Illinois to fire private lottery operator

Comment #10

Romancandle — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 23:16:31 GMT

Ok Rudd, I'm certainly no expert on this and apparently I'm off the mark here... heck I'd far rather be happy that right any day

Do you have access to the financial record reports, specifically for Illinois since it has been privately managed?

If so, please share- thanks

Comment #9

Ruud — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 11:47:23 GMT

States make more overall dollars on instant tickets, but would prefer if you spent every lottery dollar on draw games. It's more profitable.

Disproportionate? Maybe one top price remaining or, in the event that there is more than one, it's because a game just didn't sell for a long time and no one really paid into the total prize pool in the first place. I'm not sure from where you are receiving this information, but it's incorrect.

Comment #8

Stack47 — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 04:17:05 GMT

The proverbial final straw may have come last spring, when reports came out that the firm was running $716 million short of its revenue target nine months into fiscal 2014.

Lotteries are cash cows, but if they want to kill the cow, Revenue targets will do it every time. Some states actually created legislation that requires their lotteries to meet certain goals even if it means taking a higher cut from the players.

When some states started discussing outsourcing their lottery games, the qu... [ More ]

Comment #7

Romancandle — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 22:13:50 GMT

Well, I guess I wouldn't know because Illinois does not share lottery financial details or at least I can't find it like you can with a few other states... independent audit reports etc.

The data I've seen with other states clearly showed that scratchers dominated their profits by a huge margin vs. the draw games.

The house advantage I was referring to is when they close a scratcher game out with a disproportionate amount of top tier prizes remaining.

I understand why and that's a huge... [ More ]

Comment #6

Ruud — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 20:58:59 GMT

Payout on most draw games is 50-60% whilst payout on instant games is 60-80% and it's far more expensive for a lottery to pay for the production of an instant ticket than a draw game receipt. The huge advantage for the house is on draw games, not instant games.

Comment #5

Romancandle — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 17:40:44 GMT

It would be nice if we had a choice in that advertising (aka anonymous).

Its all about making more money and since most people don't pay attention to the odds (arguably), the state/private corps will continue to squeeze the player anyway they can.

Look at the profits on scratchers... the ultimate cash cow for state lotteries... those games have a huge advantage for the house .

Even the most shady casino corps would blush at that sort of game and its legal too.

Comment #4

TnTicketlosers — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 16:39:50 GMT

I know I'm not going to win in Tennessee,I won 2 times on pick in 4 years,,not I'm not playing,,,why throw the money out the window so much,sure the kids suppose to get some of that,,,,I'm just sick and tired of losing....

Comment #3

helpmewin — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 12:54:56 GMT

Comment #2

Coin Toss — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 04:35:25 GMT

grwurston,

Very well said. There's no better advertising for the lottery than winners.

Northstar added a lot of gimmicks to change $1 games into $2 games (player's option) that insulted the player's intelligence.

Comment #1

grwurston — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 02:55:36 GMT

IMO whenever a private company takes over a lottery they always promise increased revenue as the selling point. How does increased revenue happen? Obviously, it is either by selling more tickets, or by paying out less to winners, or a combination of both. But to do that, they have to change the odds, IE. make the games harder to win. And at the same time attract new players. Tough to do both at the same. But if they try to screw the players too much, they will bail out in a hurry.

Unfortunate... [ More ]

Illinois to fire private lottery operator

Lottery Post — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 02:20:07 GMT

The bumpy marriage between the state and the private company that operates the Illinois Lottery is ending in a divorce.

Gov. Pat Quinn's office confirmed to me today that it is ending its contract with Northstar Lottery Group LLC to operate the $2 billion-a-year lottery system, seven years earlier than scheduled.

It is not yet certain whether the separation will be voluntary by both parties, but a decision to end the contract has been made.

The governor's office has directed the lotter... [ More ]