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Mass. Lottery to introduce $20 scratch gameNews Story
Touted at first scratch game to award $1B in prizes After a year of declining sales and a sweepstakes that left the Massachusetts State Lottery with a $12 million loss, the agency plans to release its first-ever $20 instant ticket, which will reward winners with the largest total prize amount ever given out in the country. Lottery officials tout the game named Billion Dollar Blockbuster as the first instant game in the country to pass the billion-dollar mark in terms of prizes. I
Sep 5, 2007, 8:56 am - Lottery News

Mass. Lottery sweepstakes winner collects $20M prizeNews Story
Judith Zahn, 59, of Hatfield today claimed the winning $20 million ticket in the Massachusetts Lottery's Star Spangled Sweepstakes drawing on Wednesday. Zahn, a nurse at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Northampton, received a $14 million check today after deducting for taxes, said Beth Bresnahan, spokeswoman for the lottery. The lucky winner received the check at the Lottery's headquarters in Braintree. She appeared with her husband Steve, 56, a 26-year patrolm
Jul 5, 2007, 5:57 pm - Lottery News

Massachusetts Lottery's Star Spangled Sweepstakes resultsNews Story
Today's drawing for the Massachusetts State Lottery's Star Spangled Sweepstakes is likely to be bittersweet, except for the game's winners. Lottery officials will hand out $40 million in prize money to 51 ticket holders even though the game generated ticket sales of only $28 million to $30 million. The results can be found here: https://www.lotterypost.com/ma-lottery-raffle-2007-07-04.asp The money-losing game is one reason the lottery fell short of matching last year's overall reve
Jul 4, 2007, 9:35 pm - Lottery News

Star Spangled lottery not a hit with playersNews Story
The Massachusetts Lottery's Star Spangled Sweepstakes is shaping up to be a Yankee Doodle disappointment. With just four days remaining until the game ends on Saturday, prior to the July 4 drawing, sales of the $20 ticket have been significantly below expectations, said lottery spokeswoman Beth Bresnahan. Through Monday sales hovered at about 30 percent of the game's 4 million tickets, or about 1.2 million tickets, have been sold. It's a little slower than expected, said Bresnahan.
Jun 27, 2007, 8:34 am - Lottery News

Lottery ticket thief gets 20 yearsNews Story
It probably wasn't the prize he was hoping for. Instead of a large cash payout, a Holyoke, Massachusetts, man was sentenced to 20 years in prison after admitting he stole more than $1,600 worth of lottery scratch tickets from convenience stores. George Cordero pleaded guilty in Hampshire Superior Court this week to breaking and entering into a building at night with the intent to commit a felony, larceny from a building, larceny over $250 and other charges in connection with thefts from th
Jun 20, 2007, 9:57 am - Lottery News

Sell the Mass. Lottery?News Story
Editor's note: The columnist's biased language, such as per-sucker spending was left as-written, since this is an opinion piece. Steve Bailey Boston Globe Massachusetts Treasurer Tim Cahill created a buzz last week when he proposed that the state get into the casino business before the Mashpee Wampanoags beat us to the slots. Lost in the headlines was his analysis of the future of the state's cash cow of a state lottery, which by almost every measure is the envy of the industry. In shor
Jun 1, 2007, 10:45 am - Lottery News

Lottery winner shortchanged by storeNews Story
Man paid $1,500 on $4,000 scratch ticket The lottery machines and scratch tickets were pulled from Kirsch Liquors in Worcester, Massachusetts, last month, after a man was scammed there when he received only $1,500 on a $4,000 winning scratch ticket, a state Lottery Commission official said. The Lottery Commission will file a decision by the end of the month on whether to suspend the store's lottery license for 30 days or indefinitely. Damaso Vasquez told Lottery Commission authorities
May 3, 2007, 7:43 am - Lottery News

Mass. Lottery's new raffle game to offer $20M top prizeNews Story
The Massachusetts State Lottery will unveil plans today for its most expensive game yet, a $20 raffle-style ( sweepstakes ) drawing. The new game comes as the Lottery looks to revive sales. After years of increases, the Lottery has recently seen its sales growth stall. The $20 sweepstakes ticket marks the Lottery's first venture into that higher-end price range. The new Star Spangled Sweepstakes contest will kick off May 1, with a July 4 drawing. Lottery officials pledge to create
Apr 25, 2007, 3:36 am - Lottery News

Mass. Lottery testing new Keno game this weekNews Story
The Massachusetts State Lottery revs up a new Keno game this week that gives gamblers the chance to place $1 bets on animated stock-car races, complete with roaring engines and spectacular crashes. The Daily Race Game will be tested at five locations with plans to expand to 200 over the next eight weeks, and ultimately to 1,300 establishments. The game, the first expansion of Keno since it launched in 1993, is being confined to bars and restaurants with Lottery licenses that serve liquor.
Apr 10, 2007, 8:04 am - Lottery News

Mass. Rep. says lottery funds should go to areas with highest salesNews Story
Lynn is one of the Massachusetts State Lottery's sales hotspots. Yet while Lynn residents spend $85 million a year on tickets and games, the old industrial city gets back just $15 million a year from a Lottery-financed state aid program. State Rep. Steven Walsh (D-Lynn) said it is this imbalance that drove him to file legislation that could revamp the way Lottery proceeds are doled out to cities and towns. Walsh's bill calls for a commission to explore whether the current formula used t
Feb 28, 2007, 8:38 am - Lottery News