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Minnesota paperless, instant-win Lottery games to endNews Story
The Minnesota Lottery's experiment with paperless, instant-play tickets sold over the Internet and other platforms will come to an end as Gov. Mark Dayton decided Thursday against vetoing legislation suspending the games. The Legislature had sent Dayton the bill to stop the virtual games after overwhelming votes in the Senate last week and the House on Thursday. Spokesman Matt Swenson said Dayton would defer to their will rather than veto it, which could have subjected him to a possible overr
May 15, 2015, 8:45 am - Lottery News

Minn. Senate passes bill restricting expansion of State LotteryNews Story
Minnesotans soon may no longer be able to buy lottery tickets at ATMs, gas pumps or online, as the Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill Thursday that would restrict the Minnesota State Lottery's yearslong foray into new gambling platforms. The decisive 56-8 vote was a rebuke to Gov. Mark Dayton, who vetoed a similar measure last year. Bill author Sen. Lyle Koenen, DFL-Clara City, and Republican advocates of the bill framed the issue as one of legislative prerogative, accusing the State Lott
May 9, 2015, 7:30 am - Lottery News

Court rules grandmother, 90, will receive $1.85 instead of $41M jackpotNews Story
As a 90-year-old grandmother, Pauline McKee tries to maintain a sweet disposition. When she played a penny slot machine that told her she had won more than $41 million, the Antioch woman remained pretty calm. That was nice, she said, recalling her reaction. Very nice. And when she learned on Friday that the Iowa Supreme Court ruled the casino does not have to pay her the big bucks, McKee took it stoically. Instead, she won a mere $1.85 on the bet. I had my doubts from the start, be
Apr 26, 2015, 10:32 am - Lottery News

Illinois lottery director calls it quitsNews Story
Michael Jones' run as Illinois Lottery Director is over. Late Wednesday Jones sent a brief memo to his Lottery colleagues that said his job there is done. Jones went on to write that he had informed Gov. Bruce Rauner's chief of staff a while ago that he was planning to leave his post. Jones said his immediate plan is to go surfing at my home break, Seapark, next week. In a statement to the Chicago Business Journal this afternoon, Gov. Bruce Rauner said he appreciated Michael Jones steppin
Mar 20, 2015, 8:59 am - Lottery News

California store owner sues customer for half of $1M lottery prizeNews Story
Assembly line worker Evangelina Reyes had big plans for the $1 million she won earlier this year in the California Lottery's Emerald 10 scratch-off game. But then the owner of the Milpitas liquor store where she bought the winning ticket slapped her with a lawsuit, claiming she'd signed a handwritten contract guaranteeing him half the prize. Now, instead of dipping into the money for a family vacation in Hawaii and serenely banking the rest for early retirement, the 53-year-old mother of five
Mar 5, 2015, 8:30 am - Lottery News

Illinois Lottery cuts ties with private managerNews Story
The split between the Illinois Lottery and its private manager, Northstar Lottery Group, is now official after three years of acrimony over lower-than-expected revenues. The termination agreement, signed Tuesday by Gov. Pat Quinn, comes a little more than three months after he directed lottery officials to sever ties with the company after it fell short of promised revenues for the third consecutive year. At the time, the company had posted record profits to the state, but those figures st
Dec 10, 2014, 9:11 pm - Lottery News

NJ lottery winners still receiving welfare, food stamps, audit saysNews Story
An audit sniffing out fraud in New Jersey's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program detected 66 lottery winners who were perhaps too lucky. They were all welfare and food stamps beneficiaries who had each won more than $10,000, including one person who had been collecting $1,000 a week from the Win for Life scratch-off game prior to 2009. Ten other winners netted more than $100,000 in lottery proceeds from 2011 to 2013. All of them were still collecting food stamps this year, according to t
Dec 6, 2014, 2:52 pm - Lottery News

Kentucky Lottery plans online ticket sales by fallNews Story
By early next fall the Kentucky Lottery expects to make the sale of tickets for at least some games available through the use of computers, smart phones and other mobile devices. The Kentucky Lottery Corp. directors took a major step toward online ticket sales at a meeting Friday by choosing to negotiate with GTECH to develop the computer-based system for what is being called iLottery services and games. Lottery president and CEO Arch Gleason said the outcome of the negotiations will deter
Nov 25, 2014, 8:36 am - Lottery News

Governor revamps Missouri Lottery CommissionNews Story
Gov. Jay Nixon replaced most of the members of the Missouri Lottery Commission on Thursday as he released a report recommending the agency review its policies on prizes and advertising in a quest to route more money to education. The shake-up in oversight at the Missouri Lottery comes after it posted record sales during the past budget year yet transferred less money to education than it had in the previous year. Nixon in July had directed his state budget office to review the lottery's op
Sep 19, 2014, 8:21 am - Lottery News

36 SC stores suspended from lottery salesNews Story
Lottery officials in South Carolina say three dozen stores have been suspended from selling tickets because of their involvement in the operation of illegal gambling machines. Holli Armstrong with the South Carolina Education Lottery told local media that the stores are being suspended for six months because of the illegal machines. Armstrong says the stores have received a letter about the suspension. The stores' contracts with the lottery include a provision for a non-appealable six-m
Sep 16, 2014, 12:36 pm - Lottery News