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Elks Club members in fight over $21M lottery winNews Story
It may have once seemed like a dream come true, but a winning lottery ticket has turned into a nightmare for 21 people in Okotoks, Alberta. On Nov. 23 last year, the 21, all patrons or employees at the local Elks Club, chipped in $5 each to buy tickets for that night's Super 7 draw, one of which proved to be worth $20 million. The members of the group should each have received more than $900,000 by now, but a dispute has arisen over who is entitled to a share. While they attempt to sort
Jan 16, 2008, 10:05 am - Lottery News

Lottery juggling whether to ban smoking at ticket outletsNews Story
The Texas Lottery Commission is considering a ban on selling tickets in stores that allow smoking after a recent attorney general's opinion suggested the practice could open the state to civil rights lawsuits. Anti-smoking and civil rights advocates urged the commission at a meeting Wednesday to re-evaluate how it licenses vendors and to not allow smoking where tickets are sold. They are concerned that secondhand smoke prevents people with disabilities or illnesses related to smoke from bu
Dec 6, 2007, 7:56 am - Lottery News

Anti-smoking proponents want to use the lottery to enact more bansNews Story
Man calls lottery sales in smoky store 'discrimination' The Texas Lottery Commission's sale of tickets in stores that allow smoking could be a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the attorney general's office said. Lewisville resident Billy Williams complained to the commission in 2006 that he had an asthma attack after buying a ticket at a smoky store. He said his rights were violated because the store allowed smoking. After Billy J. Williams drove to a salvage yard 100
Nov 12, 2007, 8:56 am - Lottery News

N.J. couple claims $82M lottery prizeNews Story
Villas, New Jersey, residents Sandra and John Belawsky today claimed their portion of the near-record $330 million jackpot from the Mega Millions drawing held on Aug, 31. They chose the cash option, to receive $48,615,187 before the 25 percent federal withholding tax. The Belawskys went to Lottery Headquarters to stake their claim to one of the largest lottery jackpots in North American history. Congratulations to the Belawskys, the winners of this incredible jackpot, said William T. Jou
Sep 7, 2007, 7:38 pm - Lottery News

Texas Lottery may consider offering raffleNews Story
The chairman of the Texas Lottery Commission has asked the state attorney general to study whether it would be legal to add a raffle to its array of games. Raffles offer better odds of winning than other kinds of games because a limited number of tickets are sold and there can be no duplicate winners. Twenty-seven states already offer raffles with mixed success. Lottery spokesman Bobby Heith said the commission would still have to research the idea before starting a raffle game. But offici
Jul 24, 2007, 8:07 pm - Lottery News

West Virgina Lottery's help line under scrutinyNews Story
Director seeks probe of allegations by outgoing official over problem-gambler program The director of the West Virginia Lottery asked for an investigation Tuesday of allegations over the Lottery's handling of the state's Problem Gambler Help Network. Lottery Director John Musgrave asked for the investigation by the Legislative Auditor after the head of First Choice Health Systems of Charleston criticized a new contract that will give the Lottery more oversight over the 7-year-old help-line
Jun 8, 2007, 8:06 am - Lottery News

Sell the Mass. Lottery?News Story
Editor's note: The columnist's biased language, such as per-sucker spending was left as-written, since this is an opinion piece. Steve Bailey Boston Globe Massachusetts Treasurer Tim Cahill created a buzz last week when he proposed that the state get into the casino business before the Mashpee Wampanoags beat us to the slots. Lost in the headlines was his analysis of the future of the state's cash cow of a state lottery, which by almost every measure is the envy of the industry. In shor
Jun 1, 2007, 10:45 am - Lottery News

Legal opinion sinks sale of Colorado LotteryNews Story
Dreams of selling off the Colorado Lottery for a fat payoff were discarded like a losing scratch ticket Thursday after state legal experts gave an adverse opinion on the plan. Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, said he would not seek a measure that would ask voters to sell a concession contract in the state lottery because he couldn't fix a legal opinion that referred to the proposed sale as the state taking on $3 billion in debt. I may be a freshman, but I'm not that stupid, Romer said.
Apr 20, 2007, 8:08 am - Lottery News

New Iowa Lottery ad has gambling foes fumingNews Story
Ties between collegiate sports and gambling are typically forbidden. So when a new Iowa Lottery commercial featuring the Iowa Fight Song and the Tigerhawk logo began airing Jan. 12, it should have come as no surprise that it caused some heads to turn. Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta said the Lottery did nothing wrong when it used the logos and fight song in the commercial because his office had approved the use. He added, however, that his opinion recently had changed. If I had it
Jan 19, 2007, 11:09 am - Lottery News

Opinion: Calif. Lottery should not rubber-stamp GTECH dealNews Story
As part of a major deal with 24 states, including California, an Italian company has purchased the United States firm that runs lotto and other online games for those states. The merger, where Lottomatica acquired GTECH, was finalized in August and expected to be completed by year's end. The agreement surprised and stunned state lawmakers. Not even the attorney general's office, which is supposed to defend the state lotto, was aware of it. The deal was orchestrated by the state lottery's act
Dec 11, 2006, 11:25 am - Lottery News