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Massachusetts Lottery Congratulates Itself for 40 Years of Failure
The Massachusetts Lottery is throwing itself a State House party to tout its 40th anniversary even though it has been a failed public policy by nearly every measure. How has the Massachusetts Lottery failed over the past four decades? It… Read more
“The Sucker Index” released by Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News released a brand new “Sucker Index” today. Bloomberg Rankings created the Sucker Index with 2010 data from the US Census and annual reports from state lottery commissions. The total dollar amount of prizes awarded was subtracted from ticket… Read more
FOX Business Network calls out Verifone CEO about the state lottery on national TV
The CEO of a company that provides the technology enabling state lotteries to sell lottery tickets right at America’s gas pumps and inside taxi cabs was challenged about their service in an interview on the FOX Business Network today. Recently,… Read more
The “Lottery Casino” concept: a microcosm for how predatory gambling interests try to skirt the law
Here’s a new twist to promoting gambling. Georgia has long resisted any efforts to introduce casinos to that state. A developer has proposed a bold new lottery casino, complete with a high rise hotel, large theater, and a game floor… Read more
Virginia Lottery’s bait and switch
From The Virginian-Pilot on the big fraud of government’s predatory gambling program: Virginia’s lottery receipts are supposed to boost funding for schools. Instead, the annual $450 million goes everywhere but. A quarter-century ago, Virginians approved a state lottery on the… Read more
Lottery Sales Rise to Record as Cash-Hungry States Search for More Revenue
While severe income inequality continues to worsen here in America, below is an excellent report from Bloomberg News on our government’s primary response to this major challenge: Facing growing unemployment, record home foreclosures, declining tax revenue and an annual budget… Read more
“You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”.
Somerville, Massachusetts artist Edie Bresler presents her month-long participatory installation “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”. Bresler’s installation is at the Inside-Out Davis Square Art Windows located on Elm St between Dover and Day St. The Installation focuses on… Read more
Government official personally thanked those who were scamming the Lottery for propping up flat sales
As if there was not a mountain of evidence already showing how government’s predatory gambling program is a major failure, along comes another damning news report. Andrea Estes of The Boston Globe has a must-read account about how the Massachusetts… Read more
Oregon: Welcome to the International House of Lottery
At a time when many state governments are relentlessly pushing highly predatory forms of gambling to its citizens, Oregon may claim the title as the biggest predator. To point out just one of many examples, it is virtually impossible to… Read more
Lotteries are now running ads to teach citizens how to play lottery games
One publicly-stated reason why government got into the predatory gambling business in the first place was “citizens are doing it anyway so we may as well capture that money.” The evidence is indisputable, however, that government has turned a nation… Read more
States Looking to Open Lottery Retailer in Your Home
An article in this Sunday’s New York Times highlights the growing pressure from legislators and predatory gambling interests to legalize Internet gambling: from online lottery subscriptions to poker and other games of chance. These interests play upon the traditional image… Read more
Hard times are great for state lotteries
In the fiscal year that ended June 30, California Lottery sales rose $400 million, or 13 percent, joining a long list of states that saw sales increases, including Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Texas. Scratch ticket sales helped fuel California’s… Read more
Cash Win-Fail
This weekend’s excellent reporting from The Boston Globe’s Andrea Estes and Scott Allen revealed a “quirk in the rules” on a lottery game in Massachusetts called Cash WinFall. They found that the game had been exploited by a few bettors,… Read more
More evidence why government needs to get out of the gambling business
False promises. Predatory practices. Deeper levels of personal debt. Expendable citizens. There is perhaps no present government policy that emits a more wretched stench of failure than government’s policy of predatory gambling. Here is the most recent evidence in what… Read more
Connecticut citizen leader acts to reveal state lottery’s predatory practices
The Hartford Courant’s Rick Green, one of America’s elite journalists on the failed policy of predatory gambling, has an excellent column about a citizen effort in Connecticut led by Adam Osmond, a former lottery agent who has filed a series… Read more
State-sponsored gambling wildly exceeds the kind of gambling offered by local bookies
A common misperception among some public officials around the country is the idea that if government was not in the predatory gambling business, all of the extreme forms of gambling being promoted today would be available at the local bookie… Read more
Transparency Needed at Massachusetts Lottery
The Boston Globe reported over the weekend about how the Massachusetts Lottery is pursuing a very aggressive goal of $1 billion in profits by launching new raffle-style games and selling tickets to jumbo drawings like Mega Millions through hundreds of… Read more
Another example of the failed policy of state lotteries
This week, a Houston TV station reported that while the Texas Lottery’s sales have doubled since 1998, the percentage of lottery proceeds going to education has dropped by 10% over the same period. In addition, the size of jackpot prizes… Read more
Yale’s Carter on why state-run lotteries are bad for taxpayers, the poor, casinos, and bettors
Yale Law School’s Stephen Carter has a terrific column on the state lottery. Carter writes: “Why on earth do we allow the government to hold a monopoly on the very profitable (if rather disgusting) business of persuading the suffering to… Read more
The answer is Yes
The District of Columbia Lottery, whose advertising represents the daily voice of government to citizens living in the nation’s capital, just launched another TV ad in its “Do you need a lottery intervention?” series. Check out the ad here and… Read more
State’s take of Lottery profits continues to get smaller and smaller
Chris Joyner of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reveals how less and less money from the Georgia Lottery is going to its stated goals of funding college scholarships and early childhood ed – further evidence that lotteries are a failed policy. Check… Read more
Some legislators are questioning one of government’s biggest policy failures of the last fifty years
The Oklahoma State Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday killed an amendment to abolish the state lottery while at the same time, the committee advanced the measure it was attached to banning the Oklahoma Lottery Commission from using children in advertisements…. Read more
Professional lottery ticket cashers provide a window into another reason why state lotteries are a failed public policy
The Boston Herald’s Hillary Chabot breaks a major story this morning about the prevalance of “professional lottery ticket cashers.” These individuals hand in multiple winning lottery tickets given to them by people who want to avoid back taxes, evade child… Read more
Children don’t belong in state lottery ads
An Oklahoma legislator is moving ahead with a bill that would prevent the lottery in that state from using kids in its advertising. The Oklahoma Lottery Commission last year had a series of advertisements featuring children in them. Most recently,… Read more
Statistician who cracks the lottery scratch ticket system: “There is nothing random about the lottery”
2011 has been a rough year so far for the predatory gambling operators. First, 60 Minutes spotlighted slot machines on national television and now the February edition of Wired Magazine has a must-read story titled “Cracking the Scratch Lottery Code”… Read more
Georgia’s “Education” Lottery Proving to Be Hopeless
The New York Times ran a major story on Friday about the tenuous future of the Hope Scholarship program- a merit-based college scholarship program funded by the financial losses of Georgia’s working poor. The money gets redistributed thanks to the… Read more
Where does the $330 million “jackpot” come from?
As the media loses its normal sense of sobriety as tonight’s MegaMillions drawing nears, one important question remains unanswered amid all the news coverage: where does the $330 million “jackpot” come from? It all comes from money that has been lost by other Americans,… Read more
The facts clearly prove the North Carolina Lottery is a failed public policy
In yet another expose about how the government program of predatory gambling is a failed public policy, The Winston-Salem Journal (NC) editorial board unmasks the North Carolina Lottery Here it is: The looming state budget crisis that threatens to land a staggering… Read more
Blizzard shuts down nearly all of state government but the Lottery sleds on
Across the northeast today, government leaders have declared a state of emergency as a massive blizzard roars through the region. All nonemergency state and city workers were ordered to stay home. Yet despite the severe blizzard, at least one government… Read more
Oregon Lottery’s holiday advertising campaign sinks to new low
The Oregon Lottery is running a new ad campaign this holiday season, “What’s in Santa’s Beard?“ It adds more momentum to the emerging national push to stop lottery advertising and end its exemption from truth-in-advertising laws. Look at the ads below… Read more
Report shows N.C. lottery sales thrive in the state’s poorest counties
A new report from NC Policy Watch shows that North Carolina lottery sales tend to be higher per capita in counties where poverty is also high. Read the full story here. Of the $1.4 billion spent on the lottery tickets… Read more
Arkansas Lottery director scolded by legislators
From Arkansas News: An Arkansas state audit has revealed a variety of deficiencies in how the Arkansas lottery is being run, and one legislator told the lottery director he “would be gone” if he led any other state agency. Members… Read more
Profiting by pushing their fans into deeper debt
Officials from the four major professional sports franchises in the Boston area – the Red Sox, the Patriots, the Celtics and the Bruins – gathered together yesterday to heap praise on their business partnership with the State Lottery to sell… Read more
How the daily voice of government wants us to change the world
The ad below from the Washington Lottery asks us “whose world can you change? Every bird should get a chance to fly.” One out of five of Americans now think the best way to achieve financial security is to play… Read more
Soaking the Lottery Class and the Investor Class
Below is yet another example of the daily voice of government to most Americans, this time from the North Carolina “Education” Lottery. Today, one out of five Americans believe the best way to achieve long-term financial security is to play… Read more
Integrity and lotteries are mutually exclusive
A Florida woman is suing the Florida Lottery over its refusal to pay a $500,000 prize on an allegedly misprinted ticket. Ann Marie Curcio received the $20 ticket from her husband for Mother’s Day in 2007. But when they tried… Read more
Swindling the Lottery Class for every last dollar
Lottery players across the United States purchasing Powerball tickets with the Power Play option will have a chance to increase their “winnings” by ten times starting May 1. But like everything connected with the government program of predatory gambling, there is… Read more
Goldman Sachs and the Las Vegas ethic
Many policy makers and members of the news media regularly draw on images of “casino” capitalism, which is front and center again as controversy swirls around Goldman Sachs. The critique is implicit in the image/metaphor. But they rarely apply the same scrutiny… Read more
The state lottery business plan in its full glory
The California Lottery announced yesterday it is increasing the prize pool for the scratch tickets it sells to increase its profits. Higher prize pool (i.e. payout percentage) = more people win = more people put their winnings back into scratch… Read more
Thrill-seeking dreamers
While states like Massachusetts are hotly debating whether to bring casinos into their states, the Orlando Sentinel has a story about another major element to the government program of predatory gambling: the Lottery. The Florida Lottery “has shelled out millions”… Read more
The reality of how much public funding actually comes from lotteries
Rachel Norton, a San Francisco School Board member, recently wrote an excellent post on why the Lottery has failed as a public policy: “…I was chagrined to read in the PAC/PPS report that more than a few people are still… Read more
Florida reporter exposes the Lottery’s highly predatory practices
Reporter Lindsay Peterson of The Tampa Tribune wrote one of the best investigative stories on the lottery that has appeared anywhere in America in recent years. Read it here. Some of the story’s highlights include: “The state pays millions to… Read more
Lotteries are part of government and not a private business
Georgia lawmakers are pushing the Georgia Lottery Corp. to end its practice of handing out bonuses when teachers and state workers experience furloughs and no salary increases. The Georgia Lottery handed out nearly $3 million in bonuses to its staffers… Read more
First-rate reporting on the Lottery as a predatory institution
Pam Zubeck of the Colorado Spring Independent writes a terrific story this week on the Colorado Lottery. Zubeck writes: “In 2008, Carnegie Mellon University looked into why the jackpot dream seems particularly attractive to people with low incomes. Researchers found… Read more
Who really buys lottery tickets at airports?
Wayne County Airport Authority officials say a newly approved contract to sell state lottery products at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport will generate more revenue for the airport. The officials said contracts approved Tuesday will allow travelers to play instant lottery… Read more
Lottery items belong next to other examples of injustice from American history
The Kentucky Historical Society is adding some early items of the 20-year-old Kentucky Lottery to its collection. Here is an excerpt from the Louisville Courier Journal story: “We are trying to be pro-active in collecting materials that people see today… Read more
The New Grinch
The Illinois Lottery is launching a new campaign to encourage people to buy lottery scratch tickets this holiday season. The campaign encourages people to “Joy Someone” by giving special holiday scratch-offs to the unsung heroes in their lives. Central to… Read more
Who stands for the children of the Lottery Class?
Education advocates are pressing the Oregon Lottery Commission to reduce what they say are overly generous payouts to bars and taverns that host the state’s video gambling machines. Stand for Children and other groups say the lottery has provided excessive… Read more
The government program that profits from addicted and heavily indebted people
The Tennessee lottery is attempting to add the Mega Millions game to its lineup and will vote next Monday on the proposal. Rebecca Hargrove, CEO and president of the Tennessee Education Lottery Corp. said new innovations aren’t a reaction to… Read more
Innovative at pushing people into even deeper levels of debt
Margaret DeFrancisco, Georgia Lottery Corp. president and CEO, was selected to be the next president of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) this week. She will serve a one-year term in addition to her current role… Read more
Expanding the Lottery Class in Massachusetts
Massachusetts announced this week residents will be able to buy Powerball tickets as a result of a new agreement allowing the multistate lottery game to be offered in the state. Because Powerball and Mega Millions drawings are held on different… Read more
The only party that benefits from the Lottery are the people who own and promote the Lottery
The New York Daily News reports this morning about Curtis Sharp, winner of a large NY lottery jackpot back in 1982. For a time, Sharp was the most famous lottery winner in America courtesy of the NY Lottery which used… Read more
A police escort for scratch tickets?
Most states are facing severe budget problems yet in Arkansas, the State Lottery Director just paid for a police escort for a truckload of new scratch tickets. Read the story here. How can any reasonable person, from whatever place on… Read more
Protect and serve is now the responsibility of Florida grocery clerks
In yet another example of how extreme our nation has become in promoting state-sponsored predatory gambling, the Florida Lottery is installing free standing lottery scratch ticket machines and will put the responsibility of preventing children from buying the tickets on… Read more
Texas Lottery using back door efforts to expand predatory gambling
The Texas Lottery is considering some rule changes that will make the Lottery even more predatory. The proposed rule changes would allow retailers to sell what essentially amount to electronic scratch off tickets. Called “terminally printed instant tickets,” these games… Read more
An Inconvenient Truth About Lottery Funding
Today’s Denver Post has an interview with Lise Aangeenbrug, Executive Director of Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO). GOCO receives 50% of the proceeds from the Colorado Lottery and invests it in open space, parks and wildlife habitats. The Lottery is its… Read more
But does she use the product frequently?
Cleveland lawyer Kathleen Burke was announced yesterday as the new executive director of the Ohio Lottery Commission. Burke’s background “in litigation with high financial stakes should help her on the job.” She steps in just as efforts get under way… Read more
New York Giants (and the NFL) make a giant mistake
The New York Daily News reports the New York Giants football team has agreed to place the Connecticut Lottery’s logo on their practice jerseys as part of a contractual agreement that will also put the Giants logo on a $5… Read more
It depends how you define integrity, Minnesota
Six store clerks pled guilty in Minnesota yesterday after trying to cash for themselves what they thought were winning lottery tickets presented by undercover customers. The pleas “send a clear message to retailers to maintain integrity in these games,” says… Read more
It would not have been “difficult” for Horace Mann
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley said yesterday the decision to cut the state’s Lottery advertising budget was a “difficult” one. Maryland uses lottery revenues to help fund public education. Consider how the father of America’s system of public education, Horace Mann,… Read more
The daily voice of government to most Americans
A central message of President Obama’s inaugural address was there are no shortcuts to success in America: “In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never… Read more
The Tarheel Scheme
Bernie Madoff must be sitting in his North Carolina jail cell saying to himself that he went into the wrong business. Yesterday, the Legislature in his new home state voted in support of allowing state lottery tickets to be sold at check… Read more
How the Texas Lottery makes more money from fewer players
According to a demographic study performed at the request of the Texas Lottery Commission, the percentage of Texans playing lottery games continues to decrease. After hitting a high water mark of 71% of Texans playing the lottery in 1997, that… Read more
Break the Chains
Below is a recent ad by the Colorado Lottery that shows the government program of predatory gambling in its full glory and is an example of how it has created two classes of people in America: the Investor Class and… Read more