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Minnesota Lottery posts record $100 million profitNews Story
Seven months after a critical audit report and the suicide of its director plunged it into turmoil, the Minnesota State Lottery posted a record contribution to the state for the fiscal year 2004 -- $100 million. This is really good news, said Gov. Tim Pawlenty at a news conference at the Dodge Nature Center in West St. Paul on Monday. The Minnesota Lottery has been through some difficult months. The appointment of acting director Mike Vekich after George Andersen's death resulted in bold, dra
Jul 20, 2004, 7:56 am - Lottery News

Georgia sheriff has triple lottery winsNews Story
Fayette County Sheriff Randall Johnson is lucky on the draw but not in the sense of an Old West lawman.Johnson picked five of the six numbers in the June 29 Mega Millions lottery drawing and won $175,000.The next day, he returned to the same convenience store and bought two of the Georgia Lottery's Cash 4 tickets. This time, he won a total of $5,400.Johnson didn't have much to say about his good fortune. It feels good, he was quoted as saying in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday.He to
Jul 16, 2004, 8:01 am - Lottery News

Man whose house burned down wins lotteryNews Story
A Virginia man who lost all of his belongings when his house burned down during Hurricane Isabel last year has won a $150,000 lottery prize. Lot of problems gone, said Sherbie Tucker, who works for Teamsters Local 822 in Norfolk.Tucker bought his $5 winning ticket Friday from Tom and Jerry's Quick Stop in Smithfield. There were four Friday Night Poker tickets in the state with the top prize of $150,000.Tucker is the second winner, according to Virginia Lottery officials. The other two prizes ha
Jul 14, 2004, 8:39 am - Lottery News

Lottery-ticket seller also a Mega winnerNews Story
Whoever bought the winning ticket in the $290 million Mega Millions lottery drawing couldn't have been much happier Saturday than the person who sold it.Jay Patel, owner of Powers Liquors, was elated as he waited along with everyone else to find out which one of his customers won the huge jackpot in Friday's drawing with the numbers 10-25-38-39-50 and Mega Ball 12.A hand-lettered sign that read, We sold $290 million's jackpot here hung in the window of the store Patel called the luckiest Powe
Jul 5, 2004, 8:42 am - Lottery News

Virginia Mega Millions MadnessNews Story
In whats arguably the luckiest convenient store in the Shenandoah Valley Thursday, Elsie Cekala had the worst fortune.Cekala lost a $20 bill at the Red Apple Country Store on Fairfax Pike in Stephens City.Funny thing is, she went in trying to win $290 million.The Mega Millions jackpot has soared to record heights again. Customers are flocking to the Red Apple, hoping to be stroked with the same luck as Frederick County resident J.R. Triplett, who purchased the winning ticket for a $239 million d
Jul 2, 2004, 8:21 am - Lottery News

Record $290M jackpot spurs MegamadnessNews Story
Lewis Brown of Kirkwood, New York made copies of the $35 worth of Mega Millions tickets he had just purchased at J R Stop-N-Shop on Robinson Street for himself and a pool of his Wegmans co-workers.Billy Ghotra, manager of J R Stop-N-Shop on Robinson Street in Binghamton, sells tickets Thursday for the Mega Millions jackpot. The jackpot was later raised to $290 million. I'm trying to avoid any legal problems when we win, Brown said. Everyone gets a copy, so there are no questions. Brown, whose
Jul 2, 2004, 8:18 am - Lottery News

As jackpot rises, players plot winning strategiesNews Story
When lottery jackpots get this high, the ticket-buying rituals get more elaborate.Renee Mitchell of West Deptford buys tickets regularly. But when the jackpot hits $100 million, That's when I really start spending money on it, she said.Mitchell stopped by the Friendly Food Mart on Thursday to get 20 $1 tickets for the multistate Mega Millions game, which will have a record jackpot of $290 million for Friday night's drawing. (The Big Game, a forerunner to Mega Millions, hit $331 million in 2002
Jul 2, 2004, 8:07 am - Lottery News

W.V. Lottery sets single-month sales recordNews Story
But record year could be jeopardized if Pa., Md. legalize slotsMay was a record sales month in what will be a record year for the West Virginia Lottery, with profits to the state topping the half-billion-dollar mark.However, Lottery Director John Musgrave warned Tuesday that the lotterys halcyon days could be over possibly as early as today with the imminent legalization of video slots in Pennsylvania.That will certainly affect our net [income] and our play in West Virginia, Musgrave said of the
Jun 30, 2004, 8:03 am - Lottery News

GTECH's 1Q earnings up 31 percentNews Story
Gtech Holdings Corp., the world's largest operator of lotteries, Tuesday posted a 31 percent jump in profit for its latest quarter, helped by continued strong sales.The West Greenwich-based company also boosted its full-year earnings expectations because of a reduction in its tax rate.The company reported net income of $53.6 million, or 80 cents a share, for the first quarter ended May 29, up from $41 million, or 68 cents, a year earlier.The latest quarter included a one-time gain of $6.4 millio
Jun 23, 2004, 7:11 am - Lottery News

Weather knocks out Texas city's lottery terminalsNews Story
Good thing it didn't happen during the weekend.Two days after Saturday's $145 million Lotto Texas drawing, lottery terminals across Amarillo were shut down Monday.The culprit? The storm.Forty to 50 Amarillo retailers had their lottery terminals knocked out when they lost power Monday evening, lottery official Leticia Vasquez said Tuesday.Getting the machines running again is a simple matter of getting power again, she said. We're hoping that by tonight Southwestern Public Service supplies power
Jun 23, 2004, 7:08 am - Lottery News