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$133.2 million Powerball lottery winner played same numbers for 30 yearsNews Story
By Todd Northrop Sometimes persistence does pay off. Colorado's biggest lottery jackpot winner in state history says she has played the same five numbers in the lottery every week, without fail, for the past 30 years. On Wednesday, Grand Junction area resident Judy Finchum claimed a $133.2 million Powerball jackpot, won in the Saturday, Sept. 16 drawing, making her the biggest jackpot winner ever in the state, and only the third Colorado player to win a Powerball jackpot. Judy has pl
Sep 21, 2017, 10:21 am - Lottery News

State lotteries losing revenue to 'jackpot fatigue' and casinosNews Story
The biggest loser in the lottery game? Increasingly, it's the states that rely on lottery revenue, as fewer people are buying tickets of chance. In 22 of the 44 states with lotteries, revenue declined between 2014 and 2015, the most recent year for comprehensive data, the Pew Charitable Trusts reported Thursday. Twenty-one states experienced declines from 2013 to 2014. In 2016, lottery revenue fell 3.3% in Missouri, more recent data shows, while it fell 3.2% in Rhode Island and 2.6% in Wes
Jul 14, 2017, 11:02 am - Lottery News

IT'S OFFICIAL: Tipton pleads guilty to rigging computerized lottery drawingsNews Story
The cyber security expert and brainpower behind a lottery rigging scandal that netted $2 million in illegal winnings from five state lotteries pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony charge of ongoing criminal conduct charge. For the first time in an Iowa courtroom, Eddie Tipton admitted to playing a central role in the rigging scheme after more than two years of adamant denials in the face of mounting evidence against him. Pursuant a plea agreement, Tipton, 54, now faces spending up to 25 yea
Jun 29, 2017, 10:52 am - Lottery News

Lottery vending machines in Kansas may depend on whether lawmakers show up MondayNews Story
Your ability to buy lottery tickets from vending machines in Kansas may depend on how many lawmakers show up for the ceremonial last day of the session Monday. A bill allowing the Kansas Lottery to use vending machines to sell tickets was vetoed by Gov. Sam Brownback last week. The Legislature approved House Bill 2313 earlier this month with margins far greater than the two-thirds needed to override the veto. The House passed the bill 98-19; the Senate passed it 34-4. But because the fi
Jun 22, 2017, 5:47 pm - Lottery News

The 5 lottery jackpots Tipton and his friends stoleNews Story
Eddie Tipton, the now-infamous former security chief at the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), is accused of installing software on Random Number Generators that allowed him to predict winning combinations for drawings that occurred on three dates every non-leap year Nov. 23, Dec. 29 and May 27. So far, Tipton and his associates have been linked to winning tickets in five states between 2005 and 2011. Here are the details: Colorado, Nov. 23, 2005: Tipton's brother Tommy Tipton, a Tex
Jun 20, 2017, 8:01 am - Lottery News

FBI missed rigged jackpot in 2006 before lottery scheme grewNews Story
Investigators were suspicious in 2006 when they heard that a rural Texas judge was trying to exchange $450,000 in consecutively marked bills. But Tommy Tipton, a Fayette County magistrate, told the FBI that his actions were innocent, if odd: He won the Colorado lottery but couldn't tell his wife because gambling was against their Christian faith. The FBI accepted the story and dropped its inquiry of Tipton, who soon bought a new truck and more property around the town of Flatonia, 110 miles (
Jun 19, 2017, 8:51 am - Lottery News

Mastermind of lottery fraud will explain how he rigged jackpotsNews Story
Lottery Post's warning to the lottery industry about computerized drawings, issued more than a decade ago, is about to be confirmed as fact by Eddie Tipton, a former Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) security director. A lottery programmer will tell investigators how he was able to use his position to rig state jackpots for years and he and his brother will repay $3 million in prizes they improperly claimed, under a plea agreement released Monday. Prosecutors will seek a 25-year priso
Jun 12, 2017, 9:21 pm - Lottery News

Critic calls a Mississippi lottery 'new tax' and 'false hope'News Story
Slams his aunt for sending lottery tickets for birthday gifts rather than cash The following is a column written by Jameson Taylor, the vice president for policy at the Mississippi Center for Public Policy. It is presented here as an example of how lottery opponents feel they should be able to decide how you live your life, the type of entertainment you should be allowed to enjoy, and how you should spend your money. Every year my aunt sends me $5 worth of lottery tickets for my birth
May 21, 2017, 12:19 pm - Lottery News

Best friend to testify against Tipton at July lottery rigging trialNews Story
It took Texas businessman Robert Rhodes more than a year to turn against his good old boy best friend after he realized that Eddie Tipton would not do a deal and tell prosecutors about how he had created an elaborate system to rig lotteries in five states. But despite fear for his safety, Rhodes is poised to give testimony at a trial scheduled for July 10 in Des Moines that prosecutors hope will finally put Tipton behind bars a decade after launching a scheme that netted $2 million in jackpot
Mar 31, 2017, 7:48 am - Lottery News

Kansas lawmakers considering lottery vending machinesNews Story
Kansas Lottery players soon might be able to buy tickets from vending machines. The House voted this week in support of the move, which the state lottery has sought for three years. Lottery spokeswoman Sally Lunsford said the measure would increase lottery revenue and cut labor costs for retailers, where ticket buyers could bypass clerks and use the self-service machines. She said 37 other states, including Missouri, Colorado and Oklahoma, use the machines. Vending machines have increas
Mar 25, 2017, 3:30 pm - Lottery News