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Mississippi lottery panel visits neighboring states to garner informationNews Story
Trips to neighboring states to observe their lottery operations have shed light on the types of decisions that must be made should Mississippi opt to enact a lottery, two Northeast Mississippi legislators recently said. Reps. Mac Huddleston, R-Pontotoc, and Nick Bain, D-Corinth, made trips to Little Rock last week as members of a task force created by House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, to study the issues surrounding the lottery. Other members of the committee made a similar trip to Baton
Jun 25, 2017, 9:55 am - Lottery News

Mississippi lawmaker forms group to study why lottery would be bad for stateNews Story
Your tax dollars at work Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn said weeks ago that he would form a group to study the pros and cons of starting a state lottery. As the group met for the first time Wednesday, Gunn repeated his opposition to the game of chance. I do not believe a lottery is based on sound economic policy, and it violates a number of conservative, Republican principles, Gunn, a Republican who is also a leader in his local Baptist church, said in a news release. The purpo
May 4, 2017, 8:12 am - Lottery News

71-year-old Texas construction worker claims $177 million Mega Millions lottery jackpotNews Story
Ticket was purchased in Arkansas and is the state's largest-ever jackpot winner Includes video report By Todd Northrop A couple from Abernathy, Texas, Monday claimed a $177 million jackpot in Arkansas from the March 31 Mega Millions drawing. Eliberto and Anita Cantu claimed the prize Monday during a press conference in Arkansas. They chose to take the prize as a lump sum so the amount was $72,901,274. The State of Arkansas said it took $7,504,543 in taxes. Their son, Rodrigo Ca
Apr 19, 2017, 10:36 am - Lottery News

Arkansas lottery players now can buy tickets with debit cardsNews Story
Starting this summer, retailers selling tickets for the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery will be authorized to accept payment by debit cards, thanks to a new law that zipped through the Legislature in 23 days with little fanfare. Since the lottery started selling tickets on Sept. 28, 2009, the law allowed only cash to be used in transactions. Now Arkansas will join most other state lotteries by allowing debit-card use. Senate Bill 617 sponsored by Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado is now Act 876
Apr 17, 2017, 11:26 am - Lottery News

Best friend to testify against Tipton at July lottery rigging trialNews Story
It took Texas businessman Robert Rhodes more than a year to turn against his good old boy best friend after he realized that Eddie Tipton would not do a deal and tell prosecutors about how he had created an elaborate system to rig lotteries in five states. But despite fear for his safety, Rhodes is poised to give testimony at a trial scheduled for July 10 in Des Moines that prosecutors hope will finally put Tipton behind bars a decade after launching a scheme that netted $2 million in jackpot
Mar 31, 2017, 7:48 am - Lottery News

Wyoming Lottery adds multi-state Lucky for Life gameNews Story
The Wyoming Lottery players now have a new game to test their luck. WyoLotto officials on Monday celebrated the launch of the Lucky for Life game. The lottery began selling tickets for the new game on Sunday. Lucky for Life is a national game, which costs $2 per ticket. The top prize is $1,000 a day for life. Lucky for Life also offers players the opportunity to win $25,000 a year for life and smaller prize options. The game is currently offered in 23 jurisdictions, including Arkansa
Dec 5, 2016, 6:12 pm - Lottery News

Mississippi lottery talk likely to coalesce odd coalitionNews Story
Analysis: Natural foes to reunite yet again in opposition to lottery efforts Nothing puts preachers and their flocks in political cahoots with the state's casino gaming industry barons faster than any serious talk of Mississippi authorizing a state lottery. Fellow scribe Geoff Pender told us last week in a story about the possible prospects of Mississippi adopting a state lottery that Gov. Phil Bryant is open to a discussion of a state lottery. The exact quote Pender attributed to Bryan
Oct 6, 2016, 11:11 am - Lottery News

Florida woman who lost $1 million lottery trial files for bankruptcyNews Story
The former Seminole County school teacher who last month lost a big chunk of a $1 million Florida Lottery jackpot to her former boyfriend, who had sued her for failing to share, has filed for bankruptcy. Lynn Anne Poirier, 62, of Geneva did not list Howard Browning, her former live-in sweetheart, as a creditor in the bankruptcy case, which she filed Saturday in Orlando. She listed that case as pending. But on Feb. 4, a six-member Seminole County jury ordered her to pay Browning $291,00
Mar 29, 2016, 2:37 pm - Lottery News

Consultant lays out 'ambitious' vision for Arkansas LotteryNews Story
A consultant for the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery envisions ticket sales steadily increasing from $450 million in the current fiscal year to $615 million by fiscal 2021 and net proceeds for scholarships rising from $85 million to $109 million in the same period. Camelot Global Services' self-described ambitious five-year business plan proposes many changes, including overhauling the portfolio of scratch-off and draw-game tickets, increasing the lottery's $5 million marketing budget to $7.5 mi
Mar 13, 2016, 11:33 am - Lottery News

More state lotteries adding "win for life" gamesNews Story
More than half of US lotteries now offer a for life lotto draw game By Todd Northrop In the past year a new multi-state lottery game concept where the top prize pays out over the lifetime of the winner has swept across the United States. Just like there are two big-jackpot multi-state lottery games Powerball and Mega Millions there are also two multi-state for life games: Cash4Life and Lucky for Life. The games offer a top prize and a second prize that pay off over the lifetime of th
Jan 22, 2016, 6:45 am - Lottery News