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$512 MILLION: Huge Mega Millions lottery sales prompts jackpot increaseNews Story
By Todd Northrop A rush of ticket sales for the half-billion-dollar Mega Millions jackpot has prompted lottery officials to revise their estimate for the Tuesday night drawing to $512 million. The all-important lump-sum cash value is now estimated to be a staggering $303.4 million. Tuesday's drawing will be the 23rd since Mega Millions had a winner. The current jackpot run-up started on May 8 as a $40 million grand prize. Lottery players seeking to check the winning numbers Tuesday n
Jul 23, 2018, 1:10 pm - Lottery News

$493 MILLION: 5th-largest Mega Millions lottery jackpot of all timeNews Story
Half-billion dollar jackpot is 11th-largest in US lottery history By Todd Northrop What better way to chill out a scorching summer than with a cool mountain of cash? After 22 drawings without a jackpot winner, the multi-state Mega Millions lottery game now boasts a swelling jackpot of nearly a half-billion dollars that could instantly put someone among the wealthiest people on the planet. When nobody won Friday night's grand prize, the Mega Millions jackpot grew to an estimated $493
Jul 21, 2018, 10:45 am - Lottery News

$422 MILLION: Mega Millions lottery jackpot is red hotNews Story
19th-largest U.S. jackpot of all time By Todd Northrop The multi-state Mega Millions lottery game continued its Summer climb Tuesday night, and is now at the point where jackpot rolls are sharply increased. After nobody won Tuesday night's grand prize, the Mega Millions jackpot grew to an estimated $422 million the 19th-largest U.S. lottery jackpot of all time, and the biggest since a $533 million Mega Millions jackpot from the March 30 drawing was claimed by a New Jersey man. (See NJ m
Jul 18, 2018, 8:08 am - Lottery News

Connecticut Lottery hires director of Illinois Lottery as new CEONews Story
The Connecticut Lottery Corp.'s governing board voted Thursday to hire Gregory Smith, acting director of the Illinois Lottery, as its new CEO in hopes of stability after nearly two years of turmoil, recriminations and investigations at the quasi-public agency with a $1.2 billion annual budget. The lottery's top job had been vacant since Sept. 22, 2016, when last CEO, Anne Noble, stepped down amid controversy and entered an unusual and lucrative severance agreement with the agency's board of d
Jul 6, 2018, 10:10 am - Lottery News

New law would stop Illinois Lottery from selling tickets after top prizes are goneNews Story
The Illinois Lottery would have to provide players with daily updates on how many top prizes remain in scratch-off games and wouldn't be able to keep selling tickets for those games indefinitely under a proposed change in state law. The bill was introduced by Sen. Steve Stadelman in response to an investigation that found that the lottery was continuing to sell instant games, in some cases for weeks or months, after all top prizes had been claimed, with little warning to players. The arti
Jun 7, 2018, 7:53 am - Lottery News

Illinois Lottery sells tickets for instant games after top prizes are goneNews Story
At $30 a ticket, the Illinois Lottery's World Class Millions instant game was not only one of its priciest offerings it was also potentially one of the most lucrative for players. WIN UP TO $15,000,000! THE HIGHEST INSTANT PAYOUT IN ILLINOIS LOTTERY HISTORY, shouted a banner across the magenta and silver ticket. But for the last five weeks the game was on sale this year, none of the three $15 million prizes remained. Yet players purchased an estimated 26,000 tickets during that time, spen
Apr 23, 2018, 7:34 am - Lottery News

Hoosier Lottery often pulls plug on high-dollar scratch-off games before all prizes can be wonNews Story
Brittany Mowell and her husband purchase Hoosier Lottery scratch-off tickets a couple of times a week in hopes they'll win big. The Indianapolis woman said she felt cheated out of that dream once she learned the lottery was pulling certain high-dollar scratch-off games off the market before all the big-money prizes could be won and paid out. It felt so unfair she questioned whether such a move was legal. That really ticks me off, Mowell said, and I feel ripped off. Not only is the
Apr 6, 2018, 1:48 pm - Lottery News

Woman who won $1,500 in first state lottery wins $1 million 44 years laterNews Story
Includes video report Carol Vymetal says she just may be the luckiest woman in Woodridge. Back in 1974, she won $1,500 in the Illinois Lottery's inaugural draw, and since then she's been a regular player, matching five numbers three or four times along the way. But all that green pales in comparison to what Vymetal came away with as one of three people who won $1 million each in the St. Patrick's Day Millionaire Raffle. It doesn't make any difference if you win back the price of the
Apr 5, 2018, 7:39 am - Lottery News

$521 MILLION: Mega Millions jackpot raised due to surging salesNews Story
By Todd Northrop A rush of ticket sales for the half-billion-dollar Mega Millions jackpot has prompted lottery officials to revise their estimate for the Friday night drawing to $521 million. The all-important lump-sum cash value is now estimated to be a staggering $317.2 million. Friday's drawing will be the 24th since Mega Millions had a winner. The current jackpot run-up started on Jan. 9 as a $40 million grand prize. According to the Maryland Lottery, if nobody wins the Friday ja
Mar 30, 2018, 12:25 pm - Lottery News

$502 MILLION: Mega Millions grows to 10th-largest lottery jackpot of all timeNews Story
Half-billion jackpot comes 6 years after first reaching the same level By Todd Northrop Six years to the day after becoming the first lottery in history to feature a $500 million jackpot, the multi-state Mega Millions game is right back at the same level, offering a $502 million grand prize to be drawn Friday evening. During that nascent period in 2012, when the word billion first entered lottery jackpot discussions, Mega Millions tickets were being sold so quickly that the lotteries we
Mar 28, 2018, 11:32 am - Lottery News