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$75M Texas Lotto winner a 'regular player'News Story
Someone shopping at a League City, Texas, convenience store is millions richer today, but right now, no one knows who the person is. A customer at the Quick Mart, 2100 FM 2094 in League City, bought the only winning ticket for Saturday night's $75 million drawing, lottery spokeswoman Robyn Smith said. The winner will have to claim its prize at the organization's headquarters in Austin within 180 days of the drawing. Nizar Karim Ali, a store clerk at the Quick Mart, said the man came in
Apr 10, 2007, 8:24 pm - Lottery News

GOP legislators question math in Texas lottery-sale planNews Story
Texas Gov. Rick Perry's proposal to sell off the state lottery to fund cancer research and health insurance was met with skepticism Tuesday from a number of key Republican lawmakers who said the numbers don't add up. I don't know anyone who's supporting it, said Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, who chairs the powerful House Appropriations Committee. I'd give it only a 10 percent chance of passing. In an e-mail, Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, who heads the Senate State Affairs Committee, sa
Feb 9, 2007, 8:15 pm - Lottery News

Texas Gov. proposes selling the lotteryNews Story
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Thursday that his State of the State address on Tuesday would include a plan to fully privatize the Texas Lottery by selling it to private interests. Perry said such a sale would raise substantial funds that could be used for health care and research. Other states, including Illinois and Indiana, are looking into the concept, which allows a state to collect a large lump sum to replace future lottery revenue. The proposal is likely to be controversial because t
Feb 2, 2007, 5:46 pm - Lottery News

Texan claims $74 million Mega Millions lottery jackpotNews Story
Winner cracks jokes; thanks all the losers Holding a mock check for nearly $74 million, Ronald Crump kept cracking jokes. Winning the Mega Millions lottery jackpot had left him giddy. First off, the retired postal employee from Amarillo had a special message for everyone who didn't have his winning numbers, To all the millions who bought tickets and didn't win, I thank you very much. He said he planned to upgrade his 12-year-old car with another one half its age. And for all the tr
Feb 1, 2007, 6:42 pm - Lottery News

Company running most lottery games worldwide has history of scandalNews Story
The company behind the more than 16,000 machines that spit out New York Lottery tickets has been linked to scandals across the country and around the globe. Bribery allegations led a co-founder to quit his job as chairman. Its lobbyists have run afoul of the law in several states, including New York. Former government officials have received lucrative consulting contracts. And in summer 2006, an investigation in Texas found that the company, GTECH Holdings Corp., doled out tens of millions
Jan 31, 2007, 5:30 am - Lottery News

Winning $122 million lottery ticket sold in TexasNews Story
Someone who bought a ticket in Amarillo for Tuesday night's Mega Millions drawing is about $72 million richer. The ticket bought at a western Amarillo convenience store matched all five numbers and Mega Ball number drawn last night for the $122 million jackpot. That dollar figure applies only if the winnings are paid out over 26 annual payments and Texas Lottery Commission spokesman Bobby Heith says the ticket buyer opted for a cash-value option. That means a cash payout of just more th
Jan 10, 2007, 2:18 pm - Lottery News

Stolen lottery tickets lead to bathroom standoffNews Story
A robbery involving Texas Lottery tickets led to a standoff in a public bathroom Tuesday morning in northwest Harris County near Houston. Sheriff's deputies said a group of armed gunmen stole lottery tickets from a convenience store early Tuesday. Several hours later, a man returned to the store and tried to cash one of those stolen tickets. Employees told deputies they called for help when the man went to the restroom. The man was still there when deputies arrived, and employees and
Jan 10, 2007, 1:21 pm - Lottery News

$18 million Texas Lotto jackpot hit by one ticketNews Story
Somebody who bought a Texas Lotto ticket in an Angleton convenience store is worth $18 million, but neither the couple who sold the winning ticket nor the state lottery commission knows who it is. The winner has 180 days after Saturday's drawing to come forward to claim the jackpot, said lottery spokesman Robert Elrod. It's not uncommon for a winner to take several weeks to come to Austin to claim the prize, he said. We would like to know who it is, said Shuju Feng, who operates the Hand
Nov 14, 2006, 8:16 am - Lottery News

Texas Lottery hits new sales recordNews Story
Scratch-offs are biggest chunk of $3.77 billion, as Lotto Texas' popularity drops Officials with the Texas Lottery Commission took a gamble on scratch-off games a few years ago and, according to the latest figures, the bet's paid off: The agency's overall ticket sales rose to $3.77 billion in fiscal 2006, the highest total in the agency's history, with most of the increase coming from the games that provide immediate gratification. The big growth is in the scratch-offs, said Robert Heith
Sep 27, 2006, 11:37 am - Lottery News

Texas Lottery makes contingency plans for takeoverNews Story
The Texas Lottery Commission began laying the groundwork Wednesday to take over the $95 million-a-year operation historically carried out by a private corporation in the event that the state is no longer satisfied with its work. Officials made clear that the prospect of the lottery severing its 14-year relationship with Rhode Island-based Gtech Corp. was highly remote. But they also expressed deep concerns over recent reports that the gaming giant, which is soon to be sold to the Italian f
Aug 18, 2006, 3:15 pm - Lottery News