Tenn. Lottery CEO blames lagging sales on Powerball

This is the saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame thing that I thought when I first heard that Arkansas would possibly be getting a lottery in the next few years

Well, good posts by everyone. Cash 3 Pick 4 and scratch offs is where the Tn is losing money.  Check this out: go to cash 3 and check how many times 439,184,007 have come up. Even  000 came up TWICE within a 4 day period. other #s like 375 have not come up since 2007. ALSO, try to send the Tn lottery a message-go to contact us ,scroll down,....ok when you type your comment or question you cant use a       ?    ... it comes up as invalid character...Tn does not want player feedback or questions. I was one who sent countless emails when doubles did not hit for weeks..... The same #s repeat.Irealize this does happen in cash 3 ,but something is not right.....bring back the ping pong balls ,some players will come back....its not Powerball jackpot amounts ,.....where did she get that one? Good luck C2

we all overlooked something here.

rebecca paul blames powerball and funny thing that's the only game here not RNG.

the lottery director was overheard speaking in hushed tones..well governor bredesen i blame powerball because i can't manipulate it like i can the other games here that are in-state.shoot mr.governor i just walk in that little control room and start tinkering with the computers but a few times i've messed up and it almost got out of hand and got me in trouble but now i've got it down to a fine art and the players for some reason are catching on and not playing as much.well me and the hubby have been staying up late watching james bond and he told me to go to work and make the machine come up 007 and before he goes to work he is going to go bet that number five or six times because we are going to order some dom perignon champaigne this weekend and we are low on funds and in fact we've done this a couple times because as you can see the tennessee lottery is sometimes like our own little piggy bank.

hmm mrs. lottery director i guess you scheming up ways to computerize powerball now huh?    well thank goodness your greedy hands can't touch it or it would be the next great game ruined by your ignorance and greed.

someone mentioned the fact that this lotto plus game has went all this time and hasn't been won one time.i think it went years in indiana that way but of course when you have computer draws the odds get thrown out of wack as far as the jackpot being hit.with games like lotto it would get hit more often when the balls are being dropped because the computer draws are just manipulated to bring in higher jackpots so more people will spend more money which goes into the state coffers.

The other thing to keep in mind is that noticably absent is that she does not blame "the economy".

Why?

Because almost every other state lottery is booming right now, with many having record years.  The poor economy actually helps lotteries, but for some reason only Tennessee is particularly bothered by "Powerball".

I hope the governor and legislators and lottery board are all asking hard questions and demanding adequate responses.

WHY doesn't she spark sales by switching to real drawings?

Because of a so-called $5 million difference in cost?  Bunk.  It would never cost an extra $5 million, if she would attempt to use some kind of fiscal responsibility.

How about bringing back the real drawings and streaming them on the Internet instead of broadcasting them on TV?  They don't broadcast the results now, with the God-forsaken computers.

Broadcast AND Internet is preferred, of course, but if she is so incapable of doing a cheap production on TV, it is vastly superior to bring back the real drawings and stream them on the Internet than it is to keep the computers.

Edit:

Here's another idea: why doesn't she start a poll on the Tennessee Lottery web site asking people if they would prefer computerized drawings with the animated cartoon bouncy balls on TV or bringing back real drawings and streaming them live on the Internet?  Include a question about which method is more trustworthy for players.

All these comments are the truth,everyone that has posted are so tired of the way Tennessee people are treated.I wonder if she is a member on here,Todd call her up and offer a free month on here so she can read what we wrote about her.....That the best thing you could do for us all,

On the front of the web sight it says 10 million for friday night,why did she put that up there?So we (all of Tennessee residents) will go out and spend $ 10.00 for quick picks and their own draws hoping to win the 10 million,,,,,,she will make that much plus a few million to boot (probally).And she will pocket the rest that we have already spent on that game alone.   Who hired this woman?  Well as a paying lottery big time (Loser) ...............................................YOU ARE NOW FIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!LOL    Wish it was that easy.....Everyone will overload the call center tonight....

The lottery board is a farce.  I don't know how you get appointed to serve on the board, but one of the qualifications is that you must be willing to "play ball".  They're supposed to "oversee" the lottery, but its more like they're in cahoots with them instead.  The board approved (for the first time in the lottery's existence) a change in how the bonuses were paid this year...why?  So they'd have a better shot at earning it in the face of declining sales, it's now determined on less cut-and-dried methods (using calculations like "average overall increase in sales for other lotteries").  If you read the meeting minutes, there's absolutely NO discussion about it.  Decisions were all made off the record, so there would be no tracking what's going on.

Why don't they spark sales by switching to real drawings?  Because then they'd have to admit they were wrong.  That's tough for some people, especially people who seem to think the lottery is THEIR'S, not the state's.  They don't want to know what a poll of players would reveal.

They broadcast animations of the drawings on their website, cleverly created to appear like an actual ball dropping.  They don't consider the majority of players as internet users, most would rather call on the phone to get the numbers either to the recorded messages or actual lottery phone people.  The $5million dollar figure is one they wish they'd never used, that was thrown out to try and justify the move to the random number machine (that they overpaid for, btw).  There are a lot of costs involved, lots of security, multiple ball sets that have to be tested, draw specialist salaries and what they pay the tv station...but nowhere near $5mil.

I'm sure they know what you're saying.  I understand the lack of confidence.  But some questions...

You really don't think Powerball and the economy don't have something to do with it?  Not every state is booming, many are seeing a drop in sales.  People do turn to the Lottery as a way out in tough times, as long as they have money to spend.  Eventually they shut their wallets, which is what we're starting to see across the board. 

Why ball drawings for everything less than 10 numbers?  Do you trust computers for Keno games, but not Pick 3 drawings?  Isn't the QuickPick a RNG?  Most players choose and win with QP. 

Distrust from the observance that certain numbers haven't been drawn for a while runs counter to the notion of randomness.  Drawing every combination and starting over is a raffle or bingo game, not a lottery. 

I'm just saying...

Well I'm just a dumb hillbilly from the sticks amd dont understand nothing you are all talking about but I do know one thing . All her education and stealing from us inocent people in Tennessee have to see what the lottery was put here to start with,,,,,THE EDUCATION OF OUR KIDS.

Think about it.

• Keno drawn every 5 minutes with ball machines is logistically and physically impossible. 
• Drawing 5,000 6-digit raffle numbers with a ball machine is logistically and physically impossible. 

I would not suggest what I said about 10 digits without reason.

I never said computers should be banned entirely.  They have their purposes.  But one of them is not lotto-style games.

There are basically three types of people who like computerized drawings:

1. The companies that create the computerized drawing equipment and software
2. The lottery personnel within a computerized drawing state
3. Casual lottery players who pick up a quick pick every now and then, and have no idea what a computerized drawing is (just happy to have someone tell them if they won or lost).

My distrust has nothing to do with examining the numbers drawn.

It comes from my knowledge of computers, and my certainty that a 100% secure computer system has never been built.

It comes from the hundreds or even thousands of points of potential failure within a computer system each time a drawing is held.

It comes from the inability of a witness to see the method by which the numbers are drawn.

It comes from the fact that even the lottery staff itself does not truly understand the method by which the numbers are selected.

It comes from documented flaws in computerized drawings from around the country that have resulted in millions of tickets purchased with absolutely no chance of winning a prize.

The reason they don't put a poll online is because they know what the outcome will be already.  They will play dumb and assume everyone is fine with RNG.  However, they know how it would turn out.  Last year when they went to RNG they did it in a very dirty way.  We had like 3 weeks of warning...  They wanted to implement the change hoping very few would notice.  However, WE NOTICE BECCA!!!  I wonder what's next?  What else is she going to do to screw us over?

That's why I will drive 1 hour and half to what they call the loop to play Georgia,They are so good to their players,From Murfreesboro,I will take Interstate 24 east,almost to Chattanogoo,there is a place on the Interstate where it runs into Georgia,then back into Tennessee,,,,Driving 1 1/2 hours is worth winning to me....On that exit is 4 stores to play...hehehe

Wildwood is a great place to play.  I try to stop everytime I go to Chattanooga.

Thats where I play also....Hey listen to this ,I just got back from kroger,Heard 2 little ole ladies talking going down the isle,They said there where discontinuing the scratch offs,,,,well what do you  think about that?  That should tell us all  STOP PLAYING HERE    !!!!  Something is going down,,,,down town Nashville ..