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Identical winning numbers crop up in hundreds of U.S. lotteries. Are the drawings really random?News Story
By Jason Clayworth America's popular and lucrative lottery drawings, in which computers randomly select numbers that turn a lucky few into instant millionaires, may not be as random as they seem. In dozens of the games across the United States, identical winning numbers have been generated within weeks or months of each other sometimes in consecutive drawings, a Des Moines Register investigation shows. Lottery officials, even some who have previously acknowledged concern with the nation
Jan 31, 2019, 11:49 am - Lottery News

Iowa lottery lawsuit granted class action, affecting 7.2 million tickets in 19 statesNews Story
By Jason Clayworth A judge has granted class-action status in a lawsuit that claims people who purchased at least 7.2 million lottery tickets in 19 states were scammed by a former national lottery IT director who worked in Iowa. Eddie Tipton, the former IT director for the Multi-State Lottery Association in Urbandale, added a secret code to random number-generating computer software in 2005 that allowed him to narrow the drawing's winning odds from as great as 5 million to 1 down to 200 to
Jan 28, 2019, 10:24 am - Lottery News

CT Lottery chief questioned by lawmakers over mishaps, computerized drawingsNews Story
By Jon Lender State lawmakers grilled Connecticut Lottery Corp. officials Thursday at a legislative hearing about long-running controversies including their alleged retaliation against former lottery security chief Alfred W. DuPuis, who says he was the victim of a vendetta for raising questions in 2015 about the fraud-plagued 5 Card Cash game, and their alleged lack of cooperation with the state Department of Consumer Protection that regulates them. On top of that, Rep. Joe Verrengia, D-We
Jan 25, 2019, 9:10 am - Lottery News

Lawyers seek to depose lottery fraud mastermind in prisonNews Story
Lawyers pursuing a class-action lawsuit on behalf of lottery customers nationwide are seeking to interview the jailed insider who allegedly rigged jackpots for himself and others for years. The lawyers said in a court filing Friday they want to take the deposition of Eddie Tipton at the prison in Clarinda, Iowa, to gather information for their case against the Multi-State Lottery Association. Judge Michael Huppert recently granted class-action status to the case, which involves customers w
Jan 21, 2019, 8:50 pm - Lottery News

WV Lottery not backing online gaming law this sessionNews Story
West Virginia Lottery officials will back two bills intended to increase revenue, but do not plan to pursue legalization of online gaming this session, Lottery Director John Myers told the House Finance Committee Friday. We certainly see the opportunity in iGaming, he said. We fully intend to come back with that at some point. Online gaming, or iGaming, can run the gamut from being able to able to buy tickets for Lottery drawings or scratch-off games online, to sports betting apps, to on
Jan 16, 2019, 1:02 pm - Lottery News

DOJ reverses 2011 opinion of the Wire Act; legal online gaming in questionNews Story
The U.S. Department of Justice's legal counsel office reversed a 2011 opinion that the Federal Wire Act applies only to sports betting, potentially throwing the small U.S. Internet gaming market into question. A 23-page opinion is dated Nov. 2, 2018 but became public Monday. Justice Department attorneys said they have, Based on the plain language of the issue, we reach a different result from the 2011 opinion of the 1961 Act. While the Wire Act is not a model of artful drafting, we conclu
Jan 14, 2019, 8:15 pm - Lottery News

Connecticut Lottery considering switch to computerized drawingsNews Story
Apparently new CEO looking to make things even worse at beleaguered lottery By Jon Lender The Connecticut Lottery Corp. (CLC) is quietly examining possible changes to the drawing procedures by which it selects winning numbers in its various games from the daily Play 3 game on up and one option under consideration is to discontinue live TV drawings that have been broadcast on local stations since 1977. Another option could be that, in addition to taking the drawings off TV, the lottery w
Dec 30, 2018, 10:04 am - Lottery News

Investigation finds lottery scamming Tipton brothers have repaid virtually nothingNews Story
By Jason Clayworth and Rachel Denny Clow Two brothers who spearheaded the biggest lottery scam in U.S. history have repaid less than $1,400 in restitution despite owning property worth nearly $2 million, a Des Moines Register and Corpus Christi Caller Times investigation has found. Between them, Eddie and Tommy Tipton have admitted rigging winning drawings in at least five states, including Iowa, worth a combined $24 million. But they have barely made a dent in the more than $2.4 millio
Dec 27, 2018, 8:52 am - Lottery News

Class action over 'mesmerizing' video lottery terminals in Canada moves forwardNews Story
An intriguing court case that alleges Crown-owned video lottery terminals are inherently deceptive and violate the Criminal Code has reached a critical milestone in Newfoundland and Labrador. And the outcome of the case could have implications for VLT gaming across Canada. The Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal has cleared the way for a class-action lawsuit to go ahead, rejecting arguments for dismissal from the Atlantic Lottery Corp., which operates in all four Atlantic Provinces.
Dec 17, 2018, 9:42 am - Lottery News

Iowa Lottery seeks to allow use of electronic cash and gamesNews Story
The Iowa Lottery will ask state lawmakers in January to allow them to modernize their operations making it easier for customers to purchase and play lottery products electronically. Iowa Lottery spokesperson, Mary Neubauer says they've been talking about the issue for ten years or more. Things have now reached such a tipping point that we at the lottery truly believe it is our fiduciary responsibility to tell the public and lawmakers that with the ongoing trends in retail that we are seeing,
Dec 13, 2018, 8:15 am - Lottery News