Search

N.C. Senate to work on lottery billNews Story
A select committee of the North Carolina Senate will consider the lottery bill approved on Wednesday by the N.C. House.N.C. Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, D-Dare, said he expects a lottery bill to pass. The Senate has approved lottery legislation in past years only to watch the bills die in a closely-divided House.A lottery may shift spending priorities next fiscal year, and lawmakers will only have a few weeks to consider the ramifications of a state numbers game before making any deci
Apr 11, 2005, 9:19 am - Lottery News

Mass. Lottery to add Keno-style gameNews Story
The Massachusetts State Lottery is betting that restaurant and bar patrons will try their luck at virtual horse racing, a Keno-style game played on video monitors.Each animated race will last about a minute and feature 12 numbered horses circling the track as a fast-talking announcer describes the action. Details are still being worked out, but lottery officials are planning to stage races every 15 minutes, with a minimum bet of $2. Players could bet much as they would at the racetrack, with w
Apr 6, 2005, 8:37 am - Lottery News

N.C. Lottery Foes Gather StrengthNews Story
A group of high-profile lottery opponents vowed Wednesday to fight efforts to bring scratch-off tickets and numbers games to North Carolina.As opponents gathered in the Legislative Building in Raleigh to voice opposition, members of a special House committee on the lottery filed the bill that they will use to craft a state lottery.The work on that bill, which does not yet include details of how a lottery would be set up, is set to be finished by April 11.The opponents said they were working one
Mar 31, 2005, 9:28 am - Lottery News

NJ may ban smoking in casinosNews Story
Acting New Jersey Governor Richard J. Codey may use the power the position he stumbled into when Gov. McGreevey resigned last year to push an aggressive anti-smoking agenda, which would even include banning smoking in New Jersey casinos.Codey's flip-flop on the smoking ban has restaurants, casinos, and small business owners upset. The marketplace not the government should decide if it makes sense to allow people to smoke in certain areas, they contend.The proposal to ban smoking in most public
Mar 10, 2005, 8:30 am - Lottery News

Oregon Gov. pushes for larger lottery cutNews Story
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski has become a quiet backroom force in pushing the Oregon Lottery into considering a nearly 50 percent cut in the share of proceeds that bars, restaurants and taverns receive for the lottery's new electronic slot games.People close to Kulongoski say he has become more involved than previous governors in determining how much money retailers should get for offering video gambling, which last year totaled $531 million in sales.Kulongoski prodded the new lottery director, Da
Mar 8, 2005, 9:51 am - Lottery News

Penn. officials study slots' effect on lottery revenuesNews Story
Pennsylvania state senators pressed state Revenue Secretary Greg Fajt last week on just one of the many multimillion dollar questions pertaining to the imminent arrival of slot machines.Will the new gaming harm the Pennsylvania Lottery, now flourishing due to the many small-time gamblers who focus their wagering dollars on the numbers and instant games?Fajt's answer on behalf of the pro-slots Rendell administration: We don't think so.But no one knows for certain. The question has not been studie
Feb 21, 2005, 9:30 am - Lottery News

Oregon Lottery rate cut has fierce opposition and supportNews Story
Oregon Lottery Director Dale Penn, seeking to capture millions of additional dollars for schools and other state programs, on Tuesday proposed a nearly 50 percent rate cut for retailers offering the lottery's new electronic slot machines.The rate cut, the biggest proposed by a lottery director since the state first ventured into electronic gambling 13 years ago, was cheered by school advocates who complain that bars, taverns and restaurants have been making excess profits off the lottery.But the
Feb 17, 2005, 10:03 am - Lottery News

Texas to use Lottery to institute video slot machinesNews Story
Facing an uphill battle to amend the Texas Constitution to allow video slot machines, some Texas lawmakers are working on legislation to authorize the devices as an extension of the lottery.Such a bill would only require a majority vote in the House and Senate and then the governor's signature. A proposed constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote in both chambers and then a vote by the public.Mike Sizemore, a spokesman for Sen. Ken Armbrister, said Armbrister is trying to determine whe
Feb 17, 2005, 9:26 am - Lottery News

Indiana legislator attacks computerized lottery drawingsNews Story
In a move hailed by opponents of computerized lottery drawings, Indiana State Representative Robert Alderman (R) introduced a bill last month that would force the Hoosier Lottery to revert back to traditional lottery ball machines.The bill, which would take effect on July 1, 2005, requires the Indiana State Lottery Commission to use numbered balls and machines to conduct lottery drawings. If passed, the bill would also voids a conflicting administrative rule which allows the Hoosier Lottery to
Feb 4, 2005, 11:27 am - Lottery News

Oregon Lottery adds slot games to video poker machinesNews Story
The electronic version of one-arm bandits is coming to Oregon bars and restaurants this summer.Under prodding from Gov. Ted Kulongoski, the Oregon State Lottery Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to allow slot-machine-style games on the state's network of video-poker terminals.That means more than 2,200 bars and restaurants across Oregon could offer electronic slots as soon as July 1. But first the state must persuade retailers to accept new contracts that reduce their share of video-poker
Jan 27, 2005, 12:57 pm - Lottery News