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Law firm cuts lottery bill by 15% after scrutinyNews Story
A Nashville law firm has agreed to reduce its $892,000 bill for legal services to the Tennessee lottery by 15 percent, or more than $100,000 legislators said Monday.Sen. Jerry Cooper, D-Morrison, co-chairman of the Fiscal Review Committee, said the reduction came after negotiations between the state attorney general's office, legislators and the law firm of Waller Landsen Dortch Davis, which teams with other law firms under a contract with the Tennessee Education Lottery Corp.Legislators had b
Apr 20, 2004, 7:16 am - Lottery News

GTech Profit Up as Lottery Sales RiseNews Story
GTech Holdings Corp., a leading lottery systems operator, on Thursday said quarterly earnings rose 14 percent, on acquisitions and higher lottery ticket sales driven by big jackpots.The fiscal fourth-quarter earnings topped Wall Street estimates, but GTech stock fell slightly. It was a good quarter, but not a phenomenal one, Farmhouse Equity Research analyst J.P. Mark said. People expected them to beat estimates. For the fiscal fourth quarter ended Feb. 28, the West Greenwich, Rhode Island, co
Apr 16, 2004, 9:33 am - Lottery News

The Two Titans of the Lottery IndustryNews Story
We often hear that the $40 billion spent on video games worldwide dwarfs the amount spent on the motion picture industry. But another form of mass entertainment dwarfs them both: the lottery business. According to a Morgan Stanley study, sales of lottery tickets around the world will top $160 billion in 2004.You should be thankful for the lottery business this week as you write a check for your tax bill. That's because you'd probably owe a lot more if not for your fellow citizens' crazed desire
Apr 15, 2004, 4:58 am - Lottery News

Minnesota Senate wants lottery examinedNews Story
After soundly rejecting a call to abolish the state lottery, Minnesota senators voted unanimously Monday night to study ways to change its management and business practices.The bill comes on the heels of a legislative audit that was critical of promotions and vending contracts by the lottery. During that review, the lottery's director, George Andersen, committed suicide.The bill sets up a task force that will report to the 2005 Legislature on whether the lottery should be run by a state agency,
Apr 13, 2004, 5:12 am - Lottery News

GTech to buy Leeward Islands LotteryNews Story
World's largest lottery systems operator plans to acquire Caribbean-based Leeward for $40 millionGTech Holdings Corp., the world's largest lottery systems operator, on Monday said it would acquire a lottery operator based in the Caribbean for $40 million in cash.It said the acquisition of privately held Leeward Islands Lottery Holding Co., based in Antigua and St. Croix, gives it an entry to an important market. We believe the acquisition of LILHCo gives GTECH a strategic foothold in the Caribbe
Apr 5, 2004, 11:19 am - Lottery News

North Dakota Lottery a model of efficiencyNews Story
As a business with a limited number of potential customers in a sparsely populated territory, North Dakota's state lottery office has been concentrating on ways to keep its expenses down.It has only six employees, including its director. Its main computer sits in Montana, a few feet from another machine that handles the river of numbers for the Montana Powerball game and other lotteries.Because it does not sell scratch tickets, the games that let players know immediately whether they've won or
Mar 29, 2004, 4:25 am - Lottery News

GTECH is in play in BrazilNews Story
Analysts don't think a political scandal will hurt the company's chances of continuing to run the country's lotteryA top Brazilian government official allegedly told two GTECH Holdings Corp. employees in 2003 that they could have a lottery contract extension.All they needed to do, said Waldomiro Diniz, the former deputy head of parliamentary affairs, was hire a consultant for between $4 million and about $6 million, according to Brazilian newspaper reports based on the employees' testimony.A lot
Mar 26, 2004, 9:15 am - Lottery News

Minnesota lottery chief's suicide note: 'Pity me, blame no one else'News Story
Before committing suicide in January, Minnesota State Lottery Director George Andersen left handwritten notes encouraging his family to not look back. He said he thought lottery operations were proper and am told they are not. Pity me, blame no one else. He added in another note: I must carry the burden and it is too much. . . . Andersen, 53, had run the lottery since it started in 1990 and had done so with little legislative oversight. The state Legislative Auditor reported recently that t
Mar 26, 2004, 8:42 am - Lottery News

Colorado lottery bill would tighten ethics rulesNews Story
One of the Colorado state Senate's most powerful members unveiled legislation designed to prdvent conflicts of interest at the Colorado Lottery.The legislation was created in concert with an ethics overhaul already underway at the Lottery and as the Arapahoe County district attorney is deciding whether to file criminal charges based on a recently concluded probe of the Lottery by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.The legislation, in part, would bar Lottery officials from taking jobs with agen
Mar 23, 2004, 4:24 am - Lottery News

Colorado Lottery violations detailed in reportNews Story
Report cites gift-taking, coziness with vendors for 4 yearsThe Colorado Bureau of Investigation has sent the Arapahoe County district attorney a report that details widespread gift-taking and policy violations in the offices of the Colorado Lottery.The report focuses largely on the last four years of the tenure of former Lottery head Mark Zamarripa, alleging that he presided over a culture of coziness with vendors, according to sources familiar with the report.Department of Revenue chief M. Mich
Mar 10, 2004, 4:16 am - Lottery News