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Lottery purchasing service shuts down in Florida after one month
Published:
Lottery purchasing service shuts down in Florida after one month
Gary Taylor
Orlando Sentinel
5:29 p.m. EST
November 21, 2011
About a month after it launched in Florida, LottoGopher has pulled the plug.
LottoGopher began more than a year ago in California and last month started selling Powerball tickets in Florida with plans to expand to other Florida Lottery games such as Lotto and Fantasy 5.
LottoGopher began more than a year ago in California and last month started selling Powerball tickets in Florida with plans to expand to other Florida Lottery games such as Lotto and Fantasy 5.
It immediately drew the ire of gambling opponents because, for the first time, it provided the opportunity to use credit cards to purchase lottery tickets.
It was only after the Florida Lottery went to court Friday to force LottoGopher to quit operating in the state that the company's chief executive officer, James Morel, learned it is illegal in Florida to redeem a lottery ticket on behalf of someone else.
He shut down operations in Florida over the weekend.
"There's no way we could operate with that in place," Morel said.
In California, Morel started by selling Mega Millions tickets and then expanded to offer other games of the California Lottery.
He had expected to do the same in Florida, starting with Powerball and adding other Florida Lottery games. Morel said he got around laws that prevent the sale of lottery tickets over the Internet by operating as a messenger service.
He said the tickets never belonged to LottoGopher.
The monthly fee was $19.42 but was reduced to just $9.99 a month if paid a year in advance. LottoGopher did not take a percentage of the winnings.
The service also allowed players to pool their tickets with other players to increase their chances of winning. Up to 100 tickets can be pooled in an existing LottoGopher group or a private pool created by players.
Allowing tickets to be bought with credit cards here was controversial. Credit cards were required to use LottoGopher in order to both prove that the buyer was of legal age and was in Florida because there are laws against gambling across state lines, Morel said.
It was only after the Florida Lottery went to court Friday to force LottoGopher to quit operating in the state that the company's chief executive officer, James Morel, learned it is illegal in Florida to redeem a lottery ticket on behalf of someone else.
He shut down operations in Florida over the weekend.
"There's no way we could operate with that in place," Morel said.
In California, Morel started by selling Mega Millions tickets and then expanded to offer other games of the California Lottery.
He had expected to do the same in Florida, starting with Powerball and adding other Florida Lottery games. Morel said he got around laws that prevent the sale of lottery tickets over the Internet by operating as a messenger service.
He said the tickets never belonged to LottoGopher.
The monthly fee was $19.42 but was reduced to just $9.99 a month if paid a year in advance. LottoGopher did not take a percentage of the winnings.
The service also allowed players to pool their tickets with other players to increase their chances of winning. Up to 100 tickets can be pooled in an existing LottoGopher group or a private pool created by players.
Allowing tickets to be bought with credit cards here was controversial. Credit cards were required to use LottoGopher in order to both prove that the buyer was of legal age and was in Florida because there are laws against gambling across state lines, Morel said.
Comments
The owner of that site was frankly pretty dopey and very arrogant to think he would keep his service running in Florida by throwing his service in the lottery's face. The lottery has far too many financial and political resources for that guy to cope with.
The fact that he did not know about all the relevant laws in Florida is extremely poor planning and preparation.
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