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Georgia Gov. signs bill allowing lottery winners to remain anonymousNews Story
By Todd Northrop Georgia has joined a small but growing number of states that allow lottery winners to remain anonymous. On Monday Georgia governor Nathan Deal signed a bill allowing lottery winners with prizes over $250,000 to keep their identity secret upon request. Prior to this point, Georgia state law required disclosure of big lottery winners' names and hometown be disclosed if requested under the state's Open Records Act, but did not require them to take photographs with oversize
May 12, 2018, 8:47 am - Lottery News

Woman wins $1.2 million on $18 Kentucky Derby betNews Story
It's called the sport of millionaires and horse racing just added a new one. A Texas woman reaped $1.2 million on an $18 bet on a series of Kentucky Derby day races, officials said on Sunday. The Austin woman, who did not want to be identified, made a Pick 5 wager at the Retama Park racetrack in Salem, Texas, on Saturday and watched as each of the ponies she picked ran on a rainy, muddy day at the Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky, some 1,100 miles away. Not only did she
May 7, 2018, 8:35 am - Lottery News

The man who cracked the lotteryNews Story
Crime story: A recounting of the biggest lottery scandal in history The file landed on Rob Sand's desk with something less than a thud. Despite holding the contents of an investigation still open after more than two years, the file was barely half an inch thick. Happy birthday, his boss said. It was not Rob Sand's birthday. His boss, an Iowa deputy attorney general named Thomas H. Miller, was retiring in July 2014 after nearly three decades of prosecuting everything from murder to fraud. H
May 3, 2018, 2:49 pm - 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

Iowa Lottery wins International Gaming-Compliance award for work in lottery rigging investigationNews Story
Long-running case culminated in 2017 guilty pleas from three men The Iowa Lottery has won an international gaming-compliance award for its work in the long-running lottery jackpot investigation that uncovered fraud against U.S. lotteries and resulted in guilty pleas from three men. GamblingCompliance on Wednesday named the Iowa Lottery its 2018 recipient for outstanding achievement in compliance. The organization's annual awards that recognize excellence in 11 categories focused on regulat
Apr 19, 2018, 10:29 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

$458M Mega Millions lottery jackpot is game's 4th-largest everNews Story
By Todd Northrop Lottery players across the United States will be lining up at lottery retailers for their chance to win Tuesday's massive $458 million Mega Millions jackpot, after nobody won Friday's $421 million grand prize. The cash value stands at a staggering $274 million. Tuesday's $458 million annuity jackpot is the 11th-largest United States lottery jackpots of all time, and the 4th-largest in Mega Millions game history. The cash value is the 14th-largest in history. (See full t
Mar 26, 2018, 9:00 am - Lottery News

Infamous lottery scammer says US computerized lottery drawings remain fatally flawedNews Story
Eddie Tipton warned them. As the head of IT at the Multi-State Lottery Association, Tipton pulled aside his boss and told him the computer software that randomly selected the winning numbers for million-dollar games in as many as 17 states had a terrible flaw. It wasn't really random. Though his boss listened, Tipton told state investigators that other officials with the nation's chief lottery system did not. They told him to fix it, then moved on. A disgruntled Tipton made some upda
Mar 19, 2018, 8:32 am - Lottery News

One lottery ticket sold in Pennsylvania wins Saturday's $456.7 million Powerball jackpotNews Story
St. Patrick's Day brought the Luck of the Irish to the state of Pennsylvania Saturday night. A single Powerball lottery ticket sold in Pennsylvania matched all the numbers in the drawing Saturday the win the $456.7 million jackpot. The lucky winner can choose to accept the full jackpot in 30 annually-increasing payments over 29 years, or as a $273.9 million lump-sum cash value. The winning numbers were 22, 57, 59, 60, and 66, with Powerball number 7. The Power Play number was 2. There n
Mar 18, 2018, 10:54 am - Lottery News