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North Carolina Lottery is a GoNews Story
Residents of the Tar Heel state will finally get a lottery, under terms worked out by the state's House and Senate Friday.The final budget plan allows North Carolina to start a lottery, advertise it, and spend the profits on teachers, school buildings, and scholarships for the needy.The compromise between House and Senate plans for a lottery virtually ensures that North Carolina will start a state numbers game during the next year. The lottery was the last disputed issue between the House and Se
Aug 6, 2005, 10:45 am - Lottery News

Maryland Lottery to replace classic Lotto gameNews Story
A million bucks doesn't buy dreams like it used to.The first Maryland lottery game to offer $1 million prizes seems likely to become extinct, a victim of players who opt to gamble instead on mega-jackpots.Introduced in November 1983 to help bail out financially strapped localities such as Prince George's County and Baltimore, Maryland Lotto once the lottery's flagship game is showing its age, according to state officials.In the past fiscal year, Maryland Lotto sales dropped 5 percent while e
Aug 4, 2005, 7:42 pm - Lottery News

Connecticut Gov. considers dumping PowerballNews Story
Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell thinks Powerball, the multi-state lottery game that offers huge potential payoffs, is about to become a lousy bet.The agency that runs the game announced the odds of winning will be a lot higher starting next month, and winners who opt for multi-year payouts will wait longer for the big money.Rell asked state officials to review the new lottery rules and decide if it is still a good deal for Connecticut lottery players. If we don't approve of the rules, in essen
Jul 17, 2005, 1:30 pm - Lottery News

Man sues Mass. Lottery for $1 million prize mistakeNews Story
The odds of hitting a Caesars Palace instant game ticket for $1 million are one in 3,024,000. But when John Falvey thought he'd beaten the odds, he discovered instead he'd been jilted by Lady Luck.Now Falvey, a Rhode Island resident formerly of Swansea, Mass., wants his day in court.He filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit this week against the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission and State Treasurer Tim Cahill seeking the $1 million he was denied because of his purported misinterpretation of how
Jul 1, 2005, 12:51 pm - Lottery News

Texas Lottery Whistleblower FiredNews Story
The scandal embroiling the Texas Lottery Commission over inflated jackpot estimates intensified Wednesday when top agency officials acknowledged firing a colleague who only days earlier warned ticket sales would fall short of advertised amounts.Mike Fernandez, the commission's administrator, called horrendous the timing of the dismissal of Lee Deviney, the agency's chief financial officer.But he denied there was any connection between Deviney's firing and an e-mail Deviney sent his superiors l
Jun 30, 2005, 11:54 am - Lottery News

Texas Lottery chief admits jackpots were inflatedNews Story
[Editor: After reading the story, be sure to watch the video report that follows, which provides interesting interviews of the key individuals in this report.]If you've been playing Texas Lotto lately, you may have been playing for less than you thought.Texas Lottery officials admitted Friday they inflated their jackpot numbers on four separate occasions. I will be studying it very closely and clearly to be sure this doesn't happen again, Texas Lottery Commission Executive Director Reagan Greer
Jun 27, 2005, 12:26 pm - Lottery News

Middle Georgians have mixed feelings about California joining lotteryNews Story
The chances of winning the Mega Millions jackpot at the beginning of this week were low, but now the chances are even lower.California became the 12th state to join the Mega Millions lottery Wednesday, bringing with it a population of 36 million to tonight's Mega Millions drawing.But even as California has joined the pool, that hasn't stopped Sharon Norton from playing. She said she keeps playing, hoping to hit it big and retire early. I think it's fine, said Norton, 39, an X-ray technician. T
Jun 24, 2005, 9:39 am - Lottery News

Odds longer, prizes bigger as California joins Mega MillionsNews Story
The odds of winning the Mega Millions lottery game got a bit longer on Wednesday, but the prizes also got sweeter.California became the 12th state in the Atlanta-based game, adding 36 million potential players that could swell the game's jackpots as high as half a billion dollars.At the same time, the odds of taking the grand prize were tweaked -- from one in 135 million to one in 175 million. We're not ever trying to hide the fact this is a very long-odds game, said Georgia Lottery CEO Margare
Jun 22, 2005, 7:06 pm - Lottery News

Mega Millions lottery goes on sale in CaliforniaNews Story
Today, 35 million Californians get their first chance to buy a ticket on what may become the biggest lottery jackpot ever offered -- but the odds of winning a fortune are the longest ever seen.California becomes the 12th state to join the Mega Millions lottery game, where a ticket that costs only a dollar could, in time, win $500 million. The odds for this happening, however, are an astronomical one in 175 million, apparently a world record for a lottery.Until today, the longest odds of winning
Jun 22, 2005, 6:15 pm - Lottery News

'Beyond lucky': Woman wins same $1M lottery jackpot twice in 6 monthsNews Story
A woman who won $1 million playing a Pennsylvania Lottery scratch-off ticket earlier this year won another million on the same game Thursday.Donna Goeppert, 55, of Bethlehem said it was just unbelievable after filing her claim Friday at lottery headquarters. What are the odds of that? she asked.The odds of winning just once are 1.44 million-to-1, according to the lottery. Lehigh University engineering professor Bob Storer placed the odds of winning twice after buying 100 tickets at 419 milli
Jun 14, 2005, 9:03 am - Lottery News