinois. Most of the lotteries of the world sell a significant percentage of their tickets online," Rose said. But, he added, "It would be an incremental increase. To some extent, you're going to cannibalize what you've already got."
Other experts said the law is far from clear.
"I think it's an issue of not clearly understanding what exactly the rights are of the state in this issue," said David Gale, executive director of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries.
Even if legal, Internet ticket sales would raise sensitive policy questions.
Randy Miller, executive director of the lottery in North Dakota, where they allow online subscription purchases, said he would worry about gambling addicts maxing out their credit cards. "That's going to facilitate impulse-buying for problem gamblers," he said.
Cullerton said Illinois could see even more benefits from private management of the lottery.
He rejects the idea of selling the lottery or leasing it for decades to a private company, an idea former Gov. Rod Blagojevich had pushed. Instead, Cullerton suggests maintaining ownership but letting someone else manage and market the lottery.
He offered no specific predictions but said it might be possible to double sales, which totaled nearly $2.1 billion last year, up 2.8 percent from the year before.
"The private sector can manage the lottery much better than it's been managed. The lottery's trying to sell to the same people instead of marketing to new people," Cullerton said.
Others, however, say it's unlikely private management would make a dramatic difference unless the state's lottery laws changed, too.
Could private managers offer video lottery machines or keno, a popular Las Vegas game? Would they be allowed to sell tickets everywhere, including stores that sell pornography? Would they face any repercussions for advertising seen as targeting the poor and encouraging people to bet money they can't afford to lose, something that has happened in the past?
"One of the problems with this idea is, it still would be the state lottery. Even if it were privately run, I think you still wouldn't see them selling outside of welfare offices," Rose said. "Traditionally, lotteries have been fairly conservative because of the fear of political backlash."
Hoping to squeeze more money out of the state lottery, Illinois Senate President John Cullerton wants to sell tickets online and hire a private company to manage and market the games.
Cullerton thinks new technology and fresh ideas could help Illinois — facing what could be a $9 billion hole in next year's budget — dramatically boost lottery revenues.
"I would venture to say you could potentially even double it," the Chicago Democrat said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
But lottery experts are skeptical, noting Internet sales could raise legal questions and might not attract many new customers because lottery tickets already are so easy to buy.
And changing lottery management would make little difference in sales, they say, unless Illinois also changed the kinds of games and marketing it allows. Would video lottery terminals, similar to slot machines, be allowed? Could the lottery be advertised aggressively without allegations of exploiting the poor?
"It really comes down to whether a lot of strings are attached," said Sen. Dave Syverson of Rockford, the top Republican on the Illinois Senate's gambling committee.
No U.S. lottery sells individual tickets online. A handful of states let people go online to buy long-term subscriptions, where customers sign up in advance to play the same numbers week after week. However, even that has been complicated by credit card companies classifying the subscriptions as a gambling purchase instead of a government service, triggering additional fees and red tape for customers.
Cullerton, D-Chicago, said he would like to sell online tickets to the state's major game, Lotto. He predicted that would attract impulse buyers who hear of a huge jackpot but don't want to stand in line at a convenience store. Then there would be even bigger jackpots.
"Buy it online, the jackpot goes up dramatically. Then you have the effect of more and more people buying," Cullerton said, estimating it might increase Lotto sales by $300 million a year.
Lotto sales for the past fiscal year totaled $113 million. Sales for the multistate "Mega Millions" game were $221 million.
Lottery experts say it's not clear whether Internet sales would be allowed under federal law.
I. Nelson Rose, a professor at California's Whittier Law School, said he thought it would be permitted so long as the computer system barred purchases by anyone outside of Illinois.
"It certainly would be successful, even if they limited it to Illinois. Most of the lotteries of the world sell a significant percentage of their tickets online," Rose said. But, he added, "It would be an incremental increase. To some extent, you're going to cannibalize what you've already got."
Other experts said the law is far from clear.
"I think it's an issue of not clearly understanding what exactly the rights are of the state in this issue," said David Gale, executive director of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries.
Even if legal, Internet ticket sales would raise sensitive policy questions.
Randy Miller, executive director of the lottery in North Dakota, where they allow online subscription purchases, said he would worry about gambling addicts maxing out their credit cards. "That's going to facilitate impulse-buying for problem gamblers," he said.
Cullerton said Illinois could see even more benefits from private management of the lottery.
He rejects the idea of selling the lottery or leasing it for decades to a private company, an idea former Gov. Rod Blagojevich had pushed. Instead, Cullerton suggests maintaining ownership but letting someone else manage and market the lottery.
He offered no specific predictions but said it might be possible to double sales, which totaled nearly $2.1 billion last year, up 2.8 percent from the year before.
"The private sector can manage the lottery much better than it's been managed. The lottery's trying to sell to the same people instead of marketing to new people," Cullerton said.
Others, however, say it's unlikely private management would make a dramatic difference unless the state's lottery laws changed, too.
Could private managers offer video lottery machines or keno, a popular Las Vegas game? Would they be allowed to sell tickets everywhere, including stores that sell pornography? Would they face any repercussions for advertising seen as targeting the poor and encouraging people to bet money they can't afford to lose, something that has happened in the past?
"One of the problems with this idea is, it still would be the state lottery. Even if it were privately run, I think you still wouldn't see them selling outside of welfare offices," Rose said. "Traditionally, lotteries have been fairly conservative because of the fear of political backlash."
US Jackpots
Mega Millions $103 Million Draw date FridayFeb 17, 2009
Powerball $105 Million Draw date SaturdayFeb 18, 2009
Illinois Lotto $3.3 Million Draw date Wed, Feb 16, 2009
Illinois Little Lotto $150,000 Draw date Wed, Feb 16, 2009
May The Numbers Be With You!!!!!!
Powerball $105 Million Draw date SaturdayFeb 18, 2009
Illinois Lotto $3.3 Million Draw date Wed, Feb 16, 2009
Illinois Little Lotto $150,000 Draw date Wed, Feb 16, 2009
May The Numbers Be With You!!!!!!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
US Jackpots continue to grow!
Around the United States, lottery jackpots are continuing to grow larger, making the allure of picking up a couple extra lottery tickets ever-stronger. Leading the pack is the California SuperLotto Plus jackpot, which rolled to $76 million last night when no ticket won Wednesday night's $70 million top prize. The jackpots of both multi-state lotteries have rolled over again this week also, with grand prizes of $65 million for Powerball and $60 million for Mega Millions.
Because Mega Millions is played in California, two of the three largest jackpots worldwide are available for residents of that state to play. Mega Millions is played in a total of twelve states: California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. Powerball is played in every other state that has a lottery, plus Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Other big USA jackpots this week include Lotto Texas ($16 million), New York Lotto ($13 million), and Ohio Classic Lotto ($12.7 million).
All of the largest jackpots will be drawn on Saturday, with the exception of Mega Millions, which is drawn on Friday.
Around the world, only the multi-country Euro Millions game has a similarly-large jackpot, with a top prize of €15 Million (US$19.2 Million) that will be drawn on Friday.
Because Mega Millions is played in California, two of the three largest jackpots worldwide are available for residents of that state to play. Mega Millions is played in a total of twelve states: California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. Powerball is played in every other state that has a lottery, plus Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Other big USA jackpots this week include Lotto Texas ($16 million), New York Lotto ($13 million), and Ohio Classic Lotto ($12.7 million).
All of the largest jackpots will be drawn on Saturday, with the exception of Mega Millions, which is drawn on Friday.
Around the world, only the multi-country Euro Millions game has a similarly-large jackpot, with a top prize of €15 Million (US$19.2 Million) that will be drawn on Friday.
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