Convicted embezzler to forfeit Kansas Lottery prize
Paul W. Lyle learned that he won the grand prize in a Kansas Lottery second-chance drawing at his preliminary hearing 11 days ago. Trouble was: The former radio executive was facing a charge of felony theft for embezzling a reported $87,750 from his employer, American Media Investments, which owns three radio stations in Pittsburg, five in Joplin, Mo., and five more in Texas.
The supreme irony: Lyle, 63, the company's chief operating officer until the theft was discovered in May, confessed th ...
Oct 3, 2009, 11:36 am - - Lottery News forum
Computerized lottery drawings not problem-free
MUSL director Strutt says Small group of players don't like them
Passailaigue says players superstitious, spooked by changes in draw format
Arkansas lottery officials say their decision to use a computer to generate winning numbers when lottery games start this fall makes economic sense, but the use of computerized drawings by lotteries in other states has not been free of problems.
In July 2007, the Tennessee Education Lottery moved to save costs by doing away with its televised drawi ...
Aug 10, 2009, 9:22 am - - Lottery News forum
Kansas man wins big in lottery for 2nd time in '09
Edward Williams is the definition of lucky after winning the lottery for a second time in a year. Williams, 47, of Wichita won $75,000 in September playing a $10 scratch ticket. Then on Wednesday, he defied the odds again when matched all the numbers in the Super Kansas Cash drawing to win a jackpot worth nearly $900,000.
When I hit $75,000, I figured lighting struck once, it won't ever hit again, Williams said in a prepared statement released by Kansas Lottery officials. This one knocked me ...
Aug 9, 2009, 10:40 pm - - Lottery News forum
Kansas Lottery sales decline in 2009
Kansas Lottery sales were down 2.6 percent during the fiscal year that ended June 30, the state agency reported Wednesday.
Sales for the year finished at $230.5 million, down from $236.6 million during the 2008 fiscal year. The lottery's biggest drops were in its Super Kansas Cash and Keno products, which fell 15 percent and 9 percent, respectively.
Tough economic conditions have been a factor in decreased sales, as well as the lack of big jackpots in Powerball and Super Kansas Cash, said ...
Jul 17, 2009, 9:06 am - - Lottery News forum
Kansas Lottery is first in the world to offer electronic PushPlay
The Kansas Lottery is the first lottery in the world to offer its players a next generation lottery product called PushPlay. The Lottery is shipping out PushPlay game cards this week to all retailers that have requested them.
PushPlay game cards are instant lottery tickets, but instead of scratching off the tickets, a player uses a reusable electronic player with an LCD screen to display the game. A player will insert or push the card into the player, and then play the game, thus the name Pus ...
Apr 26, 2009, 1:21 pm - - 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
Kansas Lottery sales decline
The economy is having its impact on the sale of Kansas Lottery tickets, according to lottery officials.
Lottery Executive Director Ed Van Petten said Wednesday that ticket sales between July 1 and last Saturday are down 4% over the same period of time last year.
Van Petten said the economy has been a factor, but that isn't the only reason for slumping sales. He said ticket sales have been down in the games with large jackpots because the jackpots haven't been that much in recent months.
...
Oct 15, 2008, 6:03 pm - - Lottery News forum
Man bowled-over by second lottery win
A Kansas man whose girlfriend was physically stuck to the toilet in their home won $20,000 in the state Lottery, for the second time this year.
Kory McFarren cashed in his winning $2 Bonus Crossword ticket in Great Bend Monday.
On July 29, the 37-year-old received six months of probation after pleading no contest to misdemeanor mistreatment of a dependent adult.
McFarren called deputies in February to report that his girlfriend, Pam Babcock, had refused to come out of the bathroom for t ...
Oct 8, 2008, 4:43 pm - - Lottery News forum
$200,000 Powerball lottery prize goes unclaimed
One lucky Powerball winner from Kansas isn't so lucky after the deadline expired for claiming a $200,000 prize.
Kansas Lottery officials said they heard some real doozies last week from people trying to grab a share of the unclaimed riches, but despite that, Friday's deadline passed without the winning ticket showing up.
Just because none could produce the winning ticket, it didn't prevent at least 100 people from trying to claim the money as their own.
Some guy called twice I'm not ...
Aug 3, 2008, 8:50 pm - - Lottery News forum
Kansas Lottery officials mull GTECH systems failure
Kansas Lottery officials already had more than their hands full with the selection of gaming license applicants for their four casinos so they really didn't need another problem.
But, there it is: a casino data systems failure from GTECH, the Providence-RI-based firm that manages the state's lottery activities.
It was defective software, pure and simple, said Ed Van Petten, lottery executive director, in describing the systems failure. GTECH, a former publicly-traded American company, was ...
Jul 15, 2008, 11:00 pm - - Lottery News forum
