Fla. Lottery to try vending machines... again
Construction worker Anthony Carey usually gets $50 worth of scratch-off lottery tickets once a week at the convenience store where he gasses up, but he says that'll probably change when Florida reintroduces vending machines later this year in supermarkets.
The first of 1,000 machines should begin showing up in mid-August and all should all be in place by the end of November.
Instead of just getting them when I'm putting in gas, I would be able to buy them basically anywhere, Carey said wh ...
Jun 5, 2009, 8:39 am - - Lottery News forum
Florida Lottery winner opens nude dude ranch
You've heard of nude beaches, but how about a nude dude ranch?
A multi-million-dollar lottery winner in Florida is riling some by opening up his own. Tim Clements hit a $3.3 million jackpot in 2004, and wanted to return to the farm life he grew up in.
Clements, 50, became fed up with strangers asking him for money in Ormond Beach, Florida, so he bought a secluded ranch on the other side of the state.
He and David Jennings, co-owner of the ranch, say the farm is secluded enough to be in ...
Apr 19, 2009, 8:13 am - - Lottery News forum
Reflecting bad times, some lotteries hit losing streak
State lotteries are down on their luck as players cut back on games of chance.
From California, where sales for the past year are down 5%, to Florida, where sales slipped 7%, fewer people are gambling on scratch-off tickets and numbers games.
The economy probably has affected lottery sales the way it's affected all discretionary spending, says David Gale of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries.
About half of Americans buy lottery tickets, according to a 2008 ...
Apr 14, 2009, 8:47 am - - Lottery News forum
Florida Lottery chief comes under hostile fire in House committee
The Florida Lottery's top executive got a dressing-down today from House Republicans for failing to bid out a lucrative contract produce its TV ads, despite a state law requiring the department to start doing so last summer.
The Lottery hired its New York-based ad agency on a month-to-month arrangement on June 30 one day before language in the state budget took effect requiring the department to put the $3.5 million contract out for competitive bids. The monthly arrangement allowed the Lotter ...
Mar 31, 2009, 9:27 pm - - Lottery News forum
Hitting the jackpot: Rebecca Hargrove's winning strategy
Tenn. Lottery CEO says tickets seem recession-proof, help fund college educations
You may not have heard of Rebecca Paul Hargrove, but in the lottery world, she's a celebrity.
The brash, hard-charging CEO of the Tennessee lottery has accomplished what nobody else has in the state-run gaming business. She ran the lottery in Illinois where sales topped $1.3 billion. Next, Hargrove moved to Florida, where she set a new record: $95 million in sales the first week.
In Florida, Hargrove's mar ...
Mar 29, 2009, 11:37 am - - Lottery News forum
Lottery winner buys Fort Myers business
Joining the ranks of the idle rich is often step No. 1 for the lucky few who win the lottery.
But Jason Fry, 35, has chosen a different path after splitting a roughly $47 million Florida Lottery jackpot in December 2007 with a Bonita Springs man.
First, he spent several months traveling and relaxing after leaving his bartending job. Then he had a plan: rejoin the workforce by becoming a business owner.
That decision became reality last week when he finalized the purchase of the Batterie ...
Mar 13, 2009, 9:45 am - - Lottery News forum
Woman claims Publix cashier threw away winning lotto ticket
Annie Collier loves to play the lottery. She has a ritual of buying tickets each week and playing certain numbers.
Occasionally, she'll hit.
Last Thursday, Annie's lotto tickets were piled in her purse. She bought them earlier in the week and didn't even pay attention to what the numbers were.
Talk about lucky!
On Valentine's Day, Annie love for lotto paid off big. She won $800.
Annie's son called to share the good news. My son had called me and told me, 'Mom, you know that 3131 c ...
Feb 19, 2009, 12:35 pm - - Lottery News forum
Florida Lottery Raffle drawing crowns 9 new millionaires
One million Florida Lottery tickets had a shot at winning $1 million, and nine of those are officially chosen as the big winners.
Lottery players anxiously waiting to see if they are now among the wealthy can check their tickets at Lottery Post's Florida Lottery Results page (www.lotterypost.com/results/fl).
With only 1 million tickets available for the raffle, Florida lottery ticket buyers had a better chance of winning a million dollars than with any other game offered in the state. The ...
Dec 31, 2008, 5:29 pm - - Lottery News forum
Powerball lottery to have larger jackpot, but harder to win
The Powerball lottery game will be going through some changes beginning in January, including having a larger starting jackpot that is more difficult to win.
Starting on Jan. 4, Florida will join the 30 United States lotteries that now offer Powerball, adding a population of 18.8 million to those who have the chance to play the game.
The starting jackpot will jump from $15 million to $20 million, the world's largest starting jackpot for a lotto-style game. In addition, the average jackpot ...
Dec 29, 2008, 11:21 am - - Lottery News forum
Powerball lottery drawings will move to Florida
After 16 years in the Heartland, Powerball is moving south.
The lottery game is moving its televised drawings from Iowa to Florida.
Florida decided to join the Multi-State Lottery Association last summer and offer the game in January. It's also getting a new look, new odds and a bigger jackpot.
Executive Director Chuck Strutt says details, including the location of a new studio, are still being worked out, but the first drawing from Florida is set for Jan. 7.
A new face is also comin ...
Dec 10, 2008, 10:24 am - - Lottery News forum
