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Big Game Adjusts Jackpot Upward to $117 Million; Heavy Sales Push Jackpot Higher. With the excitement growing in anticipation of Friday's Big Game drawing, forecasters today revised the estimated jackpot upward to $117 million. The adjusted jackpot shows how strong Big Game sales have been since Tuesday night's drawing did not produce a jackpot winner. That drawing did produce more than half a million winning tickets for prizes ranging from $1 to $150,000. Forecasters estimate the jackpot amount based on sales, because the actual jackpot amount is constantly changing. This jackpot has been building since February 5, 2002, when The Big Game had its most recent jackpot winner. The jackpot has now rolled 16 times without a winner.
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Lottery lines grow longer as Big Game jackpot grows fatter. Convenience store owners are reporting big business in lottery ticket sales this week because there were no winners in Tuesday's drawing, and the estimated jackpot for Friday is now $115 million.S.C. lottery ticket sales are double forecasts. South Carolina state lottery officials expected to sell $192 million in tickets during the game's first six months. They reached that figure in half the time.$26 million Powerball winner: No more work for me. A self-employed appliance repairman claimed a $26 million Powerball jackpot Tuesday, saying he would retire and take a long honeymoon with his fiance.New lottery game begins Sunday. A lottery game based on the 10-year-old Powerball game will premiere this weekend when tickets go on sale for Hot Lotto. Jackpots for the new game start at $1 million, and players also have the chance to win cash prizes ranging from $2 to $10,000, said West Virginia Lottery Director John Musgrave. The game will replace the Lottery's Rolldown game.Gaming foes drop suit against lottery. An anti-gambling group that sought to overturn the Oregon Lottery as unconstitutional has dropped its lawsuit pending before the state Supreme Court, the organization's lawyer said Monday.Hoosier Lottery Settles Lawsuit. The Hoosier Lottery and a group of retailers have agreed to pay The Indianapolis Star $110,000 in legal fees as part of a settlement over a public access lawsuit.Melbourne Man Waits Two Weeks to Claim Half Share of $25 Million Lotto Jackpot. After waiting for his attorney to return from vacation, a Melbourne man Tuesday claimed the remaining half of the $25 million jackpot from the March 16 Florida Lotto drawing. The other winning ticket for that drawing was claimed by Edward Kryzanekas of Palm Coast last week.Michigan man nabs $150,000 Big Game prize. Stefan Panovski of Shelby Township, Michigan received good news from one of his restaurant patrons last Saturday, who informed Panovski that The Big Game ticket he purchased for the March 29 drawing was a $150,000 winner.
Wednesday, April 3, 2002
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$115 million! There was no jackpot winner in the Tuesday drawing, sending the new Big Game jackpot to an incredible $115 million! Check out the Jackpot Analysis page to see what you'd actually bring home if you won.
9 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $150,000 prize: 2 in New Jersey, 1 in Georgia, 3 in Illinois, 2 in Massachusetts, and 1 in Michigan. For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Winning Combinations page.
Tuesday, April 2, 2002
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Don't forget to check back with us tonight at 11:00 PM Eastern Time for the live $92 million Big Game drawing results!Powerball turns 10 years old. Powerball marks its 10th anniversary this month, and operators of the mega-jackpot lottery game predict even bigger prizes in the future, perhaps hitting $400 million to $500 million.Lottery Spending Debate Set For This Week. A legislative conference committee this week will take up the question of how to spend South Carolina's profits from the state's newly formed Education Lottery.
Monday, April 1, 2002
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Big Game Adjusts Jackpot Upward Due to Amazing Sales; $92 Million and Still Growing. It's no April Fool's Day joke. Big Game excitement is growing at such a rate that forecasters today revised the estimated jackpot upward. It now stands at an estimated $92 million. The estimated annuity jackpot is a projection based on the sales of Big Game tickets since the last jackpot winner. It is an estimate because the actual jackpot amount is constantly changing, so when large numbers of people are playing, the jackpot grows at a much faster rate.
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Did you know that if a New Jersey resident wins The Big Game and selects the cash option, they will receive over $3 million more than if they won in Maryland? It's all in the state taxes. Check out that and more on our Jackpot Analysis page.Woman Loses Battle for Lottery Jackpot. A Canadian woman who bought a lottery ticket worth C$11.4 million ($7.2 million) won't pocket a penny, a judge ruled on Thursday. More: Widow's aide denied share of $11M lottery win.$150,000 VA Big Game ticket becomes worthless Wednesday night. The $150,000 Big Game winning ticket was purchased last October at the Farm Fresh on East Little Creek Road in Norfolk. It matched the first five numbers, not the Big Money Ball. The numbers to look for are 03 | 07 | 18 | 23 | 34. If you find the winning ticket, contact the Virginia Lottery by 5:00 PM Wednesday, April 3. All unclaimed Virginia Lottery prizes go to the state's Literary Fund.
Saturday, March 30, 2002
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The Big Game jackpot is now $90 million! There was no jackpot winner in the Friday drawing, but 4 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $150,000 prize: 2 in Illinois, 1 in Maryland, and 1 in Michigan. For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Winning Combinations page.
Friday, March 29, 2002
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Don't forget to check back with us tonight at 11:00 PM Eastern Time for the live $76 million Big Game drawing results!Michigan resident wins $150,000 Big Game prize. Michael Parski of Harrison Township, Michigan is $150,000 richer after matching the first five numbers in the March 19 Big Game drawing.$48.1 Million Powerball Ticket Sold in Louisiana. The winner of the $48.1 million Powerball jackpot now has to decide if they want the 25-year annuity or the $26 million cash option. The ticket holder will have 60 days after the ticket is validated to make that decision. Click over to Lottery Post for an interesting discussion about the cash vs. annuity choice.Andrew N.S. Glazer: House advantage grows with bets. A reader proposes the following theory: "I know the statistics say the house has an edge of only 1 to 2 percent, depending on the specific game and casino, but I submit the house edge in actual practice has to be much higher.... The house wins the great majority of the time, not 51 percent of the time. I have come to believe I am just a very unlucky gambler." Learn the real truth behind the slim casino edge.Rare treasure saved by Lottery grant. A rare amber cabinet just 12 inches high is to remain on Merseyside following a £500,000 lottery grant.Detroit wins big with casino deal. Detroit was hailed as a winner Tuesday in a new deal for permanent casinos that will give the city a much-needed cash windfall along with hotel rooms and a swath of riverfront land.Penn. Cash 5 winner expedites retirement. After winning $450,873 in the Pennsylvania Lottery, Charles Roberts said Wednesday he has moved up his retirement plans.Panel to tackle lottery spending. Six lawmakers from around South Carolina will decide how to divvy up $216 million expected from the first 18 months of state-sponsored gambling.Gold Ranch lottery winner used wedding, birth dates. California Lottery officials on Tuesday identified the purchasers of the third "SuperLotto Plus" ticket bought at Gold Ranch west of Reno that shares in the $87 million jackpot. Mark Eldredge, Reed Eldredge, Terry Eldredge, Jill Suess and David Eldredge will get the $14 million cash value of the jackpot, said California Lottery spokeswoman Norma Minas.
Thursday, March 28, 2002
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Nebraska lottery retailer cashes in on Wyoming, Colorado border locale. In eight years of lottery sales, Big Al's downtown store and Citgo gas station has sold $1.7 million worth of Powerball, Scratch, Pick 5 and Lotto tickets. In a town of 2,560 people, that is $671.70 spent on the lottery for every man, woman and child in town -- or $83.96 per person each of those eight years.Town officials get lottery warning. A town staff memo sent to all Hilton Head Island elected officials, committee appointees and notaries warns them that they risk losing their positions if they play the new South Carolina state lottery.Legislators look to change S.C. lottery rules. On the South Carolina legislative front, both the House and the Senate dealt with the lottery issue Tuesday. The Senate unanimously approved a joint resolution that would remove the lottery from the prohibition against public officials gambling.
Wednesday, March 27, 2002
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Winners of special California lottery drawing posted online. According to local news sources Californians sent in more than 2 million free entries to a special drawing intended to appease lottery players who were systematically sold California scratch-off tickets despite the fact that all the big prizes were already awarded. State officials held the drawing Friday at an Irvine warehouse to award $1 million in prizes ranging from $1,000 to $25,000.
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There was no jackpot winner in the Tuesday drawing, but 10 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $150,000 prize: 3 in New Jersey, 4 in Georgia, 2 in Illinois, and 1 in Massachusetts. For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Winning Combinations page.
Tuesday, March 26, 2002
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Don't forget to check back with us tonight at 11:00 PM Eastern Time for the live $66 million Big Game drawing results!Condon questions Powerball. An opinion from Attorney General Charlie Condon won't stop South Carolina from pursuing Powerball or other big-jackpot, multistate lottery games, S.C. Lottery Commission Chairman John C.B. Smith Jr. said Monday. Condon's nonbinding opinion, issued Monday, argues that the amendment says a lottery may be conducted "only by the state." Multistate games are run by an out-of-state conglomerate, he said. More: S.C. can't join in multistate lottery games, official says.Cracked ball forces second Cash 5 lottery drawing. A cracked lottery ball forced officials to hold a second drawing for the Pennsylvania Lottery's Cash 5 game Sunday night, a spokeswoman said.Lottery winning fireman tees-off to celebrate. A Liverpool-based fireman celebrated his jackpot Lottery win by going out to play a round of golf. Brian Swift, who lives in Bowring Park, was a member of a six-strong syndicate which matched all six numbers on Saturday's UK Lottery draw, winning just over £3.2m.Cuban Man Wins Lotto Eight Years After Arriving On Boat. Jesus Rodriguez, 29, won half of a $7 million Florida Lotto jackpot just eight years ago he made the trip from Cuba to South Florida on a 20-foot boat along with other family members, according to a Florida Lottery press release.
Monday, March 25, 2002
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Condon To Rule On Powerball-Like Games. South Carolina Attorney General Charlie Condon will announce today in Greenville his opinion on whether it is legal for the state to take part in multi-state lottery games.University of Oklahoma Editorial: Let lottery pass or fail before the voters. Unlike many proposals considered by the Oklahoma legislature, a lottery would have a huge impact on the state. As such, the lottery should be placed before the voters.Jackpot loser fights casino. With steely fury, Vasilios Milios bitterly recalls the day the jackpot of a lifetime crept tantalizingly close to his reach at a Foxwoods Casino and Resort poker table, only to be yanked away by managers he said doctored a video to disqualify him from taking his winnings.
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The Big Game holds top jackpot honors. The Big Game's $66 million jackpot is currently the largest lottery jackpot in North America. The top-5 jackpots are:
$66 million, The Big Game (drawing Tuesday, 3/26/02)
$12.5 million, Wisconsin Very Own Megabucks (drawing Wednesday 3/27/02)
Future of lottery debated. As debate shifts from the state Capitol to the public arena, two opposing groups muster forces for a statewide confrontation over an Oklahoma lottery.Agency misses lottery cut. Orlando, Florida agency Fry Hammond Barr is out of the running for the Florida Lottery account -- one of the most lucrative pieces of advertising business in the state. Turns out the field of nine agency candidates was narrowed to two, and Fry Hammond Barr -- the only Orlando agency that submitted a proposal -- didn't make the cut.From $5 to $150,000: Virginia man wins big in The Big Game. A few months ago, Mr. Shen Son of Clifton won $5 playing The Big Game. So, you might excuse his son Ky for being a little skeptical when his father told him Wednesday he had now won $150,000.
