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Lottery News for March, 2004

Wednesday, March 31, 2004

 – There was no jackpot winner in the Tuesday Mega Millions drawing, but 8 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $175,000 prize: 2 in New Jersey, 1 in Georgia, 1 in Michigan, 2 in New York, and 2 in Washington.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Winning Combinations page.

Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Monday, March 29, 2004

Powerball Reaches $31 Million.  Because no one correctly matched all six numbers in Saturday's Powerball drawing the jackpot grew to an estimated $31 million, with a cash option of $17.6 million.
North Dakota Lottery a model of efficiency.  As a business with a limited number of potential customers in a sparsely populated territory, North Dakota's state lottery office has been concentrating on ways to keep its expenses down.

Saturday, March 27, 2004

 – There was no jackpot winner in the Friday Mega Millions drawing, but 5 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $175,000 prize: 1 in New Jersey, 1 in Georgia, 1 in New York, 1 in Ohio, and 1 in Virginia.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Winning Combinations page.

Friday, March 26, 2004

 – Megaplier Petition Drive Continues to Expand.  The grass-roots drive to add the Megaplier to all eleven Mega Millions states continues to expand, as lottery players from all over the nation add their names to the petition.  Megaplier.com is operated by Mega Millions players whose sole motivation is to enable all Mega Millions players to have the option to multiply their prizes with the Megaplier.  Editor:  BigGameLottery.com fully supports and endorses the efforts of Megaplier.com, and we would like to see the Megaplier option available to all Mega Millions players.  We encourage all of our visitors to sign the petition.
 – Vermont Resident Captures $50,000.  A Bethel, Vermont resident hit it big over the weekend when he won $50,000 playing the Vermont Lottery’s instant game, “Big Money Action.”
Beware of Phony Prize Promotions, Lottery Schemes, and Bogus E-mails.  According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), consumers in the United States and other countries lose billions of dollars each year to telemarketers, spam e-mailers and misleading advertisements that entice consumers into phony prize promotions, illegal foreign lottery schemes and other lottery-related fraud.
GTECH is in play in Brazil.  As the investigation into last year's controversy surrounding GTECH's contract extension continues, Brazil may be gearing up to request bids from other lottery providers interested in running the lottery when the extension expires.
North Dakota's first-day lottery sales set per-capita record.  Powerball lottery tickets went on sale at 390 sites around North Dakota late Thursday morning.  By 6:05 p.m., $119,453 worth of tickets had been sold - a Powerball record for per-capita spending on the game, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said.
 – Autopsy: Minnesota lottery director died of overdose.  The longtime director of the Minnesota State Lottery, who committed suicide in January during a legislative review of the lottery's operations, died from an overdose of pain medication, a final autopsy report found.

Thursday, March 25, 2004

 – Powerball Jackpot Grows to $25 Million.  Because no one correctly matched all six numbers in Wednesday's Powerball drawing the jackpot grew to an estimated $25 million, with a cash option of $14.1 million.
Alleged high-tech roulette scam "easy to set up".  An alleged high-tech roulette scam that saw three people walk out of a London casino with £1.3 million recently sounds too implausible even for a movie plot.  But a physicist who developed a technology-based system that famously beat the wheel in the 1970s has told New Scientist that in theory it would have been fairly easy to carry out with a little know-how and the right tools.
 – Texas Schools Getting Bonus From Lottery.  Texas Lottery officials say that the Texas Lottery has generated over $6 billion for the foundation school fund -- more than a billion dollars a year.

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

 – There was no jackpot winner in the Tuesday Mega Millions drawing, but 6 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $175,000 prize: 2 in New Jersey, 1 in Massachusetts, 1 in New York, 1 in Texas, and 1 in Washington.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Winning Combinations page.

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

 – Megaplier petition gains ground.  The grass-roots effort to add the Megaplier to all Eleven Mega Millions states continues to grow steadily.  Megaplier.com is seeking Mega Millions players to sign the petition.
Lottery winner tells of lost millions.  A former ambulance driver in St. Albans who scooped £6m on the UK National Lottery lost his fortune after his new life turned into a nightmare.
 – News agency owner wins $259,000 in Penn. lottery.  Wayde Christophel, a Waynesboro, Pennsylvania resident who owns The Waynesboro News Agency on West Main Street with his wife Kim, won the $259,000 jackpot in Friday night's Cash 5 drawing of the Pennsylvania Lottery.
GOP candidates show flexibility towards N.C. lottery.  Republicans competing for the North Carolina gubernatorial nomination are showing more flexibility on the issue of a lottery than they did four years ago, but few seem to view the issue as a lynchpin in this year's campaign.

Monday, March 22, 2004

Powerball Jackpot Grows to $18 Million.  Because no one correctly matched all six numbers in Saturday's Powerball drawing the jackpot grew to an estimated $18 million, with a cash option of $10.3 million.
 – North Dakota lottery selling first tickets this week.  After decades of arguing, thousands of petition signatures, a 19th-century bribery scandal and five statewide votes, North Dakota this week joins the crowded ranks of states that play the lottery.
Dreams of lottery cash turn to dust.  When a friendly telemarketer called a 74-year-old Bethlehem, Pennsylvania woman two weeks ago to tell her she'd won $5 million in a Canadian sweepstakes, it sounded too good to be true.

Saturday, March 20, 2004

 – There was no jackpot winner in the Friday Mega Millions drawing, but 4 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $175,000 prize: 2 in Illinois, 1 in New York, and 1 in Virginia.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Winning Combinations page.

Friday, March 19, 2004

Thursday, March 18, 2004

 – $12 Million Powerball Jackpot Up For Grabs.  Because no one correctly matched all six numbers in Wednesday's Powerball drawing the jackpot grew to an estimated $12 million, with a cash option of $6.7 million.

Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Foreign Lottery Scams Making Big Comeback.  It starts with a postcard, a phone call -- maybe even an email -- telling you you've just won millions in a foreign lottery.  It's a scam that's went underground for a while, but lately has made a comeback -- in a big way.
 – There was no jackpot winner in the Tuesday Mega Millions drawing, but 4 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $175,000 prize: 1 in New Jersey, 1 in Georgia, and 2 in New York.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Winning Combinations page.

Tuesday, March 16, 2004

Monday, March 15, 2004

Saturday, March 13, 2004

 – There was no jackpot winner in the Friday Mega Millions drawing, but 4 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $175,000 prize: 1 in New Jersey, 2 in Maryland, and 1 in Virginia.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Winning Combinations page.

Friday, March 12, 2004

 – Whittaker Robbed Again and Again.  The man who won the largest single lottery jackpot in U.S. history has had a run of bad luck this week: He's been robbed twice and sued.

Thursday, March 11, 2004

 – Powerball Jackpot Reaches $90 Million.  Because no one correctly matched all six numbers in Wednesday's Powerball drawing the jackpot grew to an estimated $90 million, with a cash option of $50.2 million.
Lottery scammer gets 18 months.  A native of Russia was sentenced to 18 months in prison Wednesday in federal court in Chicago for taking part in a telemarketing scam that cheated mostly elderly victims in the United States and Canada.

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

 – Colorado Lottery violations detailed in report.  The Colorado Bureau of Investigation has sent the Arapahoe County district attorney a report that details widespread gift-taking and policy violations in the offices of the Colorado Lottery.
 – There was no jackpot winner in the Tuesday Mega Millions drawing, but 3 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $175,000 prize: 1 in New Jersey, 1 in New York, and 1 in Washington.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Winning Combinations page.

Tuesday, March 9, 2004

Monday, March 8, 2004

 – Powerball Jackpot Grows To $79 Million.  Because no one correctly matched all six numbers in Saturday's Powerball drawing the jackpot grew to an estimated $79 million, with a cash option of $44 million.
 – Governor Proposes Powerball for Maine.  Maine Gov. John Baldacci proposed adding Powerball to the Maine State Lottery games as part of the supplemental budget presented Friday to lawmakers.
Florida Lotto rolls over to $15 million.  Saturday's Lotto drawing resulted in a rollover when no player matched all six numbers to win the Jackpot prize, the Florida Lottery reported on Sunday.

Saturday, March 6, 2004

 – There was no jackpot winner in the Friday Mega Millions drawing, but 7 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $175,000 prize: 1 in New Jersey, 3 in Illinois, 2 in Maryland, and 1 in Texas.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Winning Combinations page.

Friday, March 5, 2004

 – Deputy Retires After Claiming Lottery Jackpot.  A veteran Ventura County sheriff's deputy retired a little earlier than planned Thursday after discovering he had purchased one of two winning tickets in this week's $42 million California Super Lotto Plus drawing, winning half the jackpot.
Man loses $41,000 in sweepstakes scam.  A 28-year-old Franklin, New Jersey man got a letter in the mail indicating he had won more than $600,000 in Spain's El Gordo Sweepstakes Lottery program.  But over a two-week period, that Franklin man wound up withdrawing money from his bank account, taking cash advances on his credit card, borrowing from family and losing about $41,000 to the lottery scam.
 – Man wins big in Tennessee lottery.  Russell Burks of Shelbyville, Tennessee garnered a $100,000 prize recently to join a list containing the four highest prizes paid by the Tennessee Lottery to date.
Woman loses $2,800 in lottery scam.  A pair of con artists took advantage of a 64-year-old California woman Friday afternoon, stealing $2,800 of her savings on the promise of splitting a $125,000 winning lottery ticket with her, her granddaughter says.

Thursday, March 4, 2004

 – Powerball Jackpot Leaps To $70 Million.  Because no one correctly matched all six numbers in Wednesday's Powerball drawing the jackpot grew to an estimated $70 million, with a cash option of $38.3 million.
 – Massachusetts awards lottery prize to rightful owner.  An 18-year-old Massachusetts resident waited more than a month for her $20,000 prize after a Westborough store clerk allegedly snatched the winning ticket from her hand, telling her she had won just $100 playing Lucky Stars.

Wednesday, March 3, 2004

 – Jackpot Winner!  There was one $20 million jackpot winner from Ohio in the Tuesday Mega Millions drawing.  More details to follow after the winner comes forward to claim their prize.
Also, 10 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $175,000 prize: 1 in Illinois, 1 in Michigan, 2 in New York, 1 in Ohio, 2 in Texas, and 3 in Virginia.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Winning Combinations page.

Tuesday, March 2, 2004

No lottery for Wyoming.  A proposal that would allow Wyoming residents to play Powerball without going out of state officially died Monday, but its sponsor is not giving up.
 – $28.5 million lottery jackpot remains unclaimed.  The mystery winner holding the missing jackpot lottery ticket from the Sept. 10 California SuperLotto Plus drawing has until March 8 -- that's Monday -- to claim the $28.5 million prize.
Players win $56,330 in first Tenn. Cash 3 drawing.  Yellow balls spun in a clear acrylic container and spit out the three winning numbers -- 5-6-6 -- that netted players a total of $56,330 as the Tennessee Lottery debuted its Cash 3 game Monday night.

Monday, March 1, 2004

 – Powerball Jackpot Soars to $61 Million.  Because no one correctly matched all six numbers in Saturday's Powerball drawing the jackpot grew to an estimated $61 million, with a cash option of $33 million.
Luck, Be a Lady, Madame, and Senora.  After more than a decade of research, three national lottery companies have finally rolled out the game they're betting can match the success of U.S. multi-state lotteries: Euro Millions.
 – Calif. lottery 'winner' didn't buy ticket.  The rags-to-riches story of Jaime Chavez Ramos has a new plot: He has signed over a $10 million California SuperLotto jackpot to Benjamin Garcia, whom Ramos identified as his cousin.

◄ April, 2004 February, 2004 ►

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Powerball
Saturday Jackpot
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EuroJackpot
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