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Arkansas Lottery finishes 2009 with $132M in salesNews Story
The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery marked the end of its first 95 days of operation at midnight December 31 with a year-end sales total of $132,097,968. The first instant ticket was sold just after midnight on September 28, followed by the introduction of Powerball on October 31 and of the first Arkansas draw game Cash 3 on December 14. During the 2009 Arkansas legislative session when the lottery legislation was crafted, it was expected that ticket sales would begin on January 1, 2010. W
Jan 2, 2010, 8:35 am - Lottery News

Arkansas man among the first to win $100,000 lottery prizeNews Story
For Joe Pierce and his wife, Amanda, the last few days have been momentous. On Wednesday, she gave birth to their second child, a daughter, Kinley Jo. On Sunday, he paid $5 for an Arkansas lottery ticket and won $100,000, the biggest prize anybody has won so far in the two-week-old lottery. That's also the biggest prize available in the lottery's current games. Today, Joe plans to drive to the lottery's claims center in Little Rock to pick up his check, which will be for $75,000 after t
Oct 13, 2009, 11:12 am - Lottery News

First day of Arkansas lottery sales brisk, sellers sayNews Story
By midmorning Monday, Arkansas' new lottery had produced a $500 winner in Baxter County from a scratch-off ticket sold at Benny's Country Store, 6227 State Hwy. 5 N., and an unknown amount for college scholarships. Several retailers who sell lottery tickets here reported brisk and sometimes crazy ticket sales Monday the first day of the state's new lottery with proceeds dedicated for college scholarships. Drew Long, owner of Benny's Country Store, said a customer purchased the $500-winning
Sep 29, 2009, 7:49 am - Lottery News

Arkansas Lottery begins todayNews Story
Less than a year from voter approval to first ticket sales Arkansas has officially become the 42nd state to operate a government lottery the 43rd jurisdiction, counting Washington, D.C. Arkansas Lottery scratch-off tickets are now on sale at nearly 1,500 retailers throughout the state with the proceeds going towards funding college scholarships. Retailers were allowed to begin selling scratch-off lottery tickets just after midnight today, and at least one location saw people lining up t
Sep 28, 2009, 7:14 am - Lottery News

Scratch-off lottery tickets arrive in ArkansasNews Story
It turns out $48 million in lottery tickets doesn't look as impressive as it sounds. Shrink-wrapped pallets arrived by tractor-trailer Monday to a warehouse in southwest Little Rock, a first shipment of about 30 million scratch-off tickets destined to inaugurate the start of Arkansas' state lottery. Lottery officials dolled up the event for reporters, with two police cruisers and a motorcycle blaring sirens as a semi-truck decorated with balloons and streamers, like a homecoming parade flo
Sep 14, 2009, 11:15 pm - Lottery News

Arkansas Lottery scratch tickets, logo revealedNews Story
This week was a busy one for the fledgling Arkansas Lottery. The first shipment of Arkansas Lottery tickets is being transported, and will arrive in the state Monday, Lottery Director Ernie Passailaigue said Friday, and the lottery revealed its new logo. The precious cargo will be transported by 18-wheeler to the Scientific Games (SGI) Distribution Center on the west side of town, arriving at 10:30 a.m., Passailaigue said at a meeting of the state Lottery Commission at the University of Ce
Sep 12, 2009, 8:04 am - Lottery News

Arkansas Republicans upset about makeup of lottery officialsNews Story
Arkansas Republican leaders are upset about a lack of representation in the formation and oversight of the Arkansas lottery. The Lottery Oversight Committee, composed of six House members and six Senate members, contains one Republican. The remaining members of the commission, picked by Gov. Mike Beebe, House Speaker Robbie Wills and Senate President Pro Tempore Bob Johnson are also Democrats or have Democratic ties. While Republicans concede that the party in power usually makes select
Sep 6, 2009, 7:57 pm - Lottery News

Arkansas Lottery begins licensing retailers for ticket salesNews Story
A Murphy USA retail outlet in Magnolia on Wednesday received the first license issued in the state to sell tickets for Arkansas' scholarship lottery when scratch-off games begin next month. Lottery Director Ernie Passailaigue presented the ceremonial first retailer license to Murphy Oil President Hank Heithaus during a meeting of the Arkansas Lottery Commission. Steve Beck, regional director for Intralot, the firm hired to run the lottery's drawing games, told commissioners the installatio
Aug 26, 2009, 10:53 pm - Lottery News

Computerized lottery drawings not problem-freeNews Story
MUSL director Strutt says Small group of players don't like them Passailaigue says players superstitious, spooked by changes in draw format Arkansas lottery officials say their decision to use a computer to generate winning numbers when lottery games start this fall makes economic sense, but the use of computerized drawings by lotteries in other states has not been free of problems. In July 2007, the Tennessee Education Lottery moved to save costs by doing away with its televised drawi
Aug 10, 2009, 9:22 am - Lottery News

ARKANSAS LOTTERY DRAWINGS TO BE COMPUTERIZEDNews Story
Numerous polls show players do not trust computerized drawings Did Arkansas Lottery Commission hire the right team? Senator proposes bill scrapping the lottery Despite nearly universal player mistrust of computerized lottery drawings, the new Arkansas Lottery director made the inexplicable decision this week to forgo real mechanical lottery ball drawings, and use a computer program to select the winning numbers in the state's new lottery. The commission met at Philander Smith College
Aug 1, 2009, 1:20 am - Lottery News