Multi-state lottery shockwave sweeping America

Comment #52

rustysmom — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:09:55 GMT

I received an email from Ohio lottery earlier this week, in response to one I sent them asking if Ohio would be selling both mega millions and powerball. It said it was undecided yet.

Comment #51

BaristaExpress — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:56:25 GMT

It's Official! Delaware is going to cross sell Mega Millions and we are going to have the MegaPlier! Hot Dang! It will be here as in other states around the middle or the end of Jan 2010! I don't know how many other states are going to be adding/offering the MegaPlier with the selling of Mega Millions, but I know we are! I just saw the posting tonight (11-27-09) about the Mega Millions and the MegaPlier being offered right above the Powerball machine at my local lottery retailer! WOOOOOOOOOO HOO... [ More ]

Comment #50

Rowen — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 04:47:47 GMT

Is the next step a merger then in a few years? A true national lottery. What would it look like? Maybe a 7 number drawing to keep jackpot high enough. A 1 to 1 billion odd with a possible billion dollar jackpot. Hey I can buy the Cowboys or Yankees if I win lol...

Comment #49

BaristaExpress — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:33:39 GMT

Here's just a little something that I sent to the State of Delaware's Lottery Directory.

Dear Mr. Wayne Lemons,

I am hoping that you will decide to bring Mega Millions to the State of Delaware as a means to keep us faithful lottery players from going to neighboring states such as NJ and MD in order to play Mega Millions. That additional revenue could be something that helps the First State avoid some short comings in the bottom line in our financial future or at t... [ More ]

Comment #48

richnc — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:52:47 GMT

With unemployment being at all time highs (but I know - WashingtonDC thinks the recession is over) I wonder how much new money will come in. I expect some people will think buying food is more important that buying lotto tickets - silly

I am one that does not play enough to win - but often enough to lose. But I know I could win despite the odds - after all I met my wife - for which I am gratefull.

Comment #47

x1kosmic — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:22:41 GMT

I wonder if Miss Rebecca is in charge of Powerball yet

Comment #46

rwsmes — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:14:40 GMT

The lack of direct response from the vast majority of Lotteries speaks volumes on the reliability of your stories.

Comment #45

LckyLary — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:36:32 GMT

As lawmakers in Mega Millions states watched players line up in neighboring states to buy tickets for huge Powerball jackpots...

I KNEW it! They ARE watching me! That must have been that guy in the fedora and trench coat behind me in line at the Gulf station!

The more people playing means the jackpot is won more often so of course they have to add even more balls, to the point they won't fit on the betslip! Already some betslips are dog-legged between the fields to make room for extra num... [ More ]

Comment #44

hobber — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:10:31 GMT

I would say they appear to be testing the water (NY) on this one. For the past several months (I forgot when exactly) the regular lotto has only increased by 500k instead of the usual 1m it use to between plays with no winner. They say it is due to lower sales. Then they started the sweet millions which is played on Mon and Thu (Off days of both the Mega and the Regular Lotto) and possibly a future thought of the Powerball. It would only make sense if the sweet million did well on the off days,

Comment #43

Coin Toss — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:27:02 GMT

Rowen,

Raffle is a $20 ticket, as opposed to $2 for PB + the powerplay.

If the matrix on PB expands the odds will definitley change.

Comment #42

ronki — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:26:00 GMT

Still be going to GA to get my Mega Million tickets because GA gas is cheaper then NC it's worth driving the 18 miles plus I do my shopping too.

Comment #41

Rowen — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:06:41 GMT

How do you figure? Raffle is still best odds for a million. Not familiar with powerplay but doesn't sound right. odds of winning won't change

Comment #40

Coin Toss — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:19:45 GMT

buylow,

Often when states are added to a game the matrix gets larger and the odds against the player increase.

Comment #39

alsports2000 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:26:17 GMT

All that needs to be done is Legalize Casinos in Texas. Thanks. AL.

Comment #38

megamillionaire — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:49:06 GMT

New York

Current affiliation: Mega Millions

Will cross-sell: Unknown

Responded to Lottery Post: No

Unknown: No media reports located, no information published on the lottery's Web site, and the lottery did not respond to a request for comment

New York is unsure of when or if they will cross sell so that means I'll have to continue going to Connecticut or start going to Jersey (which is closer and easier) for my Powerball tickets. The New York State lottery has the lowest payo... [ More ]

Comment #37

JimmySand9 — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:06:57 GMT

That is if Super Lotto Plus will still be around after Powerball comes.

Comment #36

RJOh — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:37:33 GMT

Since states participating in either the PowerBall or the MegaMillions games have to contribute a third of local sales for their tickets to their jackpot pools and also pay other prizes out of those sales also, they may think hard and long before deciding to offer both games. That formula might change if every state start selling both games.

Comment #35

BuyLow — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:26:43 GMT

Why do you say that? Where have you heard they are going to change the odds

Comment #34

Coin Toss — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:14:42 GMT

If Illinois gets PB I'll probably drop MM and concentrate on the PB with the Powerplay, hoping for 5 + 0 for a million.

(Well, I'll concentrate on Little Lotto, but play PB instead of MM).

For all the fervor here over raffles being the best chance to win a million, I'd sat the PB and the extra $1 for the Powerplay would be the best chance to win a million for a jackpot game.Especially comparing $2 to $20 for the raffle.

That's of course if the matrix doesn't change.

I do see this kil... [ More ]

Comment #33

TnTicketlosers — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:46:21 GMT

What gets me is why people in Tennessee cant see through the fine lines.Take last night pick 3 for instance,the payout was over 100k,now if you buy 5 powerball tickets you get 1 pick 3 quick pick...How many of those were 552?????? So people that never play the pick 3 gets $ 160.00....It's a trick to get them to play the game. Now the next 3 weeks will be high pay outs on the pick 3 and pick 4 And she will give away the Lotto Plus for the 3rd week before she does away with it the first of the yea... [ More ]

Comment #32

CowboysFan — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:24:57 GMT

This makes me sick. Why are people happy that they are doing this? The odds of winning either the Power Ball or the Mega Millions is going to increase dramatically. Looks like I'll be sticking with the Super Lotto Plus.

Comment #31

diamondpalace — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:16:09 GMT

I hope TX gets Powerball. I'm sure many of us will play it

Comment #30

LottoLin — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:29:36 GMT

Todd you made my day. I see Finally and I did capitialize because in the case of Wisconsin they usually drag thier heels and do everything last. But I see they are going to cross sell MM within the first Quarter of 2010, so that means they will wait unti the end of March to get it going. Thanks Todd for keeping us informed on all the news and up dates on the goings on in the lottery world. I don't post much but get all my information here. I love reading all the post from ya'all.

LottoLin... [ More ]

Comment #29

starchild_45 — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:15:46 GMT

ARRRRGGhhhh.

well this will ruin all my trips to oregon for powerball tickets or to idaho. i think i will still travel to get tickets for the oregon lottery. i am sitting on 2 winning tickets from oregon now.

i am really sorry that will be a cross selling on the lotteries.

nuff said.

Comment #28

rdgrnr — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:54:28 GMT

I know.....mabey the very last one befor Mega comes to town.

Now that would be the clincher, wouldn't it

Comment #27

Adam00 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:51:33 GMT

This should be interesting for all us pool managers. I run one at my job and it eats a lot of time already. Oh well more chances for my entire shift to tell the boss take this job and shove it

Comment #26

dk1421 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:49:35 GMT

Sorry about that double post. My posting-abilities haven't been working for a few months. I found out under Contact Us how to fix it, but it never let me know that my comment was actually posted.

But YAY - I can post again!

And a big YAY for MM in NC

Comment #25

dk1421 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:43:25 GMT

I'm really happy that NC is getting Mega Millions!

I know it will dilute the pool a bit, but I like them better than Powerball.

Also, I play MM in VA when I drive through, but I don't like that VA won't allow anyone to remain anonymous or allow them to do trusts or LLC's.

So I'm really glad NC is getting into MM

Comment #24

x1kosmic — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:38:19 GMT

Nice article,

So....Tennessee is doing away with their only pick 6 game huh?

It only seems to 'win' on special occasions like mabey the very first one,

or mabey,... the 5th anneversery of TN. lotery,

or mabey, I know.....mabey the very last one befor Mega comes to town.

Anyway, I guess I'll have to brush-up on some Mega- Millions

Thanks for the info EXCITING

Comment #23

dk1421 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:37:41 GMT

Comment #22

BuyLow — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:43:50 GMT

Great article. Must have taken A BUNCH of time to compile all that info, wait for responses etc. Thanks for the effort!!!

Come on FLORIDA, make up your mind to do it

Comment #21

Todd — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:30:50 GMT

The article has been updated with feedback received from North Carolina and Oklahoma.

Comment #20

sunjune6 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:14:40 GMT

A national lottery in the making; I am looking forward to participating.

Comment #19

kaizon7 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:49:43 GMT

It was great news to see that North Carolina will be adding Mega Millions to the lottery mix. I know several of my friends that currently cross the Virginia line to play Mega Millions were glad to hear that they will now be able to play it in North Carolina without crossing the state line. It will be a hugh revenue increase for North Carolina I believe, at least to the state coffers.

Comment #18

tkr333 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:16:28 GMT

I sure hope Kentucky allows the mega millions sales, i dont like powerball dont play it ! Whenever i go to Hunnington,wva i always drive across the river to ohio to purchase mega millions tickets! Seems like mega millions has more 2nd. tier prize winners

Comment #17

konane — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:10:40 GMT

Great article Todd! Very happy for the agreement and can't wait for Gerogia to have Powerball again.

Comment #16

jarasan — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:55:30 GMT

As usual the DC lottery, unresponsive, true to its F rating, Buddy Roogrow is going to try and straighten that mess out. He is going to run into the nepotism, cronyism, and corruption that the DC govt. offers, I hope he succeeds

Comment #15

joshuacloak — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:30:47 GMT

lmao at tn, and am happy for them at the same time

thank god we are killing our pack 6 game, its so much crap, if it was only our pack 5 super sized, its not :(

a new lotto south done right would of been 10x better then the current crap pack 6 game we got

tells me they was planing on killing it soon, just mm will give it the death blow then some new lotto south

i emailed tn lotto saying i supported mm soon as they news came out states can sale both,

thankfuly they

Comment #14

Todd — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:22:52 GMT

Great point, not sure how I missed that one, sorry. I'll see what I can find out.

Comment #13

Rowen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:22:25 GMT

It would be nice to have options but not a gamechanger for me. What I really want to see is a multistate raffle type game like the El Gourdo one in Spain where there more winners with better odds sharing smaller winnings. That how you really hook them in because somebody will know somebody who won and words will get around time and build a buzz for the game and make it once a year like xmas time.

Comment #12

En ReVal — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:55:07 GMT

I would like to know if Oklahoma will cross-sell MegaMillions tickets

Comment #11

LottoPools — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:32:24 GMT

If TX elects to sell PB tickets, I think LA may change it's mind about MM tickets becasue when jackpots are high, TX residents (I'm not a Texan, I just live here) pour a lot of $ into LA. When we (my family/friends and I) go over, not only do we play PB, but we also hit a casino or two or three. We eat and buy gas there too. I think the amount of $ lost could be enough for LA to notice.

If both states decide to sell both, I think LA will fare better than TX because TX residents will still cro... [ More ]

Comment #10

PERDUE — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:09:46 GMT

Thank you for the correction. I was under the impression that TX would be selling Powerball tickets. It was mentioned to me in general conversation with a few lottery retailers and I thought it was a done deal, hence my trip to the TX Lottery website. I hope TX does decide to sell Powerball tickets. Once again, thank you for the correction.

Comment #9

Todd — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:40:17 GMT

Actually, that is only the same Oct. 13th announcement that every single state talked about on the same date. It is completely different than saying Yes, we are definitely adding Powerball.

It is only an announcement that the two big games formed an agreement in principle. That's all. People and some news media sources incorrectly turned it into We're getting Powerball/Mega Millions! That's not what it was.

Many lotteries are required to get some kind of approval before they can alter the... [ More ]

Comment #8

PERDUE — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:22:49 GMT

Hey Todd:

TX is a yes. They hope to start selling Powerball in early 2010.

You can read the news release dated Oct. 13, 2009 at the web site.

http://www.txlottery.org/export/sites/default/Documents/news_releases/2009/20091012PowerballNewsRelease.pdf

You can read it for yourself at the TX Lottery site. Click News Events. Then click News Releases. Scroll down to 12 Oct 09 Agreement may bring Powerball to Texas.

Texas

Current affiliation: Mega Millions

Will cross-sell: Unk... [ More ]

Comment #7

time*treat — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:19:25 GMT

Thus began a 13-year rivalry, under which states were forced tochoose one multi-state game or another, and lottery players had totravel to another state to play the multi-state game not offered intheir home state.

So what happened to change all of that?

The economy.

So rather than do the right and sensible thing in the first place ...

Comment #6

Todd — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:13:56 GMT

@RJOh: Congrats to you and your state for finally seeing the light!

@rdgrnr: Thanks for the props! Researching every state lottery for an article is something I rarely do because it is so much work. This story was worth it though.

Comment #5

RJOh — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:51:47 GMT

After 5 years of trying, Ohio finally got enough votes this past Tuesday to change its law to allow casino gambling in state and those who were against it are still thinking up ways to continue their fight in spite of the votes. It probably will be a while before anyone bring up adding another multi-state lottery game.

It was only after several Ohioan won big PowerBall jackpots in Indiana and TV coverage of all the Ohioan cars in Michigan buying BigGame tickets that Ohio added MegaMillions.

Comment #4

vincejr — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:27:25 GMT

It's Deja Vu all over again...evidently Tennessee CEO Rebecca Hargrove forgot that there used to be a Lotto South that covered most of those states and was killed due to low sales. (Virginia replaced theirs with Win for Life ...a completely horrible game.)

Oh well, I am thrilled that VA is looking to sell both...no more trips into the battlezone of Southeast DC or the hill country of WV to get my PB tickets

Comment #3

rdgrnr — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:59:39 GMT

Fantastic article Todd,

Thanks for breaking it all down for us. It's nice to know all the details for every state and not be wondering what's going on.

Comment #2

NBey6 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:59:10 GMT

North Carolina

Current affiliation: Powerball

Will cross-sell: Yes

Responded to Lottery Post: No

From local media reports:

The Raleigh News Observer reported that the lottery commission voted Monday to add Mega Millions to the North Carolina's menu of lottery games.

Mega Millions could be available in North Carolina as soon as January.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Glad to see my state has gotten on the band-wagon. Afterall, I figured they wouldn't turn... [ More ]

Comment #1

ThatScaryChick — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:50:06 GMT

Idaho

Current affiliation: Powerball

Will cross-sell: Unknown

Responded to Lottery Post: No

Unknown: No media reports located, no information published onthe lottery's Web site, and the lottery did not respond to a requestfor comment.

Good article. I am not surprised, by the lack of comments from the Idaho lottery officials

Multi-state lottery shockwave sweeping America

Lottery Post — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:27:43 GMT

Lottery Post Exclusive

By Todd Northrop

Updated: Nov. 6, 2009, 11:28 a.m.

Updated: Nov. 10, 2009, 11:21 p.m.

In January 2010 the state lines that have been dividing the United States into Powerball states and Mega Millions states will be blurred by a cross-selling arrangement between the two multi-state lottery titans.

But it was not an arrangement the country's biggest lotto games entered into easily or even willingly.

The lines of division between America's two biggest multi... [ More ]