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Massachusetts lottery offices reopen for prizes of $5,000 or moreNews Story
New claim procedure based on last names, some offices re-open by appointment only By Kate Northrop As of Wednesday, June 24, Massachusetts lottery offices are now open for large prize claims of $5,000 or more with some restrictions in place depending on the office location. According to the Massachusetts Lottery, the Braintree, Dorchester, New Bedford and Worcester claim centers are open for those collecting winnings valued $5,000 to $99,999. Lottery offices hours of operation are weekd
Jun 25, 2020, 7:43 am - Lottery News

One Arizona lottery ticket wins $410 million Mega Millions jackpotNews Story
It's the first Mega Millions jackpot win for an Arizona player By Todd Northrop A single ticket sold in Arizona matched the winning numbers from Tuesday night's Mega Millions drawing and is worth an estimated $410 million. The lump-sum cash value of the jackpot is a staggering $316.8 million up from the estimate of $308.2 million that was established on Saturday. The winner has 180 days from the draw date to claim the prize. We may never know who won the big prize because last year A
Jun 10, 2020, 9:09 am - Lottery News

Mega Millions lottery jackpot rolls to $410 millionNews Story
Largest Mega Millions jackpot in a year By Todd Northrop After 33 drawings without a jackpot winner, the multi-state Mega Millions lottery game now boasts a swelling jackpot of $410 million that could instantly put the winner among the wealthiest people on the planet. When nobody won Friday night's grand prize, the Mega Millions jackpot grew to its biggest amount since a $522 million Mega Millions jackpot from the June 7, 2019 drawing was won by a single ticket sold in California. That
Jun 8, 2020, 9:55 am - Lottery News

Coronavirus severely hurting Massachusetts Lottery salesNews Story
The Massachusetts State Lottery is taking a big hit as the COVID-19 state of emergency temporarily shutters many stores that sell tickets, Treasurer Deborah Goldberg told lawmakers Tuesday. More than 1,800 of the state's 7,500 lottery agents are closed, she said. Many stores that remain open have chosen to limit or eliminate lottery sales as a result of staff shortages. Total sales last week were down almost 33% from the same week last year. So far for April, sales of Keno, one of the best
Apr 15, 2020, 8:19 am - Lottery News

Daughter saves Massachusetts man from being victimized in sweepstakes scamNews Story
A dream of a lifetime seemed to have come true last week for an elderly Massachusetts man when he received a call from someone who claimed to represent Publisher's Clearing House. The caller told the elderly Swampscott man he had just won $8.5 million plus a brand new Chevrolet in their national lottery. All he needed to do, the caller told him, was to pay the $45,000 taxes due on the money and the prize would be his. It didn't occur to the man being scammed that the tax bill on $8.5 milli
Mar 19, 2020, 10:36 am - Lottery News

Coronavirus begins to impact lottery industryNews Story
But state lotteries are not doing enough to communicate with players By Todd Northrop Every aspect of life in America has been impacted by the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), including the lottery. Although most lotteries continue to operate their drawings normally, some aspects of the games that require people to gather in one place have been shut down. Claim centers are one such area. Illinois and South Carolina claim centers have closed completely, allowing for only claims b
Mar 17, 2020, 9:24 am - Lottery News

Massachusetts woman wins her second $1M lottery prizeNews Story
About a decade after Linda Sweeney won a $1 million through the Massachusetts Lottery, the Dorchester resident celebrated another victory last week. Sweeney won her second $1 million prize on a scratch ticket, this time through the lottery's 200X instant game. The win came 10 years and two months after her first $1 million win in the Billion Dollar Blockbuster instant game, which was on Dec. 7, 2009. Sweeney purchased the most recent winning ticket at the Stop Shop on Freeport Street in Do
Feb 23, 2020, 7:55 am - Lottery News

Despite predictions, state lottery ticket sales have not been hurt by casinosNews Story
For years, Rajesh Keshar heard the concerns of his fellow owners of corner stores in Everett, Massachusetts, about what the Encore Boston Harbor casino might do to their lottery sales. They worried that some customers would shift their spending from scratch tickets and numbers games to slot machines and gaming tables. Everybody was talking bad about it, said Keshar, who runs Elm Street Market, about 2.5 miles from the massive casino, which opened in June. I was thinking positive. Because I k
Feb 3, 2020, 9:37 am - Lottery News

Powerball $396.9 million winning lottery ticket sold in FloridaNews Story
By Todd Northrop One lucky ticket sold in Florida matched all six numbers in the Powerball lottery drawing Wednesday night, according to lottery officials. That ticket ended up being worth $396.9 million, up from the estimated $394 million before the drawing. The winner will have an option to take a cash payment of $276.5 million instead of the annuity. The massive haul is the 28th-largest US lottery jackpot of all time, and the cash value is the 20th-largest of all time. (Full list is
Jan 30, 2020, 8:27 am - Lottery News

Massachusetts man sues 2 women, claiming they cheated him out of $4 million lottery prizeNews Story
A Massachusetts man says two women cheated him out of $4 million in lottery winnings by taking advantage of his inability to read or speak English. The man, Joao Luis DaPonte, said in a civil complaint filed earlier this month in Bristol Superior Court that when he initially scratched the Lottery ticket he purchased at Cafe Sao Paulo on Bolton Street in New Bedford on Nov. 23, he believed he had won $4,000 since the ticket said $4MIL below the number 26. DaPonte does not read or speak Engl
Jan 25, 2020, 2:24 pm - Lottery News