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Michigan Lottery Adds New GamesNews Story
Bettors will have more ways to gamble in Michigan next month, and they'll be able to do it in bars and restaurants across the state.State officials hope the new games, which include Club Keno and pull-tab games, will draw more money into state coffers as the struggle to balance the budget continues.The Michigan Lottery saw ticket sales increase 4.5 percent to $1.68 billion in the budget year that ended in September 2002, according to its most recent annual report.Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who prop
Sep 15, 2003, 3:53 am - Lottery News

Florida Lawmaker: Large unclaimed lotto prizes should go to educationNews Story
Instead of using an unclaimed $50 million Lotto jackpot to try to get more people to gamble, the state should have been able to spend the money on schools, a state lawmaker said Friday.Rep. Charlie Justice said he plans to file a bill that would allow large unclaimed prizes -- like the $50 million that a ticket holder failed to claim this week before a 180-day deadline passed -- to be used for education.Right now, all unclaimed money returns to the Lottery, which has to use it for promotions. Th
Sep 12, 2003, 9:58 pm - Lottery News

Minn. Lottery cuts staff, advertising, promotions despite record salesNews Story
The Minnesota Lottery will lay off 34 employees, nearly one-fifth of its workforce of 191, next month to meet state-imposed budget cuts. But the state-run gambling operation still projects a near-record year for sales because of changes in its popular multimillion-dollar Powerball game.Most of the job cuts will come from the lottery's marketing staff, including 16 positions in field offices in Eagan, Brainerd, Detroit Lakes, Marshall, Owatonna and Virginia, assistant director Geno Fragnito said
Sep 12, 2003, 9:46 pm - Lottery News

Holmes to propose Alabama lottery billNews Story
Alabama State Rep. Alvin Holmes said Wednesday he will introduce a bill to set up a state lottery during a special session of the Legislature that begins Monday. The Legislature is going into session at 12 (noon). At 12:15, I'm introducing the lottery bill. Holmes said the proceeds would be split evenly between the General Fund and the Education Trust Fund.Gov. Bob Riley's press secretary, David Azbell, said the governor is opposed to a lottery. At the most, a lottery would be projected to bring
Sep 12, 2003, 3:53 am - Lottery News

Merchants show strong interest in Tenn. lotteryNews Story
To date, around 2,500 merchants representing as many as 2,900 Tennessee retail outlets have expressed an interest in selling lottery tickets next year, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Education Lottery Corp. said Tuesday.The goal is 3,500 retail locations.Will Pinkston, speaking on behalf of the state lottery corporation, said advertisements have been placed in every newspaper in the state, inviting interested retailers to be on the mailing list for applications to sell tickets. Right now there
Sep 10, 2003, 6:11 pm - Lottery News

Paul denies leaving Georgia lottery in quandaryNews Story
New Tennessee lottery chief says rising college costs are a problemRebecca Paul, Tennessee's new lottery chief executive officer yesterday denied leaving the same position in Georgia because of problems with the Peach State's lottery scholarship program.She also said the problem with the HOPE scholarship program in Georgia is escalating college costs, which are growing faster than lottery revenue even though that revenue has climbed 136% in the past 10 years from $1.1 billion a year to $2.6 bill
Sep 10, 2003, 4:03 am - Lottery News

State misses the jackpot with Mega MillionsNews Story
Mega Millions, Washington's foray into the world of multistate lottery gambling, has been a mega-disappointment. The state, one of 10 partners in the country's largest jackpot game, had about $51 million in sales during its first year of participation, which ended last week. That's less than half the $117 million originally projected.Proceeds for education and school construction, originally predicted to be $32 million, turned out to be $13 million.Lottery officials attribute the disappointing p
Sep 9, 2003, 4:01 am - Lottery News

GTech has winning lottery ticket, checkered pastNews Story
A Rhode Island company that practically built the nation's state lottery business just added the Florida Lottery as the missing gem to its crown jewels.GTech Corp. last week became the successful bidder to run the Florida Lottery system. With Florida in hand, the company will run all five of the country's biggest state lottery systems - New York, Texas, Georgia, California and Florida. Altogether, GTech will operate 26 of the 36 state lottery systems, plus the Washington, D.C., system. We genera
Sep 8, 2003, 3:44 am - Lottery News

$135 million Powerball jackpot goes to two familiesNews Story
Two families one from New Hampshire and the other from Massachusetts have won last week's $135 million Powerball jackpot. Only one of them went public at a news conference Friday.''I've gambled for 60 years and never won anything,'' said 80-year-old Lawrence Centola of Watertown, Mass. ''This is the first thing I won, so I couldn't believe it.''His daughter, Rosemary Centola, also of Watertown, who works in purchasing at a college, said she wasn't sure what to do with the money because ''it does
Sep 5, 2003, 3:31 pm - Lottery News

Merchants: Not enough terminals for N.D. lotteryNews Story
Many North Dakota merchants, who are hoping a new state lottery will draw more customers, are fretting there wont be enough ticket terminals to go around -- and state officials say theyre right. If (a lottery machine) is available to my competition, then that is a tool that I must have, said Bob Johnson of Cavalier, who owns a convenience store and off-sale liquor outlet near the Icelandic State Park. If they put one in the Cenex in Cavalier, I need one. North Dakota may not have enough lotter
Sep 3, 2003, 3:49 am - Lottery News