Includes audio report
The Maryland Lottery hopes to have its online lottery sales platform up and running by January 1, 2013.
Lottery Director Stephen Martino tells WBAL Radio that the Maryland legislature approved $500-thousand for the lottery to start up the program and hire some additional staff.
Martino says the time has come for Internet lottery sales in Maryland.
"We just think this is a way that people are doing business and commerce is moving. You can buy practically anything on the Internet. It just seems logical," says Martino.
He says Illinois just launched its Internet lottery sales program and about a dozen other states are looking at such programs.
"In no place where an Internet lottery platform has been launched has there been a decline in retail commissions or retail sales at traditional lottery retailers," says Martino.
All the traditional lottery games would be sold online in Maryland.
Martino says interested players would set up an account where officials would verify that the player is 18-years-old and legally able to purchase a ticket.
He believes that allowing Internet sales will help boost the number of players in Maryland.
"Internet is attracting a new customer. It is not cannibalizing from the current customer base. So people who have been used to going to the retailer to play their numbers or buy their tickets are going to continue to do that," says Martino.
AUDIO: Maryland Lottery Director Stephen Martino speaks about online lottery sales
I find it very hard to believe that online sales won't have an impact on retail sales at traditional lottery retailers. Martino says "In no place . . ." has this happened, but only one state has done it so far, and that hasn't been for very long. Give it time.
You should have to go to a retailer to set up your acct.
after that any ticket you buy online would be counted as sold by that retailer.
i would still go out to get mine, but it would be convenient if for some reason i could not get to the store.
I can watch my TV and bet the ponies, but i still go to the race track.
Retailers will flip out, granted there still be a lot of store sales, I mean there are those that can"t even fill out a playslip........but the internet......................
That only makes sense from a retailer POV, but not from the lottery or lottery player POV. One can buy lottery tickets at Lottery HQ and if they win big, no retailer gets a cut. So online is same...it cuts out the middleman. Besides, I would not want to set up and share my SSN and bank account details on anybody elses computer. So that is a bad idea haymaker.
I like the setup just the way it is...no need to complicate the matter in the interest of some retailer getting a cut. So since you proposed this idea, please tell me what would happen for lottery players in cases where the retailer they set their account up with gets banned from selling lottery tickets? See that is just one bad idea since it would not only affect the retailer, but also all those who setup accounts with that retailer.
not sure how it would work since my state has not offered it,
but you,re right no one is getting my ssn.
If Washington State ever goes the route of online sales, I would be one who would quickly switch most, if not all, of my ticket sales to online. I'm retired, so it would be very convenient to just sit home and buy my tickets rather than to have to drive the three miles to the nearest outlet. They'd sell more tickets to me, too, as there are many times (twice in the last two weeks) that I just skipped buying tickets when I didn't have any other reason to go to the store. But I suspect those people who can readily stop by a retail outlet on their way to or from work might not be as easily affected by such a change.
It will be interesting to see how fast other states jump on the online bandwagon.
I'm sure that Iowa will go online in the near future.The gals at the Iowa lottery are just crazy about computers and everything electronic.Especially Twitter & Farcebook.They're always running contests for their Twitter & Farcebook fans.
You can buy lottery tickets online and at lottery retailers in most European countries mainly the UK. Lottery players use both in England. I do not understand why USA lotteries are so slow to embrace the Internet relative to European countries.
"You should have to go to a retailer to set up your acct."
Where did you read such a thing?
Lottery players set up their accounts online from the comfort of their homes. I feel that they will follow the European countries model to sell lottery tickets online. They have been selling lottery tickets online successfully for a long time. I think that Illinois followed the England model.
Just because "the Europeans" do something doesn't necessarily make it a good idea.
They're a bunch of frigging socialists over there.
You can't even point toy guns at people in France.
Englishmen never brush their teeth.
You want that kind of stuff spreading over here?
Targetting the younger generation?
Parents tell your credit cards to run for cover!
"Where did you read such a thing?"
He didn't. That was his opinion, indicated by the use of the word "should".
Don't worry, Thrifty, I'm sure New York will have online play set up by the end of the year. They already have online subscriptions for MM and Lotto with PB coming soon, it won't be long before they take the next step and open up individual draws to online players.
There are some things that Europeans get wrong, and there are other things they get right. This is an example of the latter.
There's a whole big world out there. It wouldn't hurt to look beyond our nation's borders once in a while and see what we can learn from other people.
Illinois has online sales, state residents only, and you have to give them your social security number and a credit card number to play.
Considering major bansk, government agencies and others have been hacked I'd say at this point not for me.
Hacking into an online lottery website with SSANs and credit card numbers would be a hackers dream come true.
No thanks.
I'm not what is called an "early adopter" i'll see how it pans out.
You'd have to be some kind of stupid to put your social security number and credit card numbers on line with hackers all over the place looking to steal peoples identitys.
I am an Illinois resident and i set up a lottery subscription on-line. The Illinois Lottery already had my info so going on-line to buy Mega and IL Lotto tickets did not require me to enter the info again. your info is only entered once to set the account up. the good thing about it is, i dont have to worry about a lost ticket, someone claiming they are part owner of the ticket (office pool), or someone trying to steal the ticket or say i stole it from them. there is no physical ticket printed. you are emailed your number selection as well as the option to print a receipt of your purchase.
when you win, the process takes less time because they already have your info and dont have to investigate the legitimacy of the ticket and how you obtained it. worring about your ssn is an issue for some people. they are going to get it anyway when you win.
as far as retailers go, the internet will bring in new and current players, however, it will not stop people from purchasing from the retailer. playing on-line is an "option" not a replacement. i play both. As a matter of convience, i play on-line, as a matter of preference, i play at the gas station or local store. i work overnight and my not have time to stop in and get a ticket. the lines get long because of the last minute buyers. i just go on-line, buy a couple of tickets, and i am off to work. i love the on-line lottery and the retailer, it's just a matter of what you are in the mood for when playing.
p.s. the on-line is great when you have a sudden vision or a dream and want to play a number fresh in your head. jump on the computer or internet phone and play it right away.
Actually, Credit Cards, Debit Cards, And Checks Are Forms of Payment. If your financial institution gets hacked, that has nothing to do with your playing on-line. if a hacker does attack the lottery's computer, i doubt your info would just be sitting there waiting to be taken, but you never know. they had my info already from my subscription i bought on-line so it was just a matter of signing and buying tickets. I love it.
The Illinois lottery and the information they required was enough to let me know I will never play online. The informationt they required is more than enough for some hacker to steal your identity and God knows what else.
And as I mentioned before now that your winnings can be tracked there are going to be some people that are going to be slapped with some nice tax bills down the road that they were not expecting. Plus, I like supporting my local retailers.
I refuse to setup a Facebook account and that is nowhere near the levels of intrusiveness that the online lotteries require.
"I can watch my TV and bet the ponies, but i still go to the race track."
exactly!
They didn't say if the payouts will be the same as the offshore sites. So I wonder if this is only about being able purchase tickets online. The way the state budget is going here...
VenomV12,
I agree with you about Facebook. If there is a 'shadow government' out there or just a grouop of bad people in general, they don't even have to make any effort at all to assemble a dossier on people, they people are gladly providing it for them - on Facebook.
Lol, seriously. I can't believe people setup Facebook accounts and basically give all their information away, what they are doing, where they are going, who they are dating, everything and on top of that, for free. Facebook literally made the Feds and law enforcement's jobs ten times easier.
VenomV12,
Yup, all those things and more. Jobs blown because of a comment someone made on Facebook or because of what someone else said that a person said opn Favcebook, etc...
If, like in Europe, all winners remain anonymous, and there is no tax on lottery winnings, then I would have a lot less misgivings about online sales. However, I contend that buying your tickets on line just makes it that much harder to keep it a secret. I think hackers would immediately set about finding out whose computer the winning ticket was sold on.