Kentucky Lottery moving drawing show to the Internet

Sep 4, 2012, 9:19 am (56 comments)

Kentucky Lottery

Powerball and Mega Millions drawings still available In Kentucky on cable and satellite TV

Includes video report

The Kentucky Lottery has announced a major shift in its nightly televised drawing show. Starting September 16, the nightly drawing program will no longer be aired on broadcast TV stations. Instead, drawings will be streamed live and archived on the Lottery's website (kylottery.com).

There will however still be a cable and satellite outlet for the Mega Millions and Powerball drawings. These draws have been and will continue to be shown live on WGN-TV, an outlet on nearly every cable and satellite system.

"When we started our draw show 23 years ago, the Internet as we know it didn't exist," said Kentucky Lottery President and CEO Arch Gleason. "Newspapers, retailers and the nightly show were the main places where people found winning numbers. Now, more than half of our players — 54% at last count — say they use the Internet to find their winning numbers. This is more than double the amount which find drawing results in the next highest ranked outlet, newspapers at 25%."

As a result of this switch, lotteries across the United States have started moving away from televised drawings. Gleason said many states, notably Indiana and Tennessee, have shut down their shows completely. There are more states now that don't air their drawings (25) as there are states that still maintain a draw show (19). States in recent history who have taken the step of shutting down their draw shows have not seen a significant and lasting drop in sales as a result of the move.

[Editor's note: Both Indiana and Tennessee use computerized drawings to pick the winning numbers, whereas Kentucky uses traditional lottery ball drawings, in which the viewer can actually "see" the winning numbers being drawn.  So a comparison between Kentucky's draw show and Indiana/Tennessee is probably not the best, since draw shows are more important when real lottery drawings are employed.  Hopefully this does not signal a step toward computerized drawings in Kentucky.]

Research that led to this move included these findings:

  • About 2% of Kentucky Lottery players watch the draw show daily either on TV or via the KLC's website, whereas upwards of 80% say they never watch the show or watch once a year.
  • Around 50% of players say that, even though they aren't watching it on TV very often, it's important to them that televised drawings take place.

"By making this commitment to the platform most of our players are using to find winning numbers — and not completely shutting down the show as has been the case in other states — we're keeping the drawings available for viewing in the place where a majority of players look for results," said Gleason.

Players can receive text messages or emails with winning numbers by signing up for the Kentucky Lottery's Player's Fun Club on the website, or subscribe to the lottery's Twitter feed that automatically distributes winning numbers.

The savings from this move will be substantial, according to the lottery's Vice President of Finance Rick Kelley. "Our current production costs for the drawing are slightly over a half million dollars per year," said Kelley. "By bringing this production in-house, a significant amount of what we were spending (around 95% after start-up costs) can be saved."

"Every dollar we save is a dollar that goes to help send students in Kentucky to college," said Gleason. "The Kentucky Lottery is the sole funding source of the popular KEES scholarship program, and provides a majority of funds for the CAP and KTG college grant programs. When we take an action like this to save funds, that means more money we send to the Commonwealth – and more Kentucky kids get help to pay for their college education."

VIDEO:  Watch the video report from the Kentucky Lottery

Press Release, Lottery Post Staff

Comments

Littleoldlady's avatarLittleoldlady

I watch on the internet anyway.  Haven't seen a TV broadcast in some years.

Stack47

"About 2% of Kentucky Lottery players watch the draw show daily either on TV or via the KLC's website,"

The reason I'm in that "2% group" is because it's usually a half hour after the drawing before the results are on their website and some times it takes over an hour. I sort of understand the reason for the delay because their site gives a breakdown of how many players won the individual prizes.

The good news is the Kentucky lottery will continue to have ball drawings and we should get the results sooner.

"By making this commitment to the platform most of our players are using to find winning numbers — and not completely shutting down the show as has been the case in other states — we're keeping the drawings available for viewing in the place where a majority of players look for results," said Gleason."

That is one player savvy lottery president; finding ways of cutting costs without jeopardizing the integrity of their games and not at the expense of the players!

Ronnie316

Every dollar they save goes toward collage students........ good news.

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by Stack47 on Sep 4, 2012

"About 2% of Kentucky Lottery players watch the draw show daily either on TV or via the KLC's website,"

The reason I'm in that "2% group" is because it's usually a half hour after the drawing before the results are on their website and some times it takes over an hour. I sort of understand the reason for the delay because their site gives a breakdown of how many players won the individual prizes.

The good news is the Kentucky lottery will continue to have ball drawings and we should get the results sooner.

"By making this commitment to the platform most of our players are using to find winning numbers — and not completely shutting down the show as has been the case in other states — we're keeping the drawings available for viewing in the place where a majority of players look for results," said Gleason."

That is one player savvy lottery president; finding ways of cutting costs without jeopardizing the integrity of their games and not at the expense of the players!

Dont they have a phone line or electronic update for instant results Stack?/

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by Littleoldlady on Sep 4, 2012

I watch on the internet anyway.  Haven't seen a TV broadcast in some years.

I never watch a live broadcast either.

dpoly1's avatardpoly1

Why can State Lotteries cut costs and run efficiently,

but State Governments almost always operate with deficits? Those pesky "Rolls Royce" public employee Stooges pensions,wages and health benefits .....................................

Stack47

Quote: Originally posted by Ronnie316 on Sep 4, 2012

Dont they have a phone line or electronic update for instant results Stack?/

There is a phone number with the results but the drawing is at 11 PM and more of a reason why it's not necessary to see the live drawing on TV. I've never checked their mobile app but will tonight to see how quickly they post the results. The Midday drawings were never shown live and because of the change, those drawings will be shown live every day via Internet streaming.

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Quote: Originally posted by dpoly1 on Sep 4, 2012

Why can State Lotteries cut costs and run efficiently,

but State Governments almost always operate with deficits? Those pesky "Rolls Royce" public employee Stooges pensions,wages and health benefits .....................................

If state lotteries had a deficit then there would be no reason for them to exist since their only purpose is to make money for the state.

Todd's avatarTodd

UPDATE

I just updated the news story to include a video by the Kentucky Lottery explaining the changes, and showing the inside of the studio as they are finishing construction.

The Kentucky Lottery will be monitoring THIS THREAD, and will answer any questions you want to post to them, so now is your chance to ask any questions you have about the new drawings!

LottoBoner

New York has a mixture of live and web draws.

The daily numbers and MegaMillions continues to be on ABC

The Take Five and Lotto have moved to internet.  I am very happy to see it live, because it keeps them on the level.  Everytime I cant get the draw on the abc website, my first thought is always, "ah man, I hope the fix aint in"

And another plus to having online draws is that they have a traffic webcam in place streaming before the draw, so i always know how the traffic is on the GWB.

I am also in that 2% because yes i like to get crunching again ASAP.

If a state didn't have any live draws, i might not play at all.  A good reason to boycott.  There is nothing that gets my LB going like a bunch of painted bouncing air filled machine driven pong ping balls.

Kudos to Kentucky!!!Cheers

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Question for Kentucky Lottery:

Do you remain committed to the real ball drawings that players prefer for all games as opposed to ever going to computer drawings which players hate?

Stack47

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Sep 4, 2012

Question for Kentucky Lottery:

Do you remain committed to the real ball drawings that players prefer for all games as opposed to ever going to computer drawings which players hate?

Kentucky now has two games that are drawn by a RNG, 5 Card Cash and the Kicker, but in both games the symbols and numbers on the tickets are QPs. Though the Midday pick-3 and pick-4 are ball drawings, they weren't drawn live on TV and now they will be on their website.

I'm interested in the answer to your question too, though I believe I already know the answer.

mcginnin56

Which game is most profitable for your players?

Which game is most profitable for the Kentucky Lottery Commission?

What will the pick 4 numbers be, for your mid-day drawing for September 5?

Which question did you like the best?

smooth11484's avatarsmooth11484

Quote: Originally posted by mcginnin56 on Sep 5, 2012

Which game is most profitable for your players?

Which game is most profitable for the Kentucky Lottery Commission?

What will the pick 4 numbers be, for your mid-day drawing for September 5?

Which question did you like the best?

^^^^^^^Stop

 

dont make any more post on this thread it was the funniest reply by far on ALL threads

 

Star ha ha ha ha good one

smooth11484's avatarsmooth11484

Quote: Originally posted by Todd on Sep 4, 2012

UPDATE

I just updated the news story to include a video by the Kentucky Lottery explaining the changes, and showing the inside of the studio as they are finishing construction.

The Kentucky Lottery will be monitoring THIS THREAD, and will answer any questions you want to post to them, so now is your chance to ask any questions you have about the new drawings!

so the lottery comm in each state monitors this site?

 

if thats so  thats prob why us" as players dont hitbig or we are always off by "1" number Rant

im going to stop my predictions on what I am playing

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by smooth11484 on Sep 5, 2012

so the lottery comm in each state monitors this site?

 

if thats so  thats prob why us" as players dont hitbig or we are always off by "1" number Rant

im going to stop my predictions on what I am playing

You would have to believe that the lottery controls the results if you want to believe what you wrote.  If you believe the lottery controls the results (rigs the drawings), then I'd suggest you stop playing.  Why would you play a crooked game?!

The whole concept of the lottery taking your individual predictions and changing the results because they are worried about YOU winning is preposterous in the extreme.  You are saying that the people running the lottery would risk getting thrown in jail just to have you lose.  It's silly, think about it.

chrissy16

Quote: Originally posted by Todd on Sep 4, 2012

UPDATE

I just updated the news story to include a video by the Kentucky Lottery explaining the changes, and showing the inside of the studio as they are finishing construction.

The Kentucky Lottery will be monitoring THIS THREAD, and will answer any questions you want to post to them, so now is your chance to ask any questions you have about the new drawings!

Does the Lottery administrators really monitor this site?  If so, I didn't know that this site was this popular.  So much for states respective lottery facebook pages.

chrissy16

Quote: Originally posted by smooth11484 on Sep 5, 2012

so the lottery comm in each state monitors this site?

 

if thats so  thats prob why us" as players dont hitbig or we are always off by "1" number Rant

im going to stop my predictions on what I am playing

I would hate to think that this is whats going on but I have to agree what Todd.  When I think of lottery administrators as employees, I think of rules and regulations for any enitiy that exist.  So a lottery administrator as an "employee" rigging the draw, is probably unlikely.  I would hate to be a lottery administrator being caught rigging a draw.  Somebody called PR immediately because you are sure going to need em.

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by Todd on Sep 5, 2012

You would have to believe that the lottery controls the results if you want to believe what you wrote.  If you believe the lottery controls the results (rigs the drawings), then I'd suggest you stop playing.  Why would you play a crooked game?!

The whole concept of the lottery taking your individual predictions and changing the results because they are worried about YOU winning is preposterous in the extreme.  You are saying that the people running the lottery would risk getting thrown in jail just to have you lose.  It's silly, think about it.

That would be why jackpots "rollover" and accumulate til somebody wins.

Which means money that is designated for prizes always goes to the players.

In Arizona, even unclaimed prizes are in large part donated to good causes.

ChipP 2

Hey folks. Chip Polston from the KY Lottery here. First off let me apologize for taking a bit to get a post on here that answered some of your questions. I had a great post written, and in trying to be helpful I committed one of the cardinal sins of the site (posting my email address so people could send me questions) and managed to get my account blocked and lost my post! Sorry Todd!

As Todd said in his earlier post, I'll be looking here for any questions that I could answer about this new draw show we'll be starting in just a couple of weeks. Although this wasn't a question, I did want to address some of the concerns I read here about lottery staff members "monitoring" this site. When I log on to my computer every morning, Lottery Post is one of the first three websites I check (after our Facebook page and local paper). I do this for two reasons - one is that this site is the best I've found for player-based news concerning happenings in our industry, and the second is that the site also provides some of the most solid player feedback I've found. If I want to get a good idea as to how players feel about something, this is the site to go to. It's important that we don't operate in an ivory tower, but instead have a good solid grounding of how players feel (both positively and negatively) about what we do. I haven't found another site that can match this one for that type of feedback. So that's what I'm looking for - I will admit that I once got lost in some of the prediction threads, and quite honestly it made my head spin so badly that I never went back!

Now for some of your questions:

Question for Kentucky Lottery:

Do you remain committed to the real ball drawings that players prefer for all games as opposed to ever going to computer drawings which players hate?

I probably shouldn't say this, but Ridge Runner, you're a legend in this building! You cemented that status a year or so ago with a comment you made on this site about my boss Steve Casebeer - you said anyone with "case" and "beer" in their name had to be an alright guy. We still talk about that around here!

To your question - you're like the Grover Norquist of RNGs, Ridge Runner! As someone posted earlier, we do use random number generators (RNGs) in our 5 Card Cash game as well as for the Kicker component of our KY Cash Ball Game. I think our commitment to balls and machines you asked about is evidenced by the announcement we made yesterday. Shutting down our draw show and going RNG was one of the routes we could have taken. Quite honestly it would've been a lot easier! But we realize and appreciate the importance of players being able to see balls with winning numbers coming out of machines, and by building this studio, we've made the commitment to do that. Does that mean absolutely nothing will change 5 or 10 years down the road? No. But by taking this step - in a time when many other states have shut down their show altogether and gone full RNG - I hope it shows how much we value traditional draws in our product mix.

And there were these...uh...interesting questions from mcginnin56:

Which game is most profitable for your players?
 
The higher the price on our scratch-off tickets, the higher the return - some of the $20 tickets have prize returns in excess of 70%. And sometimes we get SHELLACKED on our draw games - a series of triple digits and other popular numbers for our Pick 3 game in July paid out 93.5% of sales in prizes!

Which game is most profitable for the Kentucky Lottery Commission?

Powerball and Mega Millions are the most profitable games - they return about 50 cents on the dollar, and our profits go to college scholarship and grant programs.

What will the pick 4 numbers be, for your mid-day drawing for September 5?

Definitely something between 0000 and 9999. Ask me again around 1:45 and I'll have a much better answer :)

Which question did you like the best?

Absolutely that last one.

So there we go. Thanks for the questions and some of the downright nice comments I've read on this thread. I'll be back on here tomorrow AM, so fire away with any other questions or concerns. We appreciate you playing, and hope you enjoy our new show starting on the 16th!

 

ChipP 2

Quote: Originally posted by chrissy16 on Sep 5, 2012

I would hate to think that this is whats going on but I have to agree what Todd.  When I think of lottery administrators as employees, I think of rules and regulations for any enitiy that exist.  So a lottery administrator as an "employee" rigging the draw, is probably unlikely.  I would hate to be a lottery administrator being caught rigging a draw.  Somebody called PR immediately because you are sure going to need em.

If you're caught rigging a draw, a call to PR is the last one you'll make - your first call will be to get a lawyer because you'll be going to jail. Here in KY it's a class B felony to tamper with any drawing equipment, and this carries a minimum 10 year sentence and maximum 20 year sentence.

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by ChipP 2 on Sep 5, 2012

If you're caught rigging a draw, a call to PR is the last one you'll make - your first call will be to get a lawyer because you'll be going to jail. Here in KY it's a class B felony to tamper with any drawing equipment, and this carries a minimum 10 year sentence and maximum 20 year sentence.

Green laugh  The PR department might be good to call after your criminal attorney, to put a positive spin on your your rigging activities.

         A possible defense: Your honor my client had PTSD, PMS, and emotional delusions, resulting from very heavy lottery losses.   Crazy

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by ChipP 2 on Sep 5, 2012

Hey folks. Chip Polston from the KY Lottery here. First off let me apologize for taking a bit to get a post on here that answered some of your questions. I had a great post written, and in trying to be helpful I committed one of the cardinal sins of the site (posting my email address so people could send me questions) and managed to get my account blocked and lost my post! Sorry Todd!

As Todd said in his earlier post, I'll be looking here for any questions that I could answer about this new draw show we'll be starting in just a couple of weeks. Although this wasn't a question, I did want to address some of the concerns I read here about lottery staff members "monitoring" this site. When I log on to my computer every morning, Lottery Post is one of the first three websites I check (after our Facebook page and local paper). I do this for two reasons - one is that this site is the best I've found for player-based news concerning happenings in our industry, and the second is that the site also provides some of the most solid player feedback I've found. If I want to get a good idea as to how players feel about something, this is the site to go to. It's important that we don't operate in an ivory tower, but instead have a good solid grounding of how players feel (both positively and negatively) about what we do. I haven't found another site that can match this one for that type of feedback. So that's what I'm looking for - I will admit that I once got lost in some of the prediction threads, and quite honestly it made my head spin so badly that I never went back!

Now for some of your questions:

Question for Kentucky Lottery:

Do you remain committed to the real ball drawings that players prefer for all games as opposed to ever going to computer drawings which players hate?

I probably shouldn't say this, but Ridge Runner, you're a legend in this building! You cemented that status a year or so ago with a comment you made on this site about my boss Steve Casebeer - you said anyone with "case" and "beer" in their name had to be an alright guy. We still talk about that around here!

To your question - you're like the Grover Norquist of RNGs, Ridge Runner! As someone posted earlier, we do use random number generators (RNGs) in our 5 Card Cash game as well as for the Kicker component of our KY Cash Ball Game. I think our commitment to balls and machines you asked about is evidenced by the announcement we made yesterday. Shutting down our draw show and going RNG was one of the routes we could have taken. Quite honestly it would've been a lot easier! But we realize and appreciate the importance of players being able to see balls with winning numbers coming out of machines, and by building this studio, we've made the commitment to do that. Does that mean absolutely nothing will change 5 or 10 years down the road? No. But by taking this step - in a time when many other states have shut down their show altogether and gone full RNG - I hope it shows how much we value traditional draws in our product mix.

And there were these...uh...interesting questions from mcginnin56:

Which game is most profitable for your players?
 
The higher the price on our scratch-off tickets, the higher the return - some of the $20 tickets have prize returns in excess of 70%. And sometimes we get SHELLACKED on our draw games - a series of triple digits and other popular numbers for our Pick 3 game in July paid out 93.5% of sales in prizes!

Which game is most profitable for the Kentucky Lottery Commission?

Powerball and Mega Millions are the most profitable games - they return about 50 cents on the dollar, and our profits go to college scholarship and grant programs.

What will the pick 4 numbers be, for your mid-day drawing for September 5?

Definitely something between 0000 and 9999. Ask me again around 1:45 and I'll have a much better answer :)

Which question did you like the best?

Absolutely that last one.

So there we go. Thanks for the questions and some of the downright nice comments I've read on this thread. I'll be back on here tomorrow AM, so fire away with any other questions or concerns. We appreciate you playing, and hope you enjoy our new show starting on the 16th!

 

The higher the price on our scratch-off tickets, the higher the return - some of the $20 tickets have prize returns in excess of 70%. And sometimes we get SHELLACKED on our draw games - a series of triple digits and other popular numbers for our Pick 3 game in July paid out 93.5% of sales in prizes!
 
Thanks ChipP 2
This confirms what LL and some other savvy players have been telling us all alone about great pay-outs.
smooth11484's avatarsmooth11484

Quote: Originally posted by ChipP 2 on Sep 5, 2012

Hey folks. Chip Polston from the KY Lottery here. First off let me apologize for taking a bit to get a post on here that answered some of your questions. I had a great post written, and in trying to be helpful I committed one of the cardinal sins of the site (posting my email address so people could send me questions) and managed to get my account blocked and lost my post! Sorry Todd!

As Todd said in his earlier post, I'll be looking here for any questions that I could answer about this new draw show we'll be starting in just a couple of weeks. Although this wasn't a question, I did want to address some of the concerns I read here about lottery staff members "monitoring" this site. When I log on to my computer every morning, Lottery Post is one of the first three websites I check (after our Facebook page and local paper). I do this for two reasons - one is that this site is the best I've found for player-based news concerning happenings in our industry, and the second is that the site also provides some of the most solid player feedback I've found. If I want to get a good idea as to how players feel about something, this is the site to go to. It's important that we don't operate in an ivory tower, but instead have a good solid grounding of how players feel (both positively and negatively) about what we do. I haven't found another site that can match this one for that type of feedback. So that's what I'm looking for - I will admit that I once got lost in some of the prediction threads, and quite honestly it made my head spin so badly that I never went back!

Now for some of your questions:

Question for Kentucky Lottery:

Do you remain committed to the real ball drawings that players prefer for all games as opposed to ever going to computer drawings which players hate?

I probably shouldn't say this, but Ridge Runner, you're a legend in this building! You cemented that status a year or so ago with a comment you made on this site about my boss Steve Casebeer - you said anyone with "case" and "beer" in their name had to be an alright guy. We still talk about that around here!

To your question - you're like the Grover Norquist of RNGs, Ridge Runner! As someone posted earlier, we do use random number generators (RNGs) in our 5 Card Cash game as well as for the Kicker component of our KY Cash Ball Game. I think our commitment to balls and machines you asked about is evidenced by the announcement we made yesterday. Shutting down our draw show and going RNG was one of the routes we could have taken. Quite honestly it would've been a lot easier! But we realize and appreciate the importance of players being able to see balls with winning numbers coming out of machines, and by building this studio, we've made the commitment to do that. Does that mean absolutely nothing will change 5 or 10 years down the road? No. But by taking this step - in a time when many other states have shut down their show altogether and gone full RNG - I hope it shows how much we value traditional draws in our product mix.

And there were these...uh...interesting questions from mcginnin56:

Which game is most profitable for your players?
 
The higher the price on our scratch-off tickets, the higher the return - some of the $20 tickets have prize returns in excess of 70%. And sometimes we get SHELLACKED on our draw games - a series of triple digits and other popular numbers for our Pick 3 game in July paid out 93.5% of sales in prizes!

Which game is most profitable for the Kentucky Lottery Commission?

Powerball and Mega Millions are the most profitable games - they return about 50 cents on the dollar, and our profits go to college scholarship and grant programs.

What will the pick 4 numbers be, for your mid-day drawing for September 5?

Definitely something between 0000 and 9999. Ask me again around 1:45 and I'll have a much better answer :)

Which question did you like the best?

Absolutely that last one.

So there we go. Thanks for the questions and some of the downright nice comments I've read on this thread. I'll be back on here tomorrow AM, so fire away with any other questions or concerns. We appreciate you playing, and hope you enjoy our new show starting on the 16th!

 

This is for Todd, and Chip. First I want to respond to the claim that the lottery numbers are realized through RNG"S.  That claim is the most ridiculous thing I have read on here so far. Without getting scientific about it, I will just ask this one question; Why use a computer system to generate numbers anyway? Moreover, using the ball system is, in my opinion, the fairest; and really the only way!  Gambling is a part of my recreational hobbies. I do it not only with the lottery but, also with casino's. Another question is this: If all thing are equal between the lottery agency and the gambler, why then are certain numbers limited to player access? Is it because the lottery do not want to lose its control? Lets find the answers to these few questions. Then we can move on to more intricate ones. Thanks.

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by smooth11484 on Sep 5, 2012

This is for Todd, and Chip. First I want to respond to the claim that the lottery numbers are realized through RNG"S.  That claim is the most ridiculous thing I have read on here so far. Without getting scientific about it, I will just ask this one question; Why use a computer system to generate numbers anyway? Moreover, using the ball system is, in my opinion, the fairest; and really the only way!  Gambling is a part of my recreational hobbies. I do it not only with the lottery but, also with casino's. Another question is this: If all thing are equal between the lottery agency and the gambler, why then are certain numbers limited to player access? Is it because the lottery do not want to lose its control? Lets find the answers to these few questions. Then we can move on to more intricate ones. Thanks.

Im not a scientist, but I think they use computers for the same reason we don't use a stamp and send mail.

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by ChipP 2 on Sep 5, 2012

Hey folks. Chip Polston from the KY Lottery here. First off let me apologize for taking a bit to get a post on here that answered some of your questions. I had a great post written, and in trying to be helpful I committed one of the cardinal sins of the site (posting my email address so people could send me questions) and managed to get my account blocked and lost my post! Sorry Todd!

As Todd said in his earlier post, I'll be looking here for any questions that I could answer about this new draw show we'll be starting in just a couple of weeks. Although this wasn't a question, I did want to address some of the concerns I read here about lottery staff members "monitoring" this site. When I log on to my computer every morning, Lottery Post is one of the first three websites I check (after our Facebook page and local paper). I do this for two reasons - one is that this site is the best I've found for player-based news concerning happenings in our industry, and the second is that the site also provides some of the most solid player feedback I've found. If I want to get a good idea as to how players feel about something, this is the site to go to. It's important that we don't operate in an ivory tower, but instead have a good solid grounding of how players feel (both positively and negatively) about what we do. I haven't found another site that can match this one for that type of feedback. So that's what I'm looking for - I will admit that I once got lost in some of the prediction threads, and quite honestly it made my head spin so badly that I never went back!

Now for some of your questions:

Question for Kentucky Lottery:

Do you remain committed to the real ball drawings that players prefer for all games as opposed to ever going to computer drawings which players hate?

I probably shouldn't say this, but Ridge Runner, you're a legend in this building! You cemented that status a year or so ago with a comment you made on this site about my boss Steve Casebeer - you said anyone with "case" and "beer" in their name had to be an alright guy. We still talk about that around here!

To your question - you're like the Grover Norquist of RNGs, Ridge Runner! As someone posted earlier, we do use random number generators (RNGs) in our 5 Card Cash game as well as for the Kicker component of our KY Cash Ball Game. I think our commitment to balls and machines you asked about is evidenced by the announcement we made yesterday. Shutting down our draw show and going RNG was one of the routes we could have taken. Quite honestly it would've been a lot easier! But we realize and appreciate the importance of players being able to see balls with winning numbers coming out of machines, and by building this studio, we've made the commitment to do that. Does that mean absolutely nothing will change 5 or 10 years down the road? No. But by taking this step - in a time when many other states have shut down their show altogether and gone full RNG - I hope it shows how much we value traditional draws in our product mix.

And there were these...uh...interesting questions from mcginnin56:

Which game is most profitable for your players?
 
The higher the price on our scratch-off tickets, the higher the return - some of the $20 tickets have prize returns in excess of 70%. And sometimes we get SHELLACKED on our draw games - a series of triple digits and other popular numbers for our Pick 3 game in July paid out 93.5% of sales in prizes!

Which game is most profitable for the Kentucky Lottery Commission?

Powerball and Mega Millions are the most profitable games - they return about 50 cents on the dollar, and our profits go to college scholarship and grant programs.

What will the pick 4 numbers be, for your mid-day drawing for September 5?

Definitely something between 0000 and 9999. Ask me again around 1:45 and I'll have a much better answer :)

Which question did you like the best?

Absolutely that last one.

So there we go. Thanks for the questions and some of the downright nice comments I've read on this thread. I'll be back on here tomorrow AM, so fire away with any other questions or concerns. We appreciate you playing, and hope you enjoy our new show starting on the 16th!

 

Thank you Chip for narrowing down those mid-day pick 4 numbers!

This will provide LP members with a huge advantage over the general public.

Look forward to showing up at your lottery office to make my claim.  Banana

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by mcginnin56 on Sep 5, 2012

Thank you Chip for narrowing down those mid-day pick 4 numbers!

This will provide LP members with a huge advantage over the general public.

Look forward to showing up at your lottery office to make my claim.  Banana

If you could just hone your wise cracks a bit mcginnin56, you could become a legend without showing up at the lottery office to make a claim.

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by Ronnie316 on Sep 5, 2012

If you could just hone your wise cracks a bit mcginnin56, you could become a legend without showing up at the lottery office to make a claim.

Thank you lotto guru, for your continued words of wit and wisdom.  Conehead

My thank you was sincere, and I have no desire to become a legend.

One 5+1 legend, is all we can handle at this time.

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by mcginnin56 on Sep 5, 2012

Thank you lotto guru, for your continued words of wit and wisdom.  Conehead

My thank you was sincere, and I have no desire to become a legend.

One 5+1 legend, is all we can handle at this time.

Well please feel free to join me at the top, it can get lonely up here you know......

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by Ronnie316 on Sep 5, 2012

Well please feel free to join me at the top, it can get lonely up here you know......

The top is a lonely place for good reason, only room for ONE.

May I suggest picking up a game of solitaire, to pass away your lonely times?

smooth11484's avatarsmooth11484

Quote: Originally posted by Ronnie316 on Sep 5, 2012

Im not a scientist, but I think they use computers for the same reason we don't use a stamp and send mail.

Excuse me?  can you explain that comment?  Are you being a Narcissist?

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by smooth11484 on Sep 5, 2012

Excuse me?  can you explain that comment?  Are you being a Narcissist?

No, I just didn't understand why you would ask a question that seems self-explanatory??

Stack47

Quote: Originally posted by smooth11484 on Sep 5, 2012

This is for Todd, and Chip. First I want to respond to the claim that the lottery numbers are realized through RNG"S.  That claim is the most ridiculous thing I have read on here so far. Without getting scientific about it, I will just ask this one question; Why use a computer system to generate numbers anyway? Moreover, using the ball system is, in my opinion, the fairest; and really the only way!  Gambling is a part of my recreational hobbies. I do it not only with the lottery but, also with casino's. Another question is this: If all thing are equal between the lottery agency and the gambler, why then are certain numbers limited to player access? Is it because the lottery do not want to lose its control? Lets find the answers to these few questions. Then we can move on to more intricate ones. Thanks.

"Why use a computer system to generate numbers anyway? "

From the article: "Our current production costs for the drawing are slightly over a half million dollars per year," said Kelley. "By bringing this production in-house, a significant amount of what we were spending (around 95% after start-up costs) can be saved."

The KY Lottery will save $475,000 annually by streaming their live ball drawing on the Internet. The Tennessee Lottery uses a computer program for their drawings and it doesn't look much different than the "lucky number cruncher" on the KY site that players can use to generate random numbers. If you ask Rebecca Hargrove why TN uses a RNG, the answer will probably be cutting costs.

http://www.tnlottery.com/anim_drawings/default.aspx?id=cash3

http://www.kylottery.com/apps/draw_games/number_cruncher.html

I agree that live ball drawings are much better, but any cost cutting lottery director will point out if only 2% of the players are watching the live ball drawings, 98% don't care how the results are produced. The KY Lottery found a way to cut cost and maintain the integrity of their drawings.

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by Stack47 on Sep 5, 2012

"Why use a computer system to generate numbers anyway? "

From the article: "Our current production costs for the drawing are slightly over a half million dollars per year," said Kelley. "By bringing this production in-house, a significant amount of what we were spending (around 95% after start-up costs) can be saved."

The KY Lottery will save $475,000 annually by streaming their live ball drawing on the Internet. The Tennessee Lottery uses a computer program for their drawings and it doesn't look much different than the "lucky number cruncher" on the KY site that players can use to generate random numbers. If you ask Rebecca Hargrove why TN uses a RNG, the answer will probably be cutting costs.

http://www.tnlottery.com/anim_drawings/default.aspx?id=cash3

http://www.kylottery.com/apps/draw_games/number_cruncher.html

I agree that live ball drawings are much better, but any cost cutting lottery director will point out if only 2% of the players are watching the live ball drawings, 98% don't care how the results are produced. The KY Lottery found a way to cut cost and maintain the integrity of their drawings.

My point exactly Stack47. its easier, faster AND saves money.

Im in the 98% who trust the lottery to be fair and honest.

Stack47

Quote: Originally posted by Ronnie316 on Sep 5, 2012

My point exactly Stack47. its easier, faster AND saves money.

Im in the 98% who trust the lottery to be fair and honest.

Fair and honest maybe, but some can still be just plain dumb.

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2008-04-09/entertainment/29433420_1_lottery-drawings-lottery-agents-lottery-officials

"To make matters worse, the problem was found and corrected after players - not the lottery - noticed no double-digit numbers had been drawn over a three-week stretch."

That includes two drawings per day in both the pick-3 and pick-4 games.

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by Stack47 on Sep 5, 2012

Fair and honest maybe, but some can still be just plain dumb.

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2008-04-09/entertainment/29433420_1_lottery-drawings-lottery-agents-lottery-officials

"To make matters worse, the problem was found and corrected after players - not the lottery - noticed no double-digit numbers had been drawn over a three-week stretch."

That includes two drawings per day in both the pick-3 and pick-4 games.

Yeah, I would think glitches are to be expected. Our "duplicate tickets" problem here in AZ was quickly resolved by the third party who maintains the terminals in 26 states.

http://www.azfamily.com/news/consumer/UPDATE-Mega-Millions-Mystery--146462605.html

aux8b's avataraux8b

Is the ky. lottery still thinking about changing the pick 3 and the pick 4 pay out to an lesser amont ?

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by ChipP 2 on Sep 5, 2012

Hey folks. Chip Polston from the KY Lottery here. First off let me apologize for taking a bit to get a post on here that answered some of your questions. I had a great post written, and in trying to be helpful I committed one of the cardinal sins of the site (posting my email address so people could send me questions) and managed to get my account blocked and lost my post! Sorry Todd!

As Todd said in his earlier post, I'll be looking here for any questions that I could answer about this new draw show we'll be starting in just a couple of weeks. Although this wasn't a question, I did want to address some of the concerns I read here about lottery staff members "monitoring" this site. When I log on to my computer every morning, Lottery Post is one of the first three websites I check (after our Facebook page and local paper). I do this for two reasons - one is that this site is the best I've found for player-based news concerning happenings in our industry, and the second is that the site also provides some of the most solid player feedback I've found. If I want to get a good idea as to how players feel about something, this is the site to go to. It's important that we don't operate in an ivory tower, but instead have a good solid grounding of how players feel (both positively and negatively) about what we do. I haven't found another site that can match this one for that type of feedback. So that's what I'm looking for - I will admit that I once got lost in some of the prediction threads, and quite honestly it made my head spin so badly that I never went back!

Now for some of your questions:

Question for Kentucky Lottery:

Do you remain committed to the real ball drawings that players prefer for all games as opposed to ever going to computer drawings which players hate?

I probably shouldn't say this, but Ridge Runner, you're a legend in this building! You cemented that status a year or so ago with a comment you made on this site about my boss Steve Casebeer - you said anyone with "case" and "beer" in their name had to be an alright guy. We still talk about that around here!

To your question - you're like the Grover Norquist of RNGs, Ridge Runner! As someone posted earlier, we do use random number generators (RNGs) in our 5 Card Cash game as well as for the Kicker component of our KY Cash Ball Game. I think our commitment to balls and machines you asked about is evidenced by the announcement we made yesterday. Shutting down our draw show and going RNG was one of the routes we could have taken. Quite honestly it would've been a lot easier! But we realize and appreciate the importance of players being able to see balls with winning numbers coming out of machines, and by building this studio, we've made the commitment to do that. Does that mean absolutely nothing will change 5 or 10 years down the road? No. But by taking this step - in a time when many other states have shut down their show altogether and gone full RNG - I hope it shows how much we value traditional draws in our product mix.

And there were these...uh...interesting questions from mcginnin56:

Which game is most profitable for your players?
 
The higher the price on our scratch-off tickets, the higher the return - some of the $20 tickets have prize returns in excess of 70%. And sometimes we get SHELLACKED on our draw games - a series of triple digits and other popular numbers for our Pick 3 game in July paid out 93.5% of sales in prizes!

Which game is most profitable for the Kentucky Lottery Commission?

Powerball and Mega Millions are the most profitable games - they return about 50 cents on the dollar, and our profits go to college scholarship and grant programs.

What will the pick 4 numbers be, for your mid-day drawing for September 5?

Definitely something between 0000 and 9999. Ask me again around 1:45 and I'll have a much better answer :)

Which question did you like the best?

Absolutely that last one.

So there we go. Thanks for the questions and some of the downright nice comments I've read on this thread. I'll be back on here tomorrow AM, so fire away with any other questions or concerns. We appreciate you playing, and hope you enjoy our new show starting on the 16th!

 

Well thank ya kindly, Chip.

I'm glad to hear you're staying with the ball drawings.

And tell ol' Mr Casebeer I said hey.

Stack47

Quote: Originally posted by Ronnie316 on Sep 5, 2012

Yeah, I would think glitches are to be expected. Our "duplicate tickets" problem here in AZ was quickly resolved by the third party who maintains the terminals in 26 states.

http://www.azfamily.com/news/consumer/UPDATE-Mega-Millions-Mystery--146462605.html

I think you're misunderstanding what the "glitch" was. The drawing RNG was programed to show no repeat digits and it went on for over three weeks. That means every player who bought a pick three combo with a double or triple digit had no chance of winning. The players spent over $2 million on worthless tickets.

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by Stack47 on Sep 6, 2012

I think you're misunderstanding what the "glitch" was. The drawing RNG was programed to show no repeat digits and it went on for over three weeks. That means every player who bought a pick three combo with a double or triple digit had no chance of winning. The players spent over $2 million on worthless tickets.

Yeah, that's why its called a "glitch" because it should not have happened but it did.

Most likely an inadvertent mistake, and its a risk players agree to when they buy the tickets,

Stack47

Quote: Originally posted by Ronnie316 on Sep 6, 2012

Yeah, that's why its called a "glitch" because it should not have happened but it did.

Most likely an inadvertent mistake, and its a risk players agree to when they buy the tickets,

The other night you played the bonus number "8" on several PB tickets, it wasn't drawn, and probably threw away the losing tickets. You might continue playing "8" multiple times for the next several drawings. What if you found out after over 20 losing drawings the number "8" wasn't in the bonus number machine making it impossible for you to win any prize including the jackpot that required matching the bonus number? Was that a risk you took when you bought your tickets?

The players playing doubles and triples in the pick-3 game and doubles, trips, double-doubles, and quads in the pick-4 game had no chance of winning; it's one thing to take a risk with very little chance of winning, but nobody in their right mind would take a risk knowing they have NO chance of winning. That "inadvertent mistake" cheated players out of over $2 million in wagers.

There were LP members starting threads and making comments when no doubles were drawn in either game for ten days and some sent emails to the TN Lottery. It took almost two more weeks before the TN Lottery figured out something was wrong. One member even posted a reply from the TN Lottery saying the RNG was tested and doubles were in fact drawn during the test. But Hargrove said the RNG was programed with no repeat numbers because of the pick-5 game making it impossible for even the tests to show doubles in the pick-3 and pick-4 games.

How many inadvertent mistakes can one lottery make without getting accused of cheating?

Maybe we can get Chip to explain the process the KY Lottery uses to insure every bet has an equal chance of winning using live ball drawings.

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by Stack47 on Sep 6, 2012

The other night you played the bonus number "8" on several PB tickets, it wasn't drawn, and probably threw away the losing tickets. You might continue playing "8" multiple times for the next several drawings. What if you found out after over 20 losing drawings the number "8" wasn't in the bonus number machine making it impossible for you to win any prize including the jackpot that required matching the bonus number? Was that a risk you took when you bought your tickets?

The players playing doubles and triples in the pick-3 game and doubles, trips, double-doubles, and quads in the pick-4 game had no chance of winning; it's one thing to take a risk with very little chance of winning, but nobody in their right mind would take a risk knowing they have NO chance of winning. That "inadvertent mistake" cheated players out of over $2 million in wagers.

There were LP members starting threads and making comments when no doubles were drawn in either game for ten days and some sent emails to the TN Lottery. It took almost two more weeks before the TN Lottery figured out something was wrong. One member even posted a reply from the TN Lottery saying the RNG was tested and doubles were in fact drawn during the test. But Hargrove said the RNG was programed with no repeat numbers because of the pick-5 game making it impossible for even the tests to show doubles in the pick-3 and pick-4 games.

How many inadvertent mistakes can one lottery make without getting accused of cheating?

Maybe we can get Chip to explain the process the KY Lottery uses to insure every bet has an equal chance of winning using live ball drawings.

I understand your point Stack, but its only "cheating" if it was done intentionally and can be proven.

Anyone (including me) who buys a ticket, is subject to to rules the lottery imposes.

Scientistman

cutting cost is the BIGGEST LIE they make up. Its what they all say.

It isn't about saving cost at all or about new technology like the internet being available to find out the numbers.

Its about an agenda all lotteries have about concealing live drawings. They dont want us to see a live drawing. Especially when they dont use balls anymore, what fun is that! These officials that run the lottery are not to be trusted yet they all want us to trust them whole heartedly, BS!!

I wouldnt trust a lottery official if my life depended on it! And niether should you.

Any state that hides or conceals a drawing should not be trusted, nor their govenor who  appoints the commision. Come on people think about it! Get real!

jamella724

Is this good or bad news?  Is everybody on Kentucky have cable and satellite TV...I'm just wondering if everybody have one.. 

But you are right about lottery practice before when there were no internet or satellite TV yet.  Newspapers and other printouts were the only available source to find winning numbers...Major transition maybe, but is bearable...

Subscribe to this news story