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Lottery ticket scam costs victim $19,000News Story
Includes video report Haines City police are looking for the pair who used the promise of a Florida Lotto payoff to scam a man out of $19,000. According to investigators, they met the victim at a Family Dollar store. Police released surveillance video of the three men together. The men told the 42-year-old victim they had a winning lottery ticket worth $750,000, but they said they couldn't claim it because they're not here legally. They told him if he gave them $19,000 cash, they would
May 7, 2017, 12:05 pm - Lottery News

Pennsylvania eyes leap to internet for casinos, lotteryNews Story
Facing huge deficits, Pennsylvania could become the first state to allow both its casinos and lottery to take its games online in a quest for money from new and younger players. The state government has a slew of fiscal challenges, made worse by sluggish tax collections and one of the nation's oldest average populations. A Republican-controlled Legislature trying to avoid a broad tax increase under Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has instead turned over other rocks in search of alternatives. Ther
Apr 24, 2017, 9:15 am - Lottery News

Bill allowing Oklahoma Lottery to increase prizes heads to the Senate floorNews Story
A bill moving through the Oklahoma statehouse would allow the state's lottery to increase prizes in hopes of generating more dollars for schools and boost the payout to education by about $100 million over the next five years. For years, lottery officials have asked lawmakers to let them plug more dollars into prizes in hopes it would increase participation and add more money to educational coffers. And for years, lawmakers balked. But this year, faced with a huge budget hole, lawmakers
Apr 17, 2017, 11:18 am - Lottery News

Are lawmakers selling the Texas Lottery short?News Story
Scratch-off lottery tickets are big business in Texas. They raise billions for state coffers and are so popular that as many as 95 new scratch-off games are introduced here each year, making up a sizable chunk of overall Texas Lottery sales, officials say. But lottery officials are worried they will have to cut back on the variety of scratch-offs offered and on the advertising that promotes the games now that Texas budget writers are considering cutting as much as $18 million from the agen
Apr 13, 2017, 8:39 am - Lottery News

Lawsuit alleges Illinois lottery contractor cheated players, vendorsNews Story
A company hired to manage the Illinois Lottery cheated players and lottery vendors by misrepresenting the odds of winning scratch-off games, a class-action lawsuit in federal court alleges. The case, originally filed last month in St. Clair County Court, was removed last week to federal court in the Southern District of Illinois. The lead plaintiffs are Raqqa Inc., which operates Fairview Lounge, a bar, convenience mart and gas station at 10610 Lincoln Trail in Fairview Heights; and Michael C
Mar 13, 2017, 8:07 am - Lottery News

Battle over Florida Lottery contract goes to courtNews Story
A Florida judge must decide if the administration of Gov. Rick Scott broke the law when the state lottery approved a contract worth over $700 million. Attorneys for the Florida Lottery and House Speaker Richard Corcoran squared off in court on Monday for several hours. Judge Karen Gievers did not immediately rule. Corcoran sued the state's lottery secretary last month, arguing the contract with IGT Global Solutions to run lottery games is illegal because it exceeds the Florida Lottery's au
Mar 6, 2017, 4:09 pm - Lottery News

US lottery operators worry as fewer millennials line up to playNews Story
Young Americans are showing less interest in buying lotto tickets than their parents, prompting lottery officials to worry about the odds for future growth. While overall ticket sales rose 9 percent last year versus 2015, the number of millennials adults in their late teens to early 30s who play is falling. That is creating consternation among leaders of the industry, which generates $80 billion in annual revenue, more than the combined U.S. sales of movie tickets, music and concerts.
Feb 10, 2017, 11:36 am - Lottery News

Oregon man finds $1 million lottery ticket 8 days before it expiredNews Story
An Oregon man recently discovered a year-old winning lotto ticket in his home office that he was cleaning, according to the Oregon Lottery. Amazingly, the lucky man Joemel Panisa found the ticket just eight days before it expired, the Oregon Lottery said in a news release on Wednesday. The ticket was worth $1 million. Panisa was able to claim the ticket just in the nick of time, and he is officially now the fourth Mega Millions $1 million winner from Oregon since the game was offered in th
Jan 12, 2017, 5:24 pm - Lottery News

19-year-old Massachusetts man hits lifetime lottery jackpotNews Story
What could be better than getting an Xbox or a new car for Christmas? For one 19-year-old Barre, Massachusetts, resident, the answer is a gift that will keep on giving. Zachary Pearson became the ninth grand prize winner in the Massachusetts State Lottery's $1,000 a Week for Life instant game after he received lottery tickets for Christmas and used the winnings to purchase more, including the grand prize winner, according to the Massachusetts State Lottery. The winning lottery ticket was p
Jan 3, 2017, 9:21 pm - Lottery News

Chicago mayor toyed with idea of city-only lotteryNews Story
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has toyed with the concept of establishing a city lottery to help ease the city's financial woes and, while the idea has not progressed, it could get backing from at least one key Democrat in Springfield. That's one of the better nuggets buried in the trove of private emails that Emanuel was forced to release just before Christmas under pressure from a Better Government Association lawsuit. The May 5, 2015, email came from former Illinois Lottery Director Michael
Dec 28, 2016, 11:49 am - Lottery News