Illinois Lottery to add Powerball online ticket sales

May 29, 2012, 1:19 pm (25 comments)

Illinois Lottery

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Powerball would be added to the mix of lottery games that Illinois offers online under legislation that squeaked through the House Monday.

The multi-state Powerball game would join Lotto and Mega Millions, the two games Illinois put online in March when it became the first state in the nation to sell lottery tickets by Internet.

Dismissing opposition, Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, said the measure simply adds a third game online rather than opening the door to widespread gambling that the bill's foes feared.

"We're not reinventing the wheel," Lang said.

The bill moved to the Senate 62-47, only two votes above the bare minimum needed for passage. The measure also calls for a study on how online lottery sales impact convenience stores and other retailers that sell lottery tickets.

Chicago Tribune

Comments

mcginnin56

This is the wave of the future. Change is difficult as first, but with pioneering states such as Illinois, change will take place.  Type

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by mcginnin56 on May 29, 2012

This is the wave of the future. Change is difficult as first, but with pioneering states such as Illinois, change will take place.  Type

I Agree!

LottoGuyBC's avatarLottoGuyBC

Welcome to the 21st Century Thud

RJOh's avatarRJOh

This will disappoint those folks who like standing in line when trick sales are good asking silly questions of ticket buyers such as "Have you ever won anything buying so many tickets or have you just wasted your money?"  They'll have find other ways to stick their noses into other people business.

liberal47's avatarliberal47

Mr. Lang has it right. Just making it more convenient for the customer. 1 down 49 to go!

Factorem's avatarFactorem

Quote: Originally posted by RJOh on May 29, 2012

This will disappoint those folks who like standing in line when trick sales are good asking silly questions of ticket buyers such as "Have you ever won anything buying so many tickets or have you just wasted your money?"  They'll have find other ways to stick their noses into other people business.

Who or what is "...trick sales are good asking silly questions..."?

Who exactly is doing the asking, which I inderstand is being posed to the store customers?

Who is the "they"  in the "they will find other ways to stick their noses into other people business"

 

Please explain further. Thanks!

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by Factorem on May 29, 2012

Who or what is "...trick sales are good asking silly questions..."?

Who exactly is doing the asking, which I inderstand is being posed to the store customers?

Who is the "they"  in the "they will find other ways to stick their noses into other people business"

 

Please explain further. Thanks!

Homosapiens.

Lucky SOB

just hope it doesnt get hacked

PlayTwoWin

I don't understand why this is necessary. What is so difficult about walking into your local fuel stop and buying a ticket or two? All this online crap will only cost the lottery more to operate, maintain, and have addtional security costs.

Dumb.

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Good news for Illinois for a change.

It beats having everybody talking about them being the most corrupt state in the nation all the time.

Cletu$2's avatarCletu$2

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on May 29, 2012

Good news for Illinois for a change.

It beats having everybody talking about them being the most corrupt state in the nation all the time.

Yeah,it'll take their minds off of Illinois being broke ;~)

Illinois needs all the good news it can get.

dallascowboyfan's avatardallascowboyfan

Quote: Originally posted by LottoGuyBC on May 29, 2012

Welcome to the 21st Century Thud

Yep Thumbs Up

RedStang's avatarRedStang

I read that Illinois is using the online lottery as a test pilot to someday start online poker.

Coin Toss's avatarCoin Toss

This isn't all for the players, not even close.

Illinois is in hock for about $1.8 billion and scrambling to bring in money however it can.

louise black

Roll EyesWho cares about Powerball what about 3&4 digit so other people of of state can purchase.Big Grin

Coin Toss's avatarCoin Toss

People in state can't play Pick 3 or 4 online.

Stack47

"The measure also calls for a study on how online lottery sales impact convenience stores and other retailers that sell lottery tickets."

About 55% of the Illinois ticket sales are scratch-offs that would have zero effect by online sales so the minimal impact would be on the other games. They can only loosely estimate how many players will play their daily Pick-3, Pick-4, and Little Lotto online. Those games represent about 28% of the ticket sales so it depends on how many players choose to play those games online. If 10% decide to play those games online, the lottery retailers would lose about 2.8% of their commissions.

There are about 7300 Illinois lottery retailers and 10% online play would cost each retailer an average of $423 a year out of the average $15,100 they get in commissions now. Only the politicians would purpose a study of something that is available with less than 5 minutes of calculations.

Stack47

Quote: Originally posted by LottoGuyBC on May 29, 2012

Welcome to the 21st Century Thud

If the Illinois legislators have to OK every step on the way, it might not be until the 22nd Century until they finally get full online ticket sales.

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Quote: Originally posted by louise black on May 30, 2012

Roll EyesWho cares about Powerball what about 3&4 digit so other people of of state can purchase.Big Grin

Many pick3 players who claim to be successful and flying under the tax radar probably wouldn't use the online services of a state since it would leave a paper trail.  And too there are those players getting public assistance, lacking in making support payments or like getting their money instantly with little or no paper work.

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by Stack47 on May 31, 2012

"The measure also calls for a study on how online lottery sales impact convenience stores and other retailers that sell lottery tickets."

About 55% of the Illinois ticket sales are scratch-offs that would have zero effect by online sales so the minimal impact would be on the other games. They can only loosely estimate how many players will play their daily Pick-3, Pick-4, and Little Lotto online. Those games represent about 28% of the ticket sales so it depends on how many players choose to play those games online. If 10% decide to play those games online, the lottery retailers would lose about 2.8% of their commissions.

There are about 7300 Illinois lottery retailers and 10% online play would cost each retailer an average of $423 a year out of the average $15,100 they get in commissions now. Only the politicians would purpose a study of something that is available with less than 5 minutes of calculations.

Excellent analysis Stack. Perhaps you could offer your services as a lottery consultant/tax crusader to the state of Illinois?  Type

Stack47

Quote: Originally posted by mcginnin56 on May 31, 2012

Excellent analysis Stack. Perhaps you could offer your services as a lottery consultant/tax crusader to the state of Illinois?  Type

"The bill moved to the Senate 62-47, only two votes above the bare minimum needed for passage. The measure also calls for a study on how online lottery sales impact convenience stores and other retailers that sell lottery tickets."

You must have missed that part because it was the state Senate that called for the study. I got the figures from the Illinois Lottery 2010 Annual Report so it's obvious the lottery doesn't need a "consultant/tax crusader" (whatever that means).

I suppose the Senate will hire a multi-million CPA firm to do some simple 6th grade math; similar to going through 11 pages of a jackpot history to find the record jackpot when it's clearly shown on page one.

For anyone else is interested in the actual impact, if terminal game ticket sales are 44.5% of the total ticket sales, selling tickets online could only impact part of the 44.5% of the retailer commissions. If the Senate is concerned with commissions, they are not serious about offering online play.

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by Stack47 on May 31, 2012

"The bill moved to the Senate 62-47, only two votes above the bare minimum needed for passage. The measure also calls for a study on how online lottery sales impact convenience stores and other retailers that sell lottery tickets."

You must have missed that part because it was the state Senate that called for the study. I got the figures from the Illinois Lottery 2010 Annual Report so it's obvious the lottery doesn't need a "consultant/tax crusader" (whatever that means).

I suppose the Senate will hire a multi-million CPA firm to do some simple 6th grade math; similar to going through 11 pages of a jackpot history to find the record jackpot when it's clearly shown on page one.

For anyone else is interested in the actual impact, if terminal game ticket sales are 44.5% of the total ticket sales, selling tickets online could only impact part of the 44.5% of the retailer commissions. If the Senate is concerned with commissions, they are not serious about offering online play.

Bravo! As usual, your always right about everything.

ressuccess's avatarressuccess

Good luck to the people buying Powerball online ticket sales.

savagegoose's avatarsavagegoose

hehehehe sure beats having joe scammer sell or check your tickets.

mightwin's avatarmightwin

 With out a physical piece of paper.........I'm sure the hackers out there are getting excited, no website is totally secure and one day when it happens someone is going to be laughing all the way to the bank. lol

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