Ohio Lottery facts and trivia as it turns 35 years old
Thirty-five years ago this summer, the newly created Ohio Lottery held its first-ever drawing, a public spectacle at Parmatown Mall that drew more than 1,000 people.
Comedian Don Rickles had originally been invited to emcee the drawing of the new Buckeye 300 weekly game, but the public had to settle for Miss Ohio World 1974 and local TV stars Big Chuck and Hoolihan.
Since then, the Ohio Lottery has turned hundreds of people into millionaires and transferred about $16 billion to Ohio's publ ...
Jun 18, 2009, 12:01 pm - - Lottery News forum
N.C. Lottery snatches back some prizes
Some lottery winners have no luck.
Before anyone can claim a big prize, state law requires lottery officials to first check on whether the winner owes the government any money.
Lots do.
Since the first ticket went on sale in North Carolina in March 2006, the lottery has collected $1.3 million in back taxes, delinquent child support, overdue student loans and other debts. For some winners, the hit is a few hundred dollars out of thousands. For others, the debt wipes out their whole prize ...
Apr 28, 2009, 10:37 pm - - Lottery News forum
A Nevada Lottery? The Line Forms in California
On a recent afternoon, lines of customers snaked to the door of the Primm Valley Lotto Store, a bustling hut just over the border in California. The parking lot was packed with cars sporting Nevada license plates.
The hut, on a dead-end street paved for the sole purpose of crossing that border, holds two important distinctions. It is the lottery ticket vendor closest to Las Vegas, 45 miles to the northeast. And it sells more lottery tickets than any other vendor in California, according to th ...
Apr 26, 2009, 12:36 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
Unemployed: Play the lottery or not?
by Dan Weiser
The Mega Millions lottery jackpot is worth an estimated $212 million. Right now, it is the largest lottery jackpot in the country, including the multi-state Powerball. In fact, it's the largest lottery jackpot in the world.
The next drawing is Tuesday night and a winning ticket will bring riches to at least one person. $212 million dollars is the stuff dreams are made of, but in these uncertain times winning would be ... well, hard to put into words.
The unemployment rate ...
Mar 2, 2009, 9:39 am - - Lottery News forum
Courier finds bag of lottery tickets
Gaming officials show a surprising lack of concern, though
Paul Neves didn't win the lottery, but he still feels pretty good.
The UPS courier was driving his usual Rexdale route last Wednesday at 10 a.m. when he came upon a ripped plastic bag on the side of Humber College Blvd., near Highway 27 full of brand new lottery tickets worth $3,400.
I checked the bag. I was amazed, there were hundreds of tickets. They were sealed in clear plastic wrap, 30 tickets in each package.
Included w ...
Mar 2, 2009, 8:40 am - - Lottery News forum
Lottery Post member subject of new motion picture
'Infringed' opens in theaters early 2009
Known at Lottery Post as Jim695, Jim Grimes lived a story compelling enough for the silver screen
As the producer of director Neil LaBute's award-winning In the Company of Men and other features, Fort Wayne filmmaker Mark Archer knows a good story when he sees one.
He knows Jim Grimes' story is a good one and will soon be telling it on the big screen.
I don't think 'Infringed' will make it into many film festivals. I'm in the super-minority i ...
Oct 29, 2008, 11:48 am - - Lottery News forum
Mega lottery bucks go unclaimed every year
Imagine the luck: You beat the odds and hit the lottery. Now imagine this kind of luck: You don't even know it.
Of all of life's weird twists of fate, this is pretty high up there. You could be living in fat city, if only you had checked your ticket or saved it from your jeans pocket before doing laundry.
Last year, more than $600 million in lottery fortunes went unclaimed in the United States. That could build, like, half of a football stadium.
In California, $29 million went unclaimed ...
Oct 5, 2008, 11:58 am - - Lottery News forum
Sweet dreams in hard times add to lottery sales
When gasoline prices shot up this year, Peggy Seemann thought about saving the $10 she spends weekly on lottery tickets.
But the prospect that the $10 could become $100 million or more was too appealing. So rather than stop buying Mega Millions tickets, Ms. Seemann, 50, who lives in suburban Chicago and works in advertising sales for a financial Web site, saved money instead by packing her lunch a few days a week, keeping alive her dreams of hitting a jackpot and retiring as a multimillionair ...
Sep 14, 2008, 9:49 pm - - Lottery News forum
Lottery-winning couple's White Sox love story
Alex Snelius remains true to team he and his late wife loved
If you're a faithful viewer of White Sox television broadcasts, you've heard the name Alex Snelius, and most of you have probably wondered who he is.
Snelius is synonomous with White Sox home runs. Every time they go yard, he donates $100 dollars in memory of his wife, Ursula, who was a huge Sox fan.
From the time I met my wife, Sox, always Sox, she loved it so much, Snelius said. The first time I seen her I fell in love ...
May 21, 2008, 12:48 am - - Lottery News forum
