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Woman arrested for trying to fake jackpot winning lottery ticketNews Story
Note to anyone thinking of gaming the state lottery: it never works. An Elgin, Illinois, woman tried to cash in on the record $656 million Mega Millions lottery jackpot with a ticket she bought online eight minutes after the winning numbers were drawn, officials said today. Leandria Williams, 28, was initially charged with wire fraud last week for falsifying documents. She has now been charged with attempted theft and forgery, according to the Cook County sheriff's office. An investigat
May 1, 2012, 3:40 pm - Lottery News

Retired Illinois couple share $656M lottery jackpotNews Story
By Todd Northrop Updated 6:24 pm: Prize payout information A retired computer systems designer and his wife, a computer programmer, have claimed the final share of the March 30 $656 million Mega Millions lottery drawing. Merle, 65, and Pat Butler, 62, claimed the jackpot at the Red Bud Village Hall in the small southern Illinois town of Red Bud. The winning ticket was sold at a nearby Motomart in the town of 6,000 people. Their share of the record-setting $656 million jackpot was $21
Apr 18, 2012, 11:57 am - Lottery News

Illinois Mega Millions winner to come forwardNews Story
The final winner of the record $656 million Mega Millions jackpot will accept a check for $218.6 million on Wednesday in the southern Illinois town of Red Bud where the winning ticket was purchased, the Illinois Lottery said Monday. The single winner is from Illinois, lottery officials said, but would not reveal any other details. The other two winning tickets already have been anonymously claimed in Maryland and Kansas. Around Red Bud word that the winner would soon be revealed left the town
Apr 17, 2012, 9:32 am - Lottery News

World's biggest lottery jackpot won by three ticketsNews Story
Winning Mega Millions lottery tickets sold in Illinois, Kansas, Maryland Final jackpot total of $656 million will be split three ways How would you react if you won? By Todd Northrop The largest lottery jackpot the world has ever seen has been won Friday night by three tickets sold in Illinois, Kansas, and Maryland. Since early Wednesday morning, the Mega Millions lottery jackpot was raised three times in as many days, and by the time all the sales were totalled at draw time, the
Mar 31, 2012, 8:56 am - Lottery News

Illinois picks right week to start selling tickets onlineNews Story
But online sales still dwarfed by retailer sales With a record $540 million Mega Millions jackpot in play, Illinois picked the right week to become the first state in the nation to sell lottery tickets online. Others are watching closely to see if the new approach pays off and whether the state takes the next big step: launching online poker, blackjack and other casino games. It took only three minutes for the first online lottery ticket to sell once the system went live at 7 a.m. Sunday.
Mar 30, 2012, 7:51 am - Lottery News

Online Illinois lottery tickets net $15K first dayNews Story
Illinois Lottery officials say the first day of online lottery tickets brought in more than $15,000 in sales. On Sunday Illinois became the first state to offer the games of chance online. The first ticket was bought at 7:03 a.m., just minutes after Mega Millions and Lotto tickets became available online. Within hours, hundreds of people had purchased tickets. Lottery officials say they believe the pace of sales will be fast until Tuesday evening. That's when the Mega Millions drawing take
Mar 26, 2012, 6:54 pm - Lottery News

Illinois to become first state to allow online lottery salesNews Story
A Justice Department opinion issued last year cleared the way. It said the Wire Act of 1961, which bars wagering over telecommunication systems across state or national boundaries, applies only to sports betting. At least 21 states and the District of Columbia are considering online lottery sales or other wagering such as poker, says Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association, which represents commercial casinos. New York and several other states sell lottery subscripti
Mar 23, 2012, 12:36 pm - Lottery News

Convenience stores worried about online lottery planNews Story
Illinois convenience stores are bracing for a financial hit as sales of Illinois lottery tickets are set to go online later this year. Lottery officials estimate the state will take in $150 million more annually once sales go online, and will attract hundreds of thousands of new players. But Bill Fleischli, executive vice president of the Illinois Association of Convenience Stores, said those are players who will no longer frequent their corner store. They're actually going to reduce o
Jan 17, 2012, 7:15 am - Lottery News

Illinois lottery winners' checks bouncedNews Story
Includes audio report Eighty-five Illinois Lottery winners last week probably thought they were lucky until they tried to cash in their winnings, that is. Their checks, totaling $159,000 in lottery winnings, were no good. Two days after Christmas, Maureen Furio of Lake Zurich bought an instant scratch-off ticket and won $1000. The next day, she got a check from the lottery. I deposited it the same day and went ahead and paid some extra Christmas bills, Furio says. And Jan. 3, it bou
Jan 6, 2012, 5:21 pm - Lottery News

Illinois Lottery hopes to sell tickets online in '3 to 4 months'News Story
Illinois Lottery Superintendent Michael Jones said Monday that he hopes the state will begin selling lottery tickets online in the next three to four months. Officials have long wanted to take the lottery to the web, and the path was cleared Friday with the release of a U.S. Department of Justice legal opinion that supports state-regulated online gambling. (See Ruling by Justice Dept. opens a door on online gambling, Lottery Post, Dec. 25, 2011.) State lawmakers in 2009 approved a massi
Dec 26, 2011, 10:49 pm - Lottery News