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Missouri Lottery facing challenging issues with vendor contractNews Story
One of the Missouri Lottery's biggest contracts might not stand up in court if it was challenged by the company that runs its statewide network of ticket sales. That means the state doesn't collect as much money as the contract allows when the company is penalized for breakdowns. And, even when the Lottery does collect money for penalties, the proceeds are not directly funding public schools across the Show-Me state, according to a review by the Post-Dispatch. Rather, the cash is being rol
Sep 20, 2017, 10:48 am - Lottery News

Iowa Lottery investigation highlights difficult balance between security and profitsNews Story
For more than a year while he worked at the Brick Street Market in Bondurant, Iowa, Matthew Hinrichs quietly stole lottery tickets, cashing in at least $28,000 in illegitimate prize money, prosecutors say. When he was finally caught in 2016, Hinrichs pleaded guilty to two felony counts of fraud and was ordered to pay back those winnings, plus nearly $5,000 more. Lottery officials say their layers of security allowed them to track Hinrichs' activity, providing data that was invaluable to pr
Jun 6, 2017, 2:48 pm - 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

Illinois Lottery private manager still on job after firingNews Story
Finding a new lottery manager proves tricky for state government When Illinois lawmakers voted in 2009 to hire a private company to run the state's $2 billion-a-year lottery, they had high hopes of making more money that could be funneled into education and construction projects. Then the company missed sales goals, and two governors tried to fire Northstar Lottery Group. But Northstar remains on the job more than two years later, and the firm is now able to collect millions of dollars mor
Mar 28, 2017, 4:21 pm - Lottery News

Judge rules whistleblower suit against Georgia Lottery can go forwardNews Story
A whistleblower lawsuit claiming a Georgia Lottery executive was fired after refusing to support inflated sales projections should go to trial, a Fulton County Superior Court judge decided this week. Kenneth Knight, former vice president for financial management at the Georgia Lottery, argued that he was pressured by Lottery President Debbie Alford and his boss to present the lottery board with flawed sales projections in April 2014. Knight says in the lawsuit that he told his boss about prob
Mar 22, 2017, 9:13 am - Lottery News

Pennsylvania Lottery launches new Fast Play GamesNews Story
The Pennsylvania Lottery today launched Fast Play, a new type of games offering players the chance to win prizes without scratching the ticket or waiting for a drawing. Fast Play launch is a milestone in the evolution of the Pennsylvania Lottery, said Executive Director Drew Svitko, noting that this is the Lottery's first entirely new game category introduced since scratch-off tickets premiered in 1975. The first draw game went on sale in March of 1972. Fast Play games print on-demand fro
Feb 28, 2017, 12:46 pm - Lottery News

Man arrested in lottery winner kidnappingNews Story
A Peoria man accused of kidnapping two men from Normal, Illinois, including one who died of a head injury suffered during the incident, demanded the victim's family pay a ransom from lottery winnings, Normal police said Friday. Danny Smith Jr. 28, is charged with kidnapping Maunds Bryant, 41, and his stepfather from their home in the 100 block of West Raab Road on Dec. 22. Smith remains in the Peoria County jail in lieu of $300,000 bond. Additional charges are under review by both Peoria a
Dec 30, 2016, 6:48 pm - Lottery News

N.C. Lottery chief refutes state studyNews Story
By Alice Garland, executive director of the N.C. Education Lottery One benefit of a state lottery is that as North Carolinians win the lottery, their prize money is subject to the collection of any debts owed to state and local governments. The lottery makes every effort to ensure all debts are collected from every prize, $600 or more. No exceptions. So far, more than $11 million that would have gone uncollected has been collected from lottery prizes. That's a benefit to all whom the money
Dec 26, 2016, 10:32 am - Lottery News

Illinois lawmakers call for investigation into lotteryNews Story
State lawmakers from both political parties are calling for an investigation of how the Illinois Lottery managed scratch-off games in response to a report showing the lottery didn't award many of the biggest prizes in the biggest games. I just don't think we should promise people things we don't deliver, said state Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie. And if we say we have a game that's going to pay X and it doesn't pay X, then we've lied to the people who bought the tickets. Lang was joined by stat
Dec 13, 2016, 8:24 am - Lottery News

Update: Players sue Delaware Lottery for $2M over disputed Keno ticketsNews Story
Two Delaware men are claiming they haven't seen a penny of the $2 million they say the state lottery owes them after a computer glitch spewed out multiple matching numbers. John Brookings Jr. and Richard Spence played Keno a bingo-style lottery game in which players can win based on how many numbers they match and how much they wager at a retailer in New Castle County last December, according to the lawsuit. (See Keno players cash in on lottery glitch in Delaware, Lottery Post, Dec. 24, 20
Nov 29, 2016, 1:08 pm - Lottery News