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$49,000 Mercedes is Washington Lottery's marketing toolNews Story
Some folks may think it's just a new way for Washington's Lottery to take suckers for a ride. That's not quite the agency mission, insists Lottery director Bill Hanson. So what is it? Hanson said Friday the agency bought a $49,000 Mercedes Sprinter van as a marketing tool to boost Lottery ticket sales at the Puyallup Fair and other big festivals where it sets up for marketing. He said it is an idea the agency dreamed up to boost revenues and help fill the state's yawning budget hole.
Oct 3, 2011, 2:21 am - Lottery News

Winning Lotto ticket survives washing machineNews Story
A four-week-old Lotto ticket survived a trip through the washing machine to net $250,000 for its Christchurch, New Zealand, owner. The ticket bought at Pak'n'Save in Moorhouse for the July 9 Lotto draw shared the First Division prize with tickets bought in Auckland, Waitakere and Hastings. The winner, who wants to stay anonymous, said he found the ticket last weekend after he washed an old pair of jeans. I went through the wet pockets and realised I had washed a Lotto ticket in the jea
Aug 6, 2011, 7:56 am - Lottery News

Canada's Lotto Max now at $81 million in top prizesNews Story
Estimated 31 MaxMillions $1 million draws coming Friday By Todd Northrop For the third straight week, lottery players across Canada will take their chances at a $50 million main jackpot and a rising number of $1 million MaxMillions bonus drawings. On Friday night, no tickets matched the seven numbers drawn to win the $50 million main jackpot, so the upcoming Lotto Max draw for Friday, March 11 will remain at an estimated $50 million with an additional estimated 31 $1 million MaxMillions
Mar 7, 2011, 8:37 am - Lottery News

MasterCard illegally adds fees to Lottery playersNews Story
All you need is a dollar and a dream to play the Lottery, except if you're paying with MasterCard then it's an extra 10 bucks. Plus interest. The credit card company has quietly been treating subscription purchases of Lotto or Mega Millions tickets as cash advances making them subject to an extra fee. MasterCard is also charging higher cash advance level interest on the Lottery ticket purchases, as much as 24.9% percent in some cases. That, too, is a no-no, Lottery officials said.
Sep 17, 2010, 8:51 pm - Lottery News

2 quick Lotto Texas winners put state in bindNews Story
By Todd Northrop Two recent Texas Lotto winners have hit jackpots of $21 million and $6 million, but for the Texas Lottery it has meant dipping into revenues by $3.4 million to cover the prizes. In just the past 10 days, two lucky lottery players have matched all six Lotto Texas numbers, but the lottery did not sell enough tickets during that period to fully cover the advertised prize. The shortfall was created by the way the Texas Lottery generates its new advertised jackpot amount eac
Aug 14, 2010, 9:28 am - Lottery News

Vermont adds multi-state Hot Lotto gameNews Story
The Vermont lottery is 31 years old this year. Lottery revenues after expenses have grown substantially since its early days. But right now the recession is cutting into those revenues. Back in 1978 the Vermont lottery generated just $1.7 million. That number had grown to $102 million as of last year. But like everything else, lottery revenues are down this year. At The Middle Road Market in Milton, the customers are well familiar with the lottery games. The owners, state representative Ro
Jul 9, 2009, 9:20 am - Lottery News

Tennessee Lottery a step closer to restoring real drawingsNews Story
A Tennessee House panel has advanced a proposal to require the state lottery to abandon computerized drawings for its games. House Minority Leader Jason Mumpower, a Bristol Republican, says he sponsored the manual drawings measure in response to a loss in consumer confidence following a computer programming error last year. The glitch prevented duplicate numbers to be drawn for nearly a month. Lottery officials estimate it would cost about $5 million a year to return to drawing numbered
Apr 2, 2008, 11:02 pm - Lottery News

New Florida Lotto playslips a bother to someNews Story
Some players annoyed by re-writing slips used 'for years'; don't understand new jackpot options As the Florida Lottery made changes to its Lotto game, a Lauderhill woman claimed the $3 million jackpot from the March 1 game. Melony Gregory, of Lauderhill, chose the one-time, lump-sum payment, and will receive $1,711,642 after taxes. Meanwhile, Lotto players faced a slightly longer wait to purchase tickets for Wednesday night's drawing, the first since the Florida Lottery made changes to
Mar 6, 2008, 11:35 am - Lottery News

Tonight's Fla. Lotto drawing first to let players increase jackpotNews Story
Also first drawing to use new playslips Lotto players who buy their tickets on the day of the drawing need to give themselves a few extra minutes to get tickets for tonight's drawing. Tonight's is the first drawing since the Florida Lottery made changes to Lotto and the old play slips no longer work. The big change is that players can spend $1 or $2 extra to increase the size of the Lotto jackpot. Tonight's jackpot is $3 million and a $1 play buys a chance to win that amount or a cha
Mar 5, 2008, 2:08 pm - Lottery News

Winning Hot Lotto ticket sold in New MexicoNews Story
New Mexico Lottery officials say one of two winning tickets for Saturday's Hot Lotto drawing was sold in New Mexico. The other ticket was sold in Minnesota. The winners will split a $1.9 million jackpot. The New Mexico winning ticket is the first Hot Lotto jackpot winner for the state since the game first went on sale there in November, 2006. The New Mexico Lottery also offers Hot Lotto's better-known sibling, Powerball. Hot Lotto is played in nine other states. It's been dubbed th
Aug 6, 2007, 9:07 am - Lottery News