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Vermont paying $8,000 per month on unused lottery machinesNews Story
Since last June, 25 lottery machines leased by the state of Vermont have gathered cobwebs in storage unplugged and unused at a cost of $8,000 a month. That means the state has paid $72,000 in fees for nothing. And the tab is still mounting. Neither the governor nor legislators were happy to hear about the losing proposition. I don't like that we're wasting money and having these machines sit idly, Gov. Phil Scott said Tuesday. His staff learned about the situation in February while workin
Apr 27, 2017, 2:37 pm - 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

Kansas lawmakers considering lottery vending machinesNews Story
Kansas Lottery players soon might be able to buy tickets from vending machines. The House voted this week in support of the move, which the state lottery has sought for three years. Lottery spokeswoman Sally Lunsford said the measure would increase lottery revenue and cut labor costs for retailers, where ticket buyers could bypass clerks and use the self-service machines. She said 37 other states, including Missouri, Colorado and Oklahoma, use the machines. Vending machines have increas
Mar 25, 2017, 3:30 pm - Lottery News

Russian slot machine hackers add new targets, group toldNews Story
Hackers breaking random number generators demonstrates how lottery industry's reliance upon computerized drawings is bad idea An international syndicate of Russian hackers that cashed out millions from slots in U.S. casinos over the years is focusing its efforts on South America and Europe after busts in Missouri and Singapore. The Russian syndicate most recently struck in Peru, a security consultant to slot-makers told a group of U.S. regulators at a Las Vegas conference Thursday at the L
Mar 21, 2017, 8:19 am - Lottery News

Pennsylvania Lottery observes 45th anniversary of first ticket salesNews Story
The Pennsylvania Lottery Tuesday marked the 45th anniversary of its very first game, which went on sale March 7, 1972. Since then, the Lottery has paid nearly $45 billion in prizes and generated approximately $27 billion to benefit older Pennsylvanians. The Pennsylvania Lottery is proud of the role it has played in helping older Pennsylvanians to lead healthier lives over the past four and a half decades, said Executive Director Drew Svitko. Without the support of Lottery players, none of th
Mar 8, 2017, 8:21 am - Lottery News

Florida House Speaker prepares to sue LotteryNews Story
The Florida Speaker of the House is drafting a lawsuit that would pit the House against the Florida Lottery. At the heart of the issue is a contract between the Florida Lottery and gaming vendor IGT Global Solutions Corporation, which provides lotto vending machines. Last year, the Florida Legislature budgeted about $26.6 million for terminal machines, $5 million for instant-ticket vending machines and $2.9 million for full-service vending machines, according to a draft of the suit. The
Feb 15, 2017, 10:30 am - Lottery News

Woman denied $43 million jackpot, offered steak dinner insteadNews Story
It was a selfie she thought was worth nearly $43 million. Katrina Bookman hit the jackpot on a slot machine in late August at Resorts World Casino in Jamaica, Queens. She even took an excited self-portrait with the machine displaying her winnings: $42,949,672. It would have been the largest slot machine jackpot in US history. I can't even describe the feeling. It's like my whole body just got numb, Bookman said. But when she came back the next day to find out the exact size of her jack
Nov 3, 2016, 12:53 pm - Lottery News

These poker-playing robots can bluff better than humansNews Story
When it comes to understanding intelligence, the greatest challenge out there is not a Rubik's Cube, or chess, or even Go. These games are difficult in the sense that there are often many options, but they are still transparent: nothing is hidden; every bit of information is in front of you. The main obstacle is converting this perfect information into a strategy. There is a fixed set of rules out there, and if a computer can find them, it will achieve the optimal result in every game. When G
Oct 1, 2016, 8:47 am - Lottery News

Lottery winner wins again with $1M scratch ticket at lottery headquartersNews Story
A Medford, Massachusetts, man cashing in a $1,000 scratch ticket won another $1 million after he stopped to buy another ticket in the lobby of the Massachusetts State Lottery's Braintree headquarters. Chi Chan arrived in Braintree on Wednesday to redeem his $1,000 winner. On his way out Chan bought a $30 ticket at the vending machine inside lottery headquarters. A short time after, Chan was at the bank when he scratched the ticket and found he had won $1 million. On Thursday, Chan retur
Apr 29, 2016, 6:14 pm - Lottery News

Iowa Lottery hopes to upgrade vending machines by end of SeptemberNews Story
The Iowa Lottery is going to work after the governor signed a bill Friday to allow them to upgrade their vending machines to modern technology. Lottery spokesperson Mary Neubauer, says they want to have something in place once the maintenance contract on the current machines expires. That contract expires September 30th, so we have a lot of work to do between now and then. But the plan is to get at least some new equipment into the field by September 30th and hopefully it would all be out the
Apr 4, 2016, 6:30 pm - Lottery News