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California lottery struggles with tepid salesNews Story
Though California and its schools are begging for cash, one of the state's supposed gold mines produces roughly half of what it should for education, analysts say.But officials at the languishing state-run lottery say there's hope the operation will be shipping nearly another $1 billion annually to schools.It first, however, must succeed in throwing off woes such as legal restrictions on games, which some say are outdated in this age of widespread Indian gambling, and then generate an excitement
Jul 15, 2004, 9:30 am - Lottery News

Man whose house burned down wins lotteryNews Story
A Virginia man who lost all of his belongings when his house burned down during Hurricane Isabel last year has won a $150,000 lottery prize. Lot of problems gone, said Sherbie Tucker, who works for Teamsters Local 822 in Norfolk.Tucker bought his $5 winning ticket Friday from Tom and Jerry's Quick Stop in Smithfield. There were four Friday Night Poker tickets in the state with the top prize of $150,000.Tucker is the second winner, according to Virginia Lottery officials. The other two prizes ha
Jul 14, 2004, 8:39 am - Lottery News

Drawing error leads lottery officials to pay on two numbersNews Story
It is the state lotterys equivalent of a poker dealer forgetting a few cards from the deck.A missing nine ball led to lottery officials honoring two winning numbers for yesterday afternoons Tri-State Pick 3 game. The first numbers drawn were 7-2-2. When the mistake was caught, officials drew again: 1-9-9.Unfortunately, we cant prepare for every circumstance or happenstance, said Maura McCann, a spokesman for the lottery who has been doing the evening drawing for 15 years. It is very infrequent,
Jul 7, 2004, 9:21 am - Lottery News

California Lottery Drops Gambling Themes IdeaNews Story
Citing widespread opposition, California Assemblyman George Plescia on Monday dropped lottery-backed legislation that would have added Nevada-style gambling themes to the state-run games.Though he quietly deleted the amendment, the San Diego Republican said he's pushing the rest of his controversial measure -- which would boost lottery prizes and slice struggling schools' share of revenue -- in the hope of fostering lotto mania that would then increase education's take.Even with the deletion of
May 18, 2004, 7:07 am - Lottery News

California legislature could expand lotteryNews Story
Despite fears California is becoming the world's gambling capital, the state lottery Friday broadened its proposed overhaul to include Nevada-style games banned by the 1984 lottery initiative.The lottery -- which is finding increased competition with Indian casinos -- amended its already controversial reorganization plan to add games including roulette, dice, baccarat, blackjack, Lucky 7s, draw poker and slot machines.The amendment fueled the controversy surrounding the legislation, which alread
May 8, 2004, 1:54 pm - Lottery News

Kentucky Lottery works to counter revenue lossNews Story
Even as they celebrated the 15th anniversary of the start-up of the Kentucky Lottery and predicted a strong finish to the fiscal year lottery officials acknowledged an uncertain future yesterday.That's due in large part to new competition from a neighbor. Tennessee, whose residents once were responsible for 12 percent to 15 percent of the Kentucky Lottery's sales, started its own lottery this year.Yesterday, Tennessee added the Powerball to its lineup.Kentucky Lottery spokesman Chip Polston said
Apr 20, 2004, 7:14 am - Lottery News

Oregon Lottery Drops Plan to Cut Taverns' CommissionsNews Story
The Oregon Lottery director said Monday that she plans to rework her controversial proposal to cut bar and tavern owners' video poker compensation.Director Brenda Rocklin's initial proposal turned out to yield far less revenue for state-funded programs than first estimated, prompting calls from education advocates and others for more drastic reductions in the share of video poker proceeds that bars and taverns are allowed to keep as compensation.But bars, taverns and restaurants and their trade
Mar 17, 2004, 5:11 am - Lottery News

Oregon Lottery increases number of Keno drawingsNews Story
The Oregon State Lottery has increased the number and frequency of its Keno drawings in an attempt to boost revenue.The drawings will be held every four minutes, instead of five.Keno sales have increased an average of 19 percent in the five states that have made the switch from five minutes to four, said Chuck Baumann, a lottery spokesman.Keno is the state lotterys third-highest revenue producer, topped by video poker and Scratch-its. Keno brought in sales of $111.3 million in the past fiscal ye
Feb 25, 2004, 4:21 am - Lottery News

NJ Resident Dreams Up Scratch GameNews Story
It all came to Rocco Promutico in a dream.On a day when he had shoulder surgery, back in 1998, Promutico had a very vivid dream: He was sitting at a table in a casino, playing a game called Six Shooters. I was playing a game that I had never seen before, Dover Township resident Promutico said. When I woke up, I was able to sit down and draw out a whole sketch of how the game was played. From that sketch came the basic structure of a game called Roll 6 Poker, which last month was transforme
Feb 23, 2004, 5:31 am - Lottery News

Oregon pays lottery sites larger share, audit findsNews Story
Leaders say the report shows retailers' portion of proceeds should be cut, but a lobbyist disagreesThe Oregon State Lottery pays retailers a bigger cut than similar operations do, a state auditors' report says, a finding that could bolster a long-standing drive to lower the compensation that bars and taverns get for carrying video poker machines.Oregon retailers receive on average 32 percent of the net proceeds from video poker -- about $159 million last fiscal year -- according to the report re
Jan 30, 2004, 6:50 am - Lottery News