Oklahoma will become the 41st state to offer a lottery when 1,200 businesses start selling instant tickets this morning.
Online lottery games, such as Pick 3, are planned for November, and the state is scheduled to join the national Powerball game in January.
Voters overwhelmingly approved starting a lottery last fall after Gov. Brad Henry promoted the statewide game as a way to raise money for public schools.
All the states that surround Oklahoma except Arkansas have a lottery.
Education will get 30 percent of net lottery sales the first year and 35 percent after that. The rest of the money will go to prizes and toward the cost of operating the lottery. A constitutional "lockbox" approved by voters ensures lottery proceeds will not be used to supplant existing education funding.
Officials predict the lottery will bring in $65 million for the rest of the fiscal year that ends next June 30 and as much as $150 million a year after that.
The governor pledged never to claim winnings from playing the lottery.
"Can you imagine the uproar if I would win a big prize?" he asked.
That's a great victory for Oklahoma to start a lottery. I'm happy to see Oklahoma have Powerball for January 2006.
I bought the $5 ticket in Jenks this morning and got nothing. Later I played $10 on the nickel machines at the Creek Nation casino at 81st & Riverside in Tulsa and won $36.
Will they also be getting Mega Millions?
ache:
Oklahoma is joining Powerball. It will be available in mid-January.
Oh I knew that they were joining powerball, but I was wondering if they would be joining Mega millions also, but I'm guessing their not.
WOW. Already 3 top prizes have been claimed today. All of them were from Lucky 7's with a top prize of $777. Again CONGRATS OK.
The OK Lottery is now a month old. You'd think 25k would no longer be its highest prize.
Oklahoma spent $300 million in advertisement of the lottery alone. Now congratulate Oklahoma.
The second person in Oklahoma to win the lottery, showed the camera crews an entire drawer full of scratched tickets.
can someone please, please explain to me how the lottery can possibly be good?
go look here, and tell me those are good odds... even if you are the 1 in 1,000, all you're going to is $500! thats hardly worth the time, or
the money
Oklahoma spent $300 million in advertisement of the lottery alone. Now congratulate Oklahoma.
The second person in Oklahoma to win the lottery, showed the camera crews an entire drawer full of scratched tickets.
can someone please, please explain to me how the lottery can possibly be good?
go look here, and tell me those are good odds... even if you are the 1 in 1,000, all you're going to is $500! thats hardly worth the time, or
the money
The lottery is good if you win. And if you collect in lump sum.