A recent state audit of the lottery has led to the suggestion that the Ohio Lottery should be a quasi-public corporation and that the power to hire and fire lottery directors should be removed from the governor’s office. The audit is politically charged and comes in the middle of a heated governor’s race. The report suggests that the Ohio lottery’s cabinet status adversely affects the efficiency of lottery operations. The audit states; “Unlike virtually every other state agency and commission, the purpose of the Ohio Lottery is not to provide a service, but to generate a profit. This mission, to generate revenues which support education, is achieved through promoting a product in the marketplace and is more similar to a business enterprise than a government agency. However, OLC’s status as a cabinet-level state agency hampers its ability to operate most effectively.”

State Auditor Mary Taylor’s made the decision to audit the Ohio lottery and is John Kasich’s running mate in the gubernatorial race and some see the audit as political in nature. Current members of the lottery commission expressed concern that the audit took so long to complete and suspect that it was times to adversely affect the incumbent governor Ted Strickland. The audit identifies several ways the lottery could save up to $2 million dollars a year in operating expenses. The audit states that rules applying to the business practices of state agencies hamper the lottery’s ability to respond to current market trends and use current technology to promote lottery games.  Recently Connecticut and Iowa converted their state lotteries into quasi-public corporations with great success.

One of the finalists is a well known name in lottery circles; gaming giant Camelot which runs the UK National Lottery. Camelot has extensive experience in the gaming industry and was recently purchased by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Camelot has been in charge of the UK National lottery since it was launched in 1994. Camelot was also instrumental in launching the mega jackpot EuroMillions lottery. The gaming giant is also talking with 48 other lotteries about launching a ‘World Lottery’ that would be the world’s largest lottery. At present Camelot has a consulting contract with the California lottery and says that the Illinois lottery has a lot of potential.

The other main contender for the lucrative Illinois lottery contract is the Northstar Lottery Group which is a partnership between gaming giant GTECH and Scientific Games. GTECH is based in Rhode Island and is a subsidiary of Lottomatica S.p.A. an Italian company that is the world’s largest operator of lotteries. GTECH also provides other gaming technologies and services and is an industry leader. GTECH already manages several state lotteries in the US and has lottery contracts in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Australia and the Caribbean.  According to recently released figures GTECH and Lottomatica control 63% of the global lottery business.

Choosing between these companies will not be an easy task for those involv3ed. Both companies have impeccable records and extensive lottery experience. Illinois will be the first state to entirely privatize the marketing and management of its state lottery. At the present time the Illinois lottery has annual sales of about $2 billion dollars and legislators hope that privatization will boost sales. The Illinois privatization plan is very similar to the contract held by Camelot in the UK.  A decision is expected during the next two weeks.

In addition to funding a wide variety of worthwhile programs many lottery winners make large donations to favorite charities. While many lottery winners choose to spend their winnings on flashy cars, jewelry and big houses a Kansas lottery winner has taken a different path. In Beloit Kansas Susan Concannon, executive director of the Mitchell County Regional Medical Foundation, opened an envelope and found a signed lottery ticket sent by an anonymous donor. The lucky player had matched four numbers in a Powerball drawing making the ticket worth $10,000. Concannon said the donation was very much appreciated as the local hospital is undergoing privately funded renovations. About the donation Lottery Executive Director Ed Van Petten said, “This is one of the most amazing lottery stories we’ve heard. We’re glad it happened here in Kansas and we salute the generous player who made this donation to help other people.”

A recent California lottery winner decided to donate part of his winnings to a local food bank. John Rockefeller of San Gabriel played the California “Make Me a Millionaire” game and won $30,000. Rockefeller appeared on the lottery’s game show and announced the donation. A Missouri animal lover played the Missouri lottery and won $1,000 and decided to donate it to the Dogwood Animal Shelter, which is a no kill shelter in Osage Beach Missouri.  The donor requested anonymity.

Not all lottery charitable donations have been welcomed with open arms. A West Virginia man who won a $315 million dollar Powerball jackpot had his multimillion dollar donation to a church refused on the grounds that lotteries are a ‘corrupting influence.’ The pastor of the church that refused the donation even said that he would not allow his son to receive a lottery funded scholarship. Other churches take a much saner view of lottery donations. One Methodist minister quipped, “The devil’s used that money long enough. It’s time to put it to good use.”

These are just a few of the stories about lottery winners making large charitable donations. There are dozens of stories similar to the ones mentioned above and are an added benefit provided by lotteries and lottery winners.

Ginther is not the only multiple jackpot winner. In Canada Seguro Ndabene who immigrated to Canada from Mozambique has won five lottery jackpots. Ndabene’s wins have totaled more than $19 million Canadian dollars. ($18,056,654.18 USD) Ndabene’s biggest win was in January of 2009 where he won a jackpot of $17 million dollars. The big win was not without problems and shortly after Ndabene won a man stepped forward claiming that the ticket was part of a group purchase and tried to claim a share. The courts eventually ruled in Ndabene’s favor and he got to keep the jackpot.

Recently a Vermont man became the third member of his family to win a lottery jackpot. Frank Sullivan of Vermont won a $12.5 million Tri-State Megabucks jackpot. Sullivan purchased the winning ticket in New Hampshire. Sullivan came forward three weeks after he bought the winning lotto ticket at a local convenience store in Dalton New Hampshire. Sullivan quit his job at an electric manufacturer and said he was going to pay off all his bills, travel and move out of the mobile home he has been living in. Sullivan said that plenty of people are giving him financial advice and had this to say about people asking him for money; “I got a tube of lip balm. That’s for the people that want money. They gotta kiss up a little more. And that’s a black book for marriage proposals.” Sullivan is not the only lucky lottery winner in his family. A cousin won an $8 million Megabucks jackpot and another cousin was part of a lottery group that shared a $500,000 jackpot.

Many lottery experts say that playing smaller lottery games will give players a better chance of winning. Smaller games have fewer players and offer better odds. Gathering data on past winning numbers is a daunting task which most people do not have the time for. The research necessary to gather all of the data for the popular pick five and pick six lotteries would take thousands of hours. Then the data needs analyzed so that formulas can be created which requires a substantial amount of time.

Frequency analysis, or tracking, is a method that requires the tracking of winning numbers from past lottery games to help predict the numbers with the best chance of hitting again in future lottery games. Some number trackers base their predictions on so called ‘hot’ numbers; numbers that have hit often in past games and are likely to hit again. Other trackers avoid the ‘hot’ numbers and focus on numbers that have not hit but are due to come up at some point. Essentially one tracking system is based on hot numbers while the other is based on ‘cold’ numbers. There are also some methods that combing both schools of thought.

Lottery wheeling is a method of arranging numbers in a way that will improve the player’s chances of picking winning lottery numbers. It is designed to generate number tables providing the player with all possible combinations of numbers to play. Lottery wheeling programs are available online and at land based vendors. One disadvantage of wheeling is that it requires the player to purchase several lottery tickets to play various number combinations.

Pooling, or lottery syndicates, involves groups of people who purchase several lottery tickets each week. Lottery pools, or syndicates, are common in the workplace. One of the biggest lottery wins ever was won by a lottery syndicate in Nebraska where seven syndicate members shared a jackpot of over $300 million. Statistics show that most lottery winners used the ‘quick pick’ option available at lottery retailers. No matter what method used the goal is always the same; to win the next big lottery jackpot!

One expense lottery players refuse to cut back on is the purchase of lottery tickets. Last year in the US the sale of lottery tickets increased about $1 billion dollars. In addition to tickets for mega jackpot lotteries like Powerball and Mega Millions people are also buying more scratch off lottery tickets. Although some players say they only buy lottery tickets occasionally many buy lotto tickets every day. When jackpots are high ticket sales increase dramatically. The goal of striking it rich is what motivates most players. Arkansas, which just launched a state lottery, has seen ticket sales exceed projections. Arkansas had estimated that ticket sales would amount to about a half a million dollars a day and recent ticket sales have been twice that. Julie Baldridge, spokesperson for the Arkansas lottery stated,  “We estimate that conservatively about $100 million in Arkansas money was already going out of state to lotteries. So that money, we believe, has come home.”

Most states now sell tickets for Powerball and Mega Millions and thanks to this arrangement ticket sales have increased across the United States.  David Gale of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries says that people are still playing despite the recession and economic conditions. Gale stated, “The jackpot games are extremely popular — and that’s the lotto games. They probably have less discretionary dollars left over at the end of their budget so they’re probably looking for cheaper forms of entertainment. Lottery tickets typically cost a dollar. The other reason is because it’s such an inexpensive product that it’s probably not one of the first things that’s cut from their regular monthly budget.”

Some lotteries are not doing well. The West Virginia Lottery reported that total lottery generated revenues was down 10%. Lottery officials blame casino gambling for the losses and expect the decline in ticket sales to continue. Overall ticket sales are up nationally and players still flock to lottery retailers in hopes of that one big win.

Some states are considering privatizing their lotteries. Several states already have outside companies operating their lotteries and in most cases the results have been positive.  Usually states retain ownership of the lotteries and lottery management firms are responsible for marketing, providing lottery machines, developing new games and selling tickets through lottery retailers. This arrangement can be very lucrative for government and the private operators. Illinois is now talking to several gaming giants about privatizing their lottery.

Maine is another state with serious budget problems and legislators are discussing the privatization of Maine’s state lottery. Maine Governor Baldacci has instructed all state agencies to explore more efficient and cost effective ways to provide services and this includes the state’s lottery. Maine has considered privatizing the lottery in the past but the idea was rejected but serious budget problems is making Maine take another look at privatizing the state’s lottery. Some lawmakers are concerned that while the sale of the lottery may bring a huge onetime payment the state would lose money in the long run. Another concern is that a private lottery operator may decide to change agreements with lottery retailers. Currently the Maine lottery pays more than $16 million dollars annually to lottery retailers providing much needed income for small businesses.  Maine Representative Linda Valentino, D-Saco stated, “The lottery is huge for helping small businesses stay in business. I would rather be spreading this money out to small businesses than giving it all to some company that is running the lottery.”

Federal regulations also complicate plans for lottery privatization. Under federal law state lotteries must have government employees in charge of day to day lottery operations. Maine Lottery Director Dan Gwadosky stated, “Many states have looked to find ways to further privatize their operations, but they all have run up against the Justice Department rulings. But they are still looking, and we are still looking.” Some lottery experts believe that if the political climate in Washington shifts after the 2010 elections it could open the door for lottery privatization.

The South Africa lottery offers players a variety of games. Lotto 6/49 is South Africa’s version of the classic 6/49 lottery games found in many countries. Players select six numbers from 1 through 49. National lottery retailers offer players a quick pick option for players who wish to have their numbers selected by a random number generator. Many South Africans use a variety of occult sciences to select their lottery numbers and believe it or not smoking vulture brains is used by many as a way to see into the future and pick winning lottery numbers. Lotto 6/49 has a ‘Lotto Plus’ option available. For an extra fee the player can play the original lotto 6/49 ticket twice. The National Lottery also offers Powerball similar to the American game.

SportsStake is another popular National Lottery game. Players try to determine the outcome of 12 pre selected football matches in England, South Africa and other countries where football is popular. For each game the player must determine of the match will result in a home win, away win or a draw. To win players must accurately predict the outcome of all 12 games. Players can win lesser prizes with 10 or 11 correct predictions.

Like most lotteries the South Africa National Lottery offers various instant win, or scratch off games. The top prize for scratch off games is R100,000. ($13,636.15 USD) Tickets for scratch off games cost R2 through R5. ($0.272723 USD–$0.681807 USD) At present the official National Lottery website does not sell online lottery tickets but tickets for the S African National Lottery may be purchased online by ticket brokers. Results for the National Lottery may be checked at the official National Lottery website along with detailed instructions for each game. The South Africa National Lottery supports various charities and 34% of all lottery generated revenue is paid into a central charitable distribution fund.

SuperEnaLotto players do not have to be Italian residents to play this lottery. Players must be 19 years old and jackpots start at €1.3 million and roll over until the prize has won. SuperEnaLotto tickets may be purchased online. Top jackpot winners are required to visit the lottery’s headquarters to collect their winnings and what a great way to start a memorable Italian vacation! SuperEnaLotto is managed by Sisal, which has been managing lotteries for the Italian Government since 1946. Sisal also provides Italians with betting shops, sports betting shops, and horse betting retailers and is headquartered in Milan.

SuperEnaLotto is popular throughout Europe and many official lottery websites cross sell SuperEnaLotto, Euromillions and UK National Lottery tickets. SuperEnaLotto tickets can be purchased online at the official website but at present the site is in Italian. Lottery results for SuperEnaLotto may be checked online and European players can also check for results on television and in newspapers.  SuperEnaLotto jackpots are denominated in Euros and online currency converters with current exchange rates are readily available. In fact a slight rise in the Euro’s exchange rate could easily add thousands to a SuperEnaLotto jackpot.  Although the odds are long SuperEnaLotto tickets are inexpensive and the game is just as easy to play as Powerball and mega Millions.

Every scratch off lottery game has its own odds and generally the higher priced scratch off tickets have much better odds in favor of the player than lower priced scratch off games do. Most scratch off lottery games have odds clearly listed on the tickets.  In the US most lottery jurisdictions offer various scratch off lottery games with varying ticket prices. Scratch off lotto tickets are available at all lottery retailers. The first scratch off lottery games, called the ‘Instant Game ‘were offered by the Massachusetts lottery in 1974. The game was an instant hit and delivered something no other lottery game could-instant cash. Scratch off games became popular and by the 1980’s 16 states sold scratch off games generating revenues of over $1 billion dollars a year.  Typically scratch off lottery tickets are priced at $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, and even higher.

Scratch off lottery games have varied themes including sports, holiday and seasonal themes and many others. In 2009 the classic rock group Aerosmith offered a series of scratch off lottery games with concert tickets and backstage passes as prizes. It is common for players to purchase several scratch off tickets at the same time and use winnings to purchase more tickets. The graphic design of scratch off lottery tickets has spawned a new hobby; lotology or the collecting of lottery tickets. Recently two artists created a series of unique sculptures using recycled scratch off lottery tickets. Because scratch off lottery tickets generate billions for state lotteries they are likely to be with us for some time to come.