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Louisiana Lottery may add Mega Millions next yearNews Story
With the price of a Powerball ticket slated to increase from $1 to $2 starting next year, state lottery officials are betting that adding a second multi-state jackpot game will help draw in additional revenue. The game, Mega Millions, is offered in 41 states, plus the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands. For $1, players pick five numbers, from 1 to 56, and one Mega Ball, from 1 to 46, and are eligible to win the jackpot by matching all six winning numbers in a drawing. In 2010, 23
Aug 30, 2011, 2:15 pm - Lottery News

Legislators grill Ark. lottery financial officerNews Story
The Arkansas lottery's chief financial officer said Wednesday that a $90,000 tax penalty probably resulted because of a data input error, though legislators remained puzzled over how the lottery's director wasn't told of the problem for more than three months. Lottery director Ernie Passailaigue told members of the Lottery Oversight Committee that he was disappointed he wasn't told of the Internal Revenue Service problem until long after it had emerged. The IRS assessed the penalty because
Aug 25, 2011, 10:56 am - Lottery News

Powerball lottery jackpot increased to $180 millionNews Story
By Todd Northrop The multi-state Powerball lottery drawing took place last night without any jackpot winners, causing the new jackpot for Saturday's drawing to grow to an estimated $180 million, with a cash option of $100.3 million. Wednesday night was the 10th consecutive drawing without a jackpot winner. Even though there were no jackpot winners, 13 lucky tickets matched the first five numbers for a $200,000 second-place prize: 1 from Arkansas, 2 from Connecticut, 1 from Florida, 1 fr
Aug 4, 2011, 7:26 am - Lottery News

Florida Lottery to update branding, Web siteNews Story
The Florida Lottery is not aging gracefully. Voters enthusiastically approved state-run gambling 25 years ago, but the Lottery is struggling to keep up with today's demands. Sales are lagging. Its approach to online media is sluggish. And other forms of gambling, such as Indian-run casinos and Internet cafes, are luring customers away from lucky numbers and scratch-offs. State officials are well aware of the shortcomings. Gov. Rick Scott's choice to lead the agency is a branding expe
Aug 1, 2011, 6:56 am - Lottery News

Embattled Arkansas Lottery controller resignsNews Story
The top fiscal officer for the Arkansas lottery, who was criticized by some lawmakers and lottery commissioners following an important audit, has resigned. A resignation letter from lottery controller Philip Miley says he and his wife have decided to return home. Miley was controller for Regional Health Care Holding Inc., a subsidiary of St. Bernard's Health Care of Jonesboro, from 1997 to 2008. Miley, who has worked for the lottery since July 2009, did not return messages seeking comment.
Jul 30, 2011, 9:57 pm - Lottery News

Lotteries hit record profits last yearNews Story
Lottery sales are strong, but there are points of weakness By Todd Northrop Government-sponsored lotteries are continuing their broad expansion as income-producing entities, as many lotteries reported record profits in the last fiscal year. Reports of record profits from the lotteries come despite continuing high unemployment and an economy that has been flat or downward-trending for the past two years. Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich says he believes the lottery does well in a bad econo
Jul 25, 2011, 1:19 pm - Lottery News

Ark. lottery winner busted for drug traffickingNews Story
Includes video report A past $100,000 winner of Arkansas' lottery was indicted today for allegedly being the kingpin of a major crystal methamphetamine operation. A federal grand jury returned an 18-count indictment against Daniel Dano Henry Jr. of Austin and 19 others, capping a five-year investigation that was dubbed Operation Big Winner last fall after Henry claimed a $100,000 lottery prize on Sept. 24. The organization that prosecutors allege Henry led dealt 5 to 10 pounds of crysta
Jun 15, 2011, 8:50 am - Lottery News

Multi-state lottery game comes to ArkansasNews Story
After a false start, Decades of Dollars finally lands in fourth state By Todd Northrop In January, a new multi-state lottery game called Decades for Dollars was introduced, and was intended to be offered in the state of Arkansas, but legislative obstacles stopped the plan dead in its tracks at the time. Now those issues have been cleared, and Decades of Dollars has landed in the state three months after the game's first drawing. Starting Tuesday, May 3, tickets for Decades of Dollars
May 2, 2011, 8:10 pm - Lottery News

Arkansas Lottery partners with grocery chain on vending machinesNews Story
An Ohio-based grocery store chain has signed a contract with the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery to sell lottery tickets through vending machines. Lottery Director Ernie Passailaigue signed the agreement April 11 after the House Rules Committee declined to recommend passage of a Senate-approved bill that would bar the lottery from using the machines. The Arkansas lottery began selling tickets through the machines on Feb. 3 at a Love's Travel Stop in North Little Rock, and the machines have si
Apr 25, 2011, 8:03 am - Lottery News

Arkansas Lottery conducts first state raffleNews Story
By Todd Northrop Lesson learned: if you want to sell-out raffle lottery tickets, set (and hold to) an end date. In what started as one of the longest raffle ticket sales periods in recent memory, and ended in a flurry of last-minute sales, the Arkansas Lottery officially concluded its first-ever raffle today. At the end of the day, there are two freshly-minted millionaires, and over a thousand winners of $1,000 and $100 prizes. The two winning $1 million numbers were 199692 and 40926
Apr 7, 2011, 2:32 pm - Lottery News