Georgia lawmakers question lottery bonuses

Comment #19

Stack47 — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:43:15 GMT

I can't understand why people expect random drawings to be predictable.

The lotteries tell us they are having a random drawing. They show us a machine with 3 clear compartments where 3 sets of balls numbered 0-9 are mixing and swirling around by forced air that pretty much proves the drawing is random.

Call the Georgia Lottery Player Hotline and ask a representative how many ballsets they now use to perform Cash 3 drawings.

At best they'll hear about some of the extraordinary measur... [ More ]

Comment #18

konane — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 16:13:52 GMT

Call the Georgia Lottery Player Hotline and ask a representative how many ballsets they now use to perform Cash 3 drawings. Last time I asked a couple of years ago it was at least 16 if memory serves me. Not sure how many different sets of machines they currently use.

Also ask and verify whether the same group of ballsets are used for both Cash 3 and Cash 4 drawings and you will find out that yes they are.

Anyone expecting a triple in Cash 3 ...... can have it hit in Cash 4 due to rotati... [ More ]

Comment #17

Stack47 — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:34:32 GMT

Lottery officials say the bonuses are needed to stay competitive and keep employees focused.

That is true in any company with annual sales of $3.4 billion and offers 0.35% in profit sharing.

Bonuses have long been awarded to lottery officials, but they are now 10 to 15 times greater than they were in 1993, the lottery's first year.

It doesn't say how many employees got bonuses in 1993 but the annual sales were $1.1 billion when they got 10 or 15 times less. According to the Georgia L... [ More ]

Comment #16

Stack47 — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 13:04:22 GMT

The chances of the same exact number repeating in the exact order as it usually does in Georgia, any combination of the same number three times in a month is also astranomical,

In the evening drawing I noticed that 990 followed 099, 144 was drawn twice in 7 draws, and 110 twice in 11 draws; all within 40 drawings. You said it usually does and if this happens that often in the Georgia Pick-3, why not develop a strategy based on that and turn it into an advantage?

We would be blind not

Comment #15

catspick — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 22:24:25 GMT

The chances of the same exact number repeating in the exact order as it usually does in Georgia, any combination of the same number three times in a month is also astranomical, I'm sure as probable as a triple. But it happens all the time here. We would be blind not to see the numbers in Georgia (I don't know about other states) and know that it is in the hands of someone who can bring a triple any time they want to. It's time to pay a little back to the players.

Comment #14

Captain Lotto — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 20:16:41 GMT

Not to defend the Georgia Lottery, but you should know a few things about odds and statistics. It's impossible to predict Pick 3 numbers because it's a random event, but the odds of triples being drawn is about 1 in 1000. That means with 2 drawings a day, you'd expect triples to come out about once every year and a half.

And I'm not a fan of the higher and higher price points that Lotteries seem to be going to, but a number of high roller players seem to like them. Most of the time,... [ More ]

Comment #13

catspick — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 17:56:34 GMT

I have not trusted the Georgia lottery in a couple years now. They rip off the cash 3 and cash 4 players. Repeat numbers, always the same old numbers month after month. How many draws has it been since they brought a triple???? I see people in the store spending there last dollars in hope that one of the numbers they've played for months would come out. (I ve done it myself). And I know it's not going to happen, and don't want to rain on there parade. There is a slim chance to win anything... [ More ]

Comment #12

murph1226 — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:39:15 GMT

He said, There is no accountability.... Woah woah... Someone from the government is talking about no accountability? Weird.... But really does anyone know how much more money these people would be making if they were CEO, president, or director of a private organization?? I guarantee you it would be WAY more than they are making currently. They are brining in billions of dollars in profits! Think of other companies that bring in that much money and how much their CEOs are making. Talki... [ More ]

Comment #11

chasingadream — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 04:23:55 GMT

i agree

Comment #10

littlejsing — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 23:28:12 GMT

I've seen firsthand in other institutions how end-of-the-year bonuses can diminish the overall quality of services. Here in Tennessee the lottery machines provide substandard performance, even the ballots are now printed on such a low grade of paper quality the machine has greater difficulty reading them.

You can bet Ms Hargrove and her cronies will share the pie left over from these and other corners cut. Bonuses should be distributed according to quality of services provided not quantit... [ More ]

Comment #9

JAP69 — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 22:23:30 GMT

So whats the beef with the lawmakers. Madd because they are not on the end of the receiving stick. Ask the lawmakers how much extra they get above their salary to be on committes and all the other perks.

It,s all right here in a nutshell. And playing the lottery is voluntary on the citizens.

She also said it's not fair to compare the lottery to state agencies, because it raises all the money it spends rather than relying on annual appropriations from the state.

So how do lawmakers fund... [ More ]

Comment #8

Captain Lotto — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 21:53:14 GMT

I don't know anything about Georgia, but not all games have equal payouts. You'd have to look at what they return to the state overall. For instance, some Scratchers games have higher prize structures than other types of games. It's not unlike the casino, where the slots sometimes return 90% as prizes and the house makes it up on table games. They probably release information on the cost of administration as a percentage of sales.

Comment #7

johnph77 — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 21:37:46 GMT

If the $853M was the only funding provided by the GA lottery there's a whole lot more wrong than $3M in bonuses. With $3.4B in sales, the payout to the educational funds from the lottery would only be about 25% of sales. Given that the Fantasy 5 game has pari-mutuel payouts and the Cash3 and Cash4 games pay out 50% or slightly less, that leaves another $850M used for administrative expenses and contract costs. That seems rather high to me.

Comment #6

logo — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 17:35:03 GMT

thanks todd

i believe there is something wrong with our lottery

Comment #5

konane — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:26:59 GMT

If memory serves me Ms. DeFrancisco came in at around $110,000 per year plus bonus, not sure if there has been an increase.

On the other hand Paul-Hargrove was raking in in excess of $600,000 per year salary +++ bonuses and was not the performer in any respect whatsoever that Ms. DeFrancisco has been. Yeah, Becca set it up but ran it into the ground due to greed and no imagination.

As stated many times Ms. DeFrancisco has given back to players in the form of second chance drawings several... [ More ]

Comment #4

Drivedabizness — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:11:22 GMT

I wish the article contained more information...I seem to remember everyone at the lottery, all the way down to the janitor, getting (or being eligible for) some sort of bonus. I don't know what Margaret is making total but she seems to have done a pretty good job down there.

$3 million is less than 1/10 of 1 percent of sales...compare with the average US Corporation and its a drop in the bucket. A lot of publicly traded firms go by an estimate that says the management team should be get... [ More ]

Comment #3

konane — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 15:16:09 GMT

Lawmakers fail to take into consideration those bonu$e$ were originally negotiated by none other than Paul-Hargrove whose track record toward the last of her tenure failed to merit her huge salary bonus she secured for herself.

Ms. DeFrancisco at a much lower salary than Paul-Hargrove has turned the Georgia Lottery around to a real performer .... players are happily spending money.

Current Georgia Lottery integrity is reflected in sales performance lead by Ms. DeFrancisco. Let them ke... [ More ]

Comment #2

dumars798 — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 15:05:39 GMT

They need to spread the $$$ to us G.A players

Comment #1

LOTTOMIKE — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:57:33 GMT

maybe tennessee was the state they were really talking about

Georgia lawmakers question lottery bonuses

Lottery Post — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:38:42 GMT

Top Georgia Republicans are calling for a review of the bonuses awarded to Georgia Lottery officials.

Georgia Lottery President Margaret DeFrancisco and her employees collected nearly $3 million dollars in bonuses this year, a sum that has mystified Georgia legislators who three years ago tightened requirements for the lottery-funded HOPE scholarship.

House Higher Education Committee Chair Bill Hembree called the figures insane and Senate Majority Whip Mitch Seabaugh said he wanted to re... [ More ]