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Arkansas Lottery needs vending machines, Director saysNews Story
For the Arkansas lottery to increase revenue from year to year, the lottery's director told commissioners Wednesday that they will have to approve the use of ticket-vending machines. Director Ernie Passailaigue said businesses are seeking ways to cut labor costs, and automating the lottery is an important way to boost sales and help vendors save money. This is the future of lottery, Passailaigue said. A handout picture of one of the machines shows an array of ticket choices -- from Pow
May 20, 2010, 6:39 am - Lottery News

Tatts Group buys New South Wales lottery for A$850mNews Story
The state government of New South Wales has sold its lotteries business to Tatts Group for A$850m (US$764m) after an auction process that attracted both Australian and international bidders. The total proceeds of the sale will exceed A$1bn after A$160m of cash and other assets from NSW Lotteries are transferred to the government. Melbourne-based Tatts, which operates lottery businesses in three Australian states and two territories, faced competition from a consortium led by Ontario Teachers'
Mar 3, 2010, 9:15 am - Lottery News

Lottery vending machines coming to ArkansasNews Story
When the Arkansas Lottery awarded a contract to the Greece-based Intralot in August of this year, one requirement was that the lottery services company provide 100 ticket vending machines. The lottery commission has yet to roll out the machines, but a non-operational model can be seen at the claims center in downtown Little Rock. Lottery director Ernie Passailaigue says Arkansans will start to see the machines this spring, sometime around March or April. But while lottery officials hope to re
Dec 3, 2009, 8:13 am - Lottery News

Intralot's D.C. Lottery contact finally passed by councilNews Story
The lucrative and long-controversial lottery contract has finally passed the D.C. Council. Intralot, a Greek-owned multinational firm, has been approved to take over the city's online number games from longtime operator Lottery Technology Enterprises---a contract worth nearly $40 million over five years. The company's successful first bid ended in a political fiasco, with several councilmembers refusing to ratify the contract after raising questions about minority partners. A second round of
Dec 1, 2009, 8:00 pm - Lottery News

Arkansas Lottery begins licensing retailers for ticket salesNews Story
A Murphy USA retail outlet in Magnolia on Wednesday received the first license issued in the state to sell tickets for Arkansas' scholarship lottery when scratch-off games begin next month. Lottery Director Ernie Passailaigue presented the ceremonial first retailer license to Murphy Oil President Hank Heithaus during a meeting of the Arkansas Lottery Commission. Steve Beck, regional director for Intralot, the firm hired to run the lottery's drawing games, told commissioners the installatio
Aug 26, 2009, 10:53 pm - Lottery News

ARKANSAS LOTTERY DRAWINGS TO BE COMPUTERIZEDNews Story
Numerous polls show players do not trust computerized drawings Did Arkansas Lottery Commission hire the right team? Senator proposes bill scrapping the lottery Despite nearly universal player mistrust of computerized lottery drawings, the new Arkansas Lottery director made the inexplicable decision this week to forgo real mechanical lottery ball drawings, and use a computer program to select the winning numbers in the state's new lottery. The commission met at Philander Smith College
Aug 1, 2009, 1:20 am - Lottery News

Ohio Lottery operator switch has some glitchesNews Story
A new company began running the Ohio Lottery's computer system on Wednesday, causing frustrating problems for some retailers and leaving some winning tickets incorrectly coming up as losers. Lottery spokeswoman Marie Kilbane said the problems were being worked out. What we saw early were mostly common problems we had predicted, such as some calls from retailers who had forgotten sign-on passwords. But overall, selling has been going well, Kilbane said. The Ohio Lottery decided last yea
Jul 1, 2009, 7:41 pm - Lottery News

Ohio Lottery switches to Greek operator IntralotNews Story
Greek company takes over operation of games At 11:59 p.m. today, in an office park in Strongsville, state officials and a gaggle of computer technicians, some from Greece, will change how Ohioans get their lottery tickets. Success will be measured by how few people notice. What happens inside the 80,000-square-foot, unadorned brick building not far from the Lorain County line is being watched like Y2K, at least in the world of state lotteries. A lot of people are rooting for us, and
Jun 30, 2009, 8:26 am - Lottery News

Ohio Lottery director under scrutiny for equipment debacleNews Story
A year ago, Ohio Lottery Director Michael A. Dolan persuaded skeptical lawmakers to buy $11.6 million worth of equipment to launch the state's new Keno game on a promise that the setup would still work after a year a premise that Dolan later admitted was false. Now, as Dolan prepares to ask the same legislative panel to approve a $41 million contract with a company to run Keno and other lottery games for the next two years, the director's own dubious promises could return to haunt him. On
Jun 1, 2009, 9:51 am - Lottery News

Arkansas lottery bill nearly ready for reviewNews Story
When lawmakers finally get their hands on the bill to create the Arkansas lottery, they may want to find a comfortable chair they'll be reading for a while. When it's filed, you will understand why it's taken so long, House Speaker Robbie Wills said in an interview in his office. It's going to be over 100 pages. Wills filed a shell lottery bill in the House before the session started, after voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to create a state lottery to fund colleg
Feb 2, 2009, 3:24 pm - Lottery News