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Pa. Lottery blames growth of skill games, lack of big jackpots for drop in profitsNews Story
The growing proliferation of so-called skill games at Pennsylvania Lottery retailers are having an impact on the lottery's ability to generate revenue to pay for programs for senior citizens, a lottery official told state lawmakers on Tuesday. Lottery executive director Drew Svitko told lawmakers skill games could lead to a $200 million decline in scratch-off ticket sales this year. That is a bigger loss than the $115 million hit last year. Svitko attributed the higher projection to the ri
Feb 18, 2020, 7:06 pm - Lottery News

Two Alaska state lottery plans are about to be debated; here's how they'd workNews Story
Alaska is one of five U.S. states without a lottery. This year, Gov. Mike Dunleavy and House Majority Leader Steve Thompson, a Republican from Fairbanks, have each offered plans to change that. With Alaska state government projecting a $1.5 billion budget deficit, both men have said a lottery could be one step toward a broader fix. But both have proposed very different approaches. Thompson is suggesting a draw-style lottery that would raise between $8 million and $10 million a year for the
Feb 17, 2020, 8:50 am - Lottery News

Dad and his daughter got millions from IRS after claiming to win lottery, authorities sayNews Story
A Florida father and daughter claimed the government owed them $175 million in tax refunds on their lottery winnings. The IRS paid them $3.4 million before the agency realized the pair had never purchased a winning ticket, prosecutors say. Now, the Broward County pair, who say they're aboriginal indigenous Moorish Americans immune to government authority, are on trial in a Palm Beach federal courtroom accused of tax fraud. Court documents allege that Danielle Takeila Edmonson, 35, of Boynt
Dec 17, 2019, 10:14 am - Lottery News

WVa board admonishes former lottery director for moonlightingNews Story
A state board that oversees lawyers in West Virginia admonished one of the governor's former cabinet secretaries for moonlighting at his old law firm while serving as the Lottery Director, defying state law. The Lawyer Disciplinary Board found no evidence that former Lottery Director Alan Larrick used state resources in his private practice or leveraged his state job to benefit his legal clients. However, the board found Larrick knowingly continued to engage in the practice of law while se
Dec 16, 2019, 8:19 am - Lottery News

Judge rules Massachusetts Lottery can suspend high-frequency winnersNews Story
The Massachusetts Lottery last week won a court fight over their efforts to fight suspected fraud. The judge's decision lets the Lottery suspend a family of players who have cashed thousands of winning tickets. The Lottery says Ali Jaafar and his two sons are what they call high-frequency winners people believed to be cashing tickets actually bought by others. The Lottery has long suspected that high-frequency winners are part of money laundering schemes. (See Some lottery winning strea
Nov 6, 2019, 5:54 pm - Lottery News

New Jersey Lottery celebrates 50-year anniversaryNews Story
New Jersey is celebrating the Golden Anniversary of voters approving the establishment of a State Lottery, which at the time made New Jersey only the third U.S. state to pass a legal lottery. As part of the 1969 General Election, the measure was wholeheartedly welcomed by an astonishing 81.5% voter approval, making it one of the largest favorable public responses in New Jersey legislative history. The goal was to establish a state lottery similar to those conducted in neighboring states a
Nov 1, 2019, 12:33 pm - Lottery News

Mega Millions lottery winner worth $227 million sold in TexasNews Story
Update: Additional information about retailer and historical context By Todd Northrop A single ticket sold in Texas matched the winning numbers from Tuesday night's Mega Millions drawing and is worth an estimated $227 million. The Texas Lottery announced that the ticket was sold at the Lakeline Express Mart on 2004 N. Lakeline Boulevard in Cedar Park. The retailer is eligible to receive a $1 million retailer bonus for selling the jackpot-winning ticket, which was a quick pick. The ca
Sep 25, 2019, 8:14 am - Lottery News

CT Lottery workers 'getting the job done' despite agency upheavalNews Story
Editorial by Rob Raczka and Mark Negralle As state employees and union stewards at the beleaguered Connecticut Lottery Corporation, we will be the first to tell you it's extraordinarily difficult to work in an environment described by our colleagues in an internal survey as fear-based, toxic and North Korea-like. It angers us that controversy and scandal have tainted our agency and generated a seemingly endless stream of news stories exposing the questionable practices of some senior mana
Sep 1, 2019, 12:38 pm - Lottery News

Lawyers drop request for author's lottery scandal book notesNews Story
Lawyers reversed course on Tuesday and dropped a subpoena in which they had ordered an Iowa journalist to turn over notes related to his book about a lottery industry insider who rigged jackpots in several states. The withdrawal of the subpoena for journalist Perry Beeman's notes came hours after The Associated Press reported that it had been issued and sought materials that were likely protected by Iowa's reporter privilege law. Beeman co-wrote a recent book, The $80 billion Gamble, with
Aug 28, 2019, 10:04 am - Lottery News

DoJ files notice of appeal against New Hampshire Wire Act rulingNews Story
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has filed a notice of appeal following the decision in June by the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire to find in favor of the New Hampshire Lottery Commission (NHLC) in the long-awaited ruling on last year's revised opinion of the Wire Act by the DoJ. The notice of appeal reads: Please take notice that all Defendants (the United States of America; the United States Department of Justice; and William Barr, in his official capacity
Aug 22, 2019, 8:48 am - Lottery News