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Powerball sales brisk for tonight's $137 million drawingNews Story
Visions of money stacks are dancing in the heads of Powerball players who recall the $314 million Christmas Day jackpot won by a West Virginia man last year.This year's holiday week drawing is on Christmas Eve and has fueled a spike in Powerball ticket purchases. I think people are out there spending their money left and right and there's always that little glimmer of hope that this will be a wonderful Christmas, said Mark Kempton, manager of Eddy's, a Council Bluffs gas station. It would make
Dec 24, 2003, 7:03 am - Lottery News

$100 million jackpot boosts demand for lottery ticketsNews Story
Abel Ybarra looks at the $1 Mega Millions lottery ticket that he purchased Monday night as an investment, not a waste of money.Just like the stock market, you keep putting money in until you make a nice profit, Ybarra said, as he held his ticket outside the Supertrak convenience store in east Arlington. Buying cigarettes and beer is wasting money, said Ybarra, a warehouse inventory worker. If I win, I would have become a millionaire on a $1 investment. State lottery officials expect 3 million
Dec 23, 2003, 5:32 am - Lottery News

Multi-state jackpots could bring holiday cheerNews Story
Just in time for the holidays, the nation's two multi-state lottery games have jackpots that have grown to thresholds that usually produce frenzied buying.The Mega Millions game, played in eleven states, now has a jackpot of $100 million dollars for Tuesday night's drawing.The Powerball game, played in 24 states, Washington D.C., and the Virgin Islands, is now sporting a top prize of $137 million dollars for Wednesday's drawing.If all this seems eerily familiar, that may be because last December
Dec 22, 2003, 6:18 am - Lottery News

Mega Millions boosts Texas lottery salesNews Story
Lottery ticket sales have increased an average of 30 percent since Texas joined the multistate lottery Mega Millions two weeks ago, state officials said Thursday.But the increase accompanied an advertising push to promote the new game. Lottery officials cautioned that more time is needed to determine the long-term impact of Mega Millions on existing games.The two-week revenue on overall lottery ticket sales increased from an average of $56 million before Mega Millions to $65 million during the p
Dec 19, 2003, 3:18 am - Lottery News

Tennessee game has border stops ready to cash inNews Story
Some stores plan to expand; 1st lottery outlets at state lineJust 60 days to the opening of the Tennessee lottery, and the folks who own the Chevron station in Ardmore right at Exit 1 on Interstate 65 will be ready: They plan to tear down the building and put up a larger one with better parking and more counter space.And all that should be done in time for the first tickets to be sold on Feb. 10, as they will be across the state, said Rhonda Mills, a store employee.Tennessee is setting up its fi
Dec 19, 2003, 3:10 am - Lottery News

AT&T fixes problem that stalled lotteryNews Story
The AT T phone problem that affected Maryland Lottery machines and some long-distance customers on Monday was resolved around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, AT T spokesman Dave Johnson said.The problem, which shut down 329 lottery machines in Washington County for most of Monday, was caused when snow melted and froze on an AT T microwave tower outside Hagerstown, Johnson said.Callers experiencing problems encountered a fast busy signal or a recording saying all circuits were busy and to try later, Johnson s
Dec 10, 2003, 7:16 am - Lottery News

Phone trouble halts MD lottery sales for 6 hoursNews Story
On Monday, lottery players were having a hard time getting clerks to take their money.That's because 329 lottery machines were down in Washington County for about six hours because of a problem with AT T phone lines, according to Maryland Lottery spokesman Brian Johnson and AT T spokesman Dave Johnson.Snow that melted and froze on an AT T microwave tower outside Hagerstown probably was the culprit that caused the lottery machines to go down, a problem that also affected some long-distance caller
Dec 9, 2003, 7:55 am - Lottery News

Texas Mega Millions sales off to a good startNews Story
If the lines Wednesday at the luckiest store in Texas were any indication, lottery players were ready for the state's first day of ticket sales in the multistate Mega Millions game. I don't know the new game; I don't know how it's played, but I'm going to give it a try, said Manuel Franco, a 55-year-old customer from Mexico who said he had won $70,000 at the South Texas store. I didn't think it was going to be popular, but it's blowing up, said Oby Martinez, manager at Town Country Lottery
Dec 4, 2003, 5:57 am - Lottery News

Texas Mega Millions Sales Begin TodayNews Story
For Texas Lottery lovers, there's a whole new ball game today.Beginning at 6 a.m., tickets were going on sale for Mega Millions, Texas' first foray into high-stakes, multistate lotteries.While chances for Mega Millions and the traditional Lotto Texas cost the same $1 the odds of winning the new game are much lower.But with the additional risk comes the lure of a substantially higher jackpot a minimum of $10 million, compared with Lotto Texas' $4 million minimum. People who play the lottery like
Dec 3, 2003, 5:50 am - Lottery News

Lottery buffs fear impact on Lotto TexasNews Story
There's a new buzzword these days at the Texas Lottery Commission: cannibalization.It's being used to describe how much the new Mega Millions multi-state lottery will eat away at the sales of the 11-year-old favorite, Lotto Texas.For the first time Wednesday, people will be able to buy a chance at the Mega Millions jackpot in Texas. There are people out there ready to step up first thing in the morning, people that are motivated by high jackpots, said Reagan Greer, executive director of the com
Dec 3, 2003, 5:31 am - Lottery News