Virginia State Lottery
Encyclopedia
The Virginia State Lottery (Lottery) is run by the Commonwealth of Virginia
. Its residents voted for a government-run lottery in 1987. It is one of 43 lotteries which sells Mega Millions
tickets, and one of 44 offering Powerball
. In 2007, the Lottery funded Virginia's K-12 public schools with $437 million, bringing its total (from 1989 to June 2010) to over $7.55 billion. The lottery spends $24 million yearly in advertising to promote its gambling activities. In recent years, it has outsourced its information technology to GTECH, a multinational firm that administers lotteries in many jurisdictions.
Lottery tickets are sold through local retailers; the Lottery is prohibited by law from selling tickets directly through its headquarters, and from selling over the internet. Minors
under 18 cannot play Lottery games and cannot cash winning tickets. Credit cards cannot be used to purchase lottery tickets. The lottery games include Pick 3, Pick 4, and Cash 5
; each is drawn twice daily, as well as numerous scratchcard
s. Decades of Dollars
is drawn Mondays and Thursdays; Mega Millions is drawn Tuesdays and Fridays, while Powerball is drawn Wednesdays and Saturdays. The Virginia Lottery maintains elaborate security procedures to protect the integrity of its games. By law, the Lottery funds a program to address compulsive gambling.
. Lottery funds were also used to build churches and libraries. The 1849 Code of Virginia included a prohibition of gambling.
Virginia voters approved a government-run lottery in 1987 without designating a particular purpose for Lottery funds. Sales began September 20, 1988. In 1989, the General Assembly directed Lottery proceeds to capital construction projects. From 1990 to 1998, Lottery proceeds went to Virginia's General Fund. Starting in 1999, a provision in Virginia's budget sent Lottery proceeds to local public school divisions to be used solely for educational purposes. In November 2000, Virginia voters approved the creation of the State Lottery Proceeds Fund by an 83.5-point margin. The measure, which is a permanent part of Virginia's Constitution, directs all Lottery profits be used solely for educational purposes. Through 2009, the Lottery has sold $21.1 billion in wagers, of which $7.1 billion in profits were turned over to the Commonwealth. Critics argue that Lottery revenues merely displace other general fund revenues that would otherwise be spent on education without increasing total education funding. While S. Vance Wilkins, Jr.
was the Minority Leader in the Virginia House of Delegates, he observed, "There's absolutely no point in earmarking except for fooling people into thinking we were doing something for education when we didn't do a thing...It didn't change the budget one penny. It's a sham."
Under Virginia law, all unclaimed prizes go to the Virginia Literary Fund, which is also used for educational purposes. As of 2009, $190.1 million in unclaimed prizes have been donated to the Literary Fund.
In 2005, four mobility-impaired residents sued the Lottery seeking accommodations for wheelchair-confined customers. Their suit was initially dismissed, but the case was appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court, which ruled in 2009 that the Lottery must make accommodations for such customers. In sum, the plaintiffs argued that the Lottery should require retail establishments to become wheelchair accessible as a condition of being authorized to sell lottery tickets.
In 2006, the Lottery selected GTECH to provide a lottery central computer system, new terminals, and a new IP wireless communications network, all under a seven-year integrated services contract. The selection was controversial because GTECH had bribed lottery officials in some states and in Great Britain, GTECH was found to have offered bribes to induce others to withdraw competing bids for lottery business. GTECH was also investigated for alleged bribes in Brazil. GTECH lobbyists subsequently gained public attention due to their close ties to the John McCain
2008 Presidential campaign. Since 1996, GTECH has donated $6,000 to the Virginia Democrats and $1,500 to the Virginia Republican caucus. GTECH sought to enhance its image in Virginia by donating funds to establish an after-school computer center for at-risk children in Richmond.
to serve a five-year term. The board is authorized to adopt regulations governing the establishment and operation of the Lottery, including price points, the number of, and sizes, of prizes; prize payment, frequency of drawings, and licensing of, and compensation for, sales agents. The board also hears appeals on the denial, suspension, or revocation of retailers’ licenses.
The Lottery's staff is headed by an Executive Director, who is appointed by the Governor and confirmed by both the House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate. On February 1, 2008, then-Gov. Timothy Kaine appointed Paula Otto, a former spokesperson of the Lottery and an associate director of the School of Mass Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University
, as the fourth executive director in the Lottery's 21-year history.
In Fiscal Year 2010, Lottery sales exceeded $1.4 billion. Of this total, the Lottery generated $430.2 million, or 30%, for public education, 59.3% was paid to
players in the form of prizes, 5.6% was paid to retailers as sales commissions, and 5.1% covered the Lottery Department's operational expenses. The Lottery conducts an annual Super Teachers contest. A Commonwealth-wide panel of educators select one Super Teacher from each of eight regions yearly. Each Super Teacher receives $2,000 credit from The Supply Room Companies to outfit their classroom, and $2,000 from the Lottery. The Lottery does not actually control how its surpluses are spent. Instead, the Virginia legislature appropriates money for specific educational programs.
Virginia Lottery sales are conducted by licensed businesses which receive a commission. Credit cards cannot be used to purchase Lottery tickets. The Lottery offers a subscription service for Mega Millions and Win for Life (Decades of Dollars and Powerball subscriptions not yet available in Virginia) by automatic withdrawals from the subscriber's checking account.
The Lottery offers in-house games, as well as four multi-jurisdictional games. Within Virginia, the Lottery offers drawing games called "Pick 3", "Pick 4" and "Cash 5."
, and Kentucky
began sales of Decades of Dollars
, which is drawn on Mondays and Thursdays; its first drawing was on February 3, 2011. (Arkansas joined on May 3, 2011.) Each game costs $2; players choose 6 numbers from 1 through 47. Any game matching at least two numbers wins. Matching two numbers (on a Virginia-generated ticket) wins a $2 quick-pick Decades of Dollars ticket; three numbers wins $10, four numbers wins $100. Matching five numbers wins $10,000; that prize pool has a liability limit of $250,000 across the four lotteries.
The top prize is $250,000 yearly in 30 equal installments ($7,500,000 total); unlike Win for Life, a cash option ($4,000,000) is available to Decades of Dollars winners. The top prize has a liability limit of $15,000,000 (annuity) or $8,000,000 (cash); these amounts are reduced if there are at least three top-prize winners in a given drawing across the four lotteries.
Georgia and Kentucky no longer offer WFL as part of the launch of Decades of Dollars.
As of September 5, 2011, there has yet to be a Decades of Dollars top-prize winner (of either payment option) across the four lotteries; changes to the game are being considered.
draws 6 of 42 numbers plus a Free Ball. Matching all 6 wins $1000 a week for life. Matching 5 plus the free ball wins $52,000. It is drawn Wednesdays and Saturdays. Games are $1. Unlike Decades of Dollars, Mega Millions, or Powerball, there is no cash option
for the top prize.
Georgia and Kentucky offered WFL until January 30, 2011; they dropped the game as part of the launch of Decades of Dollars (see above.)
Initially, Virginia Lottery winners of WFL could choose a $520,000 lump sum; however, the cash option was eliminated in 2007 without warning. An unusually high number of first and/or second prizes result in winners receiving a lower parimutuel prize. Top prize is paid as $13,000 quarterly for a 10-year minimum.
is played in 44 jurisdictions. It began in 1992. On October 13, 2009, the Mega Millions consortium and the Multi-State Lottery Association
(MUSL; which coordinates Powerball) reached an agreement in principle to cross-sell Mega Millions
and Powerball
in US lottery jurisdictions. Virginia, already offering Mega Millions, joined Powerball on January 31, 2010. Top-prize Powerball winners, as in Mega Millions or Decades of Dollars
, can choose cash
in lieu of annuity payments.
The basic Powerball game has always been $1; the Power Play option, begun in 2001, is $2 per play. Powerball will change in January 2012, its first alteration with Virginia as a member; the basic game will cost $2, or with Power Play, $3.
) games. Originally, all scratch tickets were $1 each; in the mid-1990s, the first Bingo scratcher was introduced; each Bingo ticket cost $2. Eventually, higher-priced scratchers with larger prizes were introduced. Currently, the most expensive scratchers are $20 each. These almost always offer a top prize of at least $1 million (annuitized; "fixed" annuity scratcher prizes always offer a cash option.) The largest prize offered in a Virginia scratcher was $5 million (annuity.) Winners of scratcher annuity prizes of at least $1 million can choose cash (just as in the top prizes in Powerball, Mega Millions, or Decades of Dollars.) When the last top prize is claimed for a particular game, retail sales are to end immediately, with unsold tickets returned to the Lottery. However, in June 2008, Scott Hoover, a business professor at Washington and Lee University
, sued the Lottery for $85 million, alleging that it failed to stop sales immediately upon the awarding of a game's final top prize. Hoover had sought a class action
lawsuit on behalf of scratch ticket purchasers, but a judge denied expanding the lawsuit to other players. In 2009, the judge refused to allow an interlocutory appeal
of the issue to the Virginia Supreme Court.
In 2007, the Lottery began complementing scratchers with Fast Play games, including "Bingo" (later replaced by "Bonus Bingo") and "Find the 9's": each with its own set of rules and play instructions. Most Fast Play games cost $2 each ("Three Card Bingo" costs $3). As with traditional Lottery games, tickets are printed by the terminal; however as in scratchers, winning status is determined when the ticket is printed (there is no drawing for a Fast Play game).
On October 19, 2008, the Lottery used GTECH equipment to introduce the "Fast Play Super 7s" game. On the game's first day, the Lottery discovered that GTECH had misprogrammed the terminals to incorrectly print on tickets that certain number combinations were winners, when they were not. The Lottery sold 2,336 tickets before it halted sales, with 609 tickets printed incorrectly, showing prizes ranging from $2 to $7,777. The Lottery announced that paying the promised prizes was against Virginia law, instead offering reduced payments to the holders of the incorrect tickets, to be paid from the Player Recognition Fund. For example, tickets with a $7,777 win actually paid $2,000. In turn, GTECH entered into a financial settlement with the Lottery over the episode. After corrections were made, the game itself was re-branded as "Fast Play Find the 9's" and re-introduced, this time without incident; the game continues to be available.
argued "concerning lotteries' impacts on families, consider that, in relationships where a spouse is addicted to gambling, domestic abuse is 10 times more likely to occur. When alcohol is added to gambling addiction, domestic abuse is 50 times more likely. Children are abused and neglected, bankruptcies increase, desperate addicts turn into criminals, and families are ultimately destroyed." Critics claim that scratcher games do more to cater to the needs of compulsive gamblers than do drawing games where the outcome is not known immediately.
Theft of Virginia Lottery tickets are investigated by both the Lottery and local law enforcement agencies. Many thefts of tickets have been reported, with criminals attempting to illegally cash in. The Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts criticised the Lottery in its Report on Audit for the Year Ending June 30, 2010 regarding security of its computer systems. In response, the Lottery instituted an improved Incident Response Plan and staff training.
, and District of Columbia
lotteries found that they "rel[y] on a hard core of heavy players, who, on average, have less education and lower incomes than the population as a whole." The Post had performed an analysis of 1995-1996 Virginia Lottery survey data, finding that Virginia Lottery sales were concentrated in 8 percent of Virginia's adult population, who accounted for 61 percent of Lottery sales. The Post found "of that small pool of heavy gamblers, one in five never finished high school, and more than one in three were African Americans, roughly double the rates among all Virginia adults surveyed. Those heavy Virginia players on average spent $47 for lottery tickets in two weeks, the equivalent of more than $1,200 annually. Yet one in six had household incomes of less than $15,000, according to the lottery data."
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. Its residents voted for a government-run lottery in 1987. It is one of 43 lotteries which sells Mega Millions
Mega Millions
Mega Millions is a US multi-jurisdictional $1 lottery game. Since it replaced The Big Game in May 2002 , Mega Millions' advertised jackpots have started at $12 million, paid in 26 yearly installments , increasing when there is no jackpot winner...
tickets, and one of 44 offering Powerball
Powerball
Powerball is an American lottery game sold in 44 jurisdictions as a shared jackpot game. It is coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association , a non-profit organization formed by an agreement with lotteries. Powerball is a game whose advertised jackpot starts at $20 million and can roll into...
. In 2007, the Lottery funded Virginia's K-12 public schools with $437 million, bringing its total (from 1989 to June 2010) to over $7.55 billion. The lottery spends $24 million yearly in advertising to promote its gambling activities. In recent years, it has outsourced its information technology to GTECH, a multinational firm that administers lotteries in many jurisdictions.
Lottery tickets are sold through local retailers; the Lottery is prohibited by law from selling tickets directly through its headquarters, and from selling over the internet. Minors
Minor (law)
In law, a minor is a person under a certain age — the age of majority — which legally demarcates childhood from adulthood; the age depends upon jurisdiction and application, but is typically 18...
under 18 cannot play Lottery games and cannot cash winning tickets. Credit cards cannot be used to purchase lottery tickets. The lottery games include Pick 3, Pick 4, and Cash 5
Fantasy 5
The following is a list of lottery games in the United States and Canada in which five regular numbers are drawn from a larger set of numbers. The list includes the name, the number field for each, and the frequency of drawings. All pick-5 games in the U.S...
; each is drawn twice daily, as well as numerous scratchcard
Scratchcard
A scratchcard is a small card, often made of thin paper-based card for competitions and plastic to conceal PINs, where one or more areas contain concealed information which can...
s. Decades of Dollars
Decades of Dollars
Decades of Dollars is the name of a lottery game that became available on January 30, 2011 in Georgia, Kentucky, and Virginia. The game is drawn Monday and Thursday nights, including holidays...
is drawn Mondays and Thursdays; Mega Millions is drawn Tuesdays and Fridays, while Powerball is drawn Wednesdays and Saturdays. The Virginia Lottery maintains elaborate security procedures to protect the integrity of its games. By law, the Lottery funds a program to address compulsive gambling.
History
Prior to independence, all thirteen original colonies established lotteries to raise revenue. The first recorded lottery in Virginia was held in 1612 by the Virginia Company; it raised ₤29,000 for the Virginia Company. The lottery proceeds helped establish some of the nation's earliest and most prestigious universities, including Virginia's College of William and MaryCollege of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States...
. Lottery funds were also used to build churches and libraries. The 1849 Code of Virginia included a prohibition of gambling.
Virginia voters approved a government-run lottery in 1987 without designating a particular purpose for Lottery funds. Sales began September 20, 1988. In 1989, the General Assembly directed Lottery proceeds to capital construction projects. From 1990 to 1998, Lottery proceeds went to Virginia's General Fund. Starting in 1999, a provision in Virginia's budget sent Lottery proceeds to local public school divisions to be used solely for educational purposes. In November 2000, Virginia voters approved the creation of the State Lottery Proceeds Fund by an 83.5-point margin. The measure, which is a permanent part of Virginia's Constitution, directs all Lottery profits be used solely for educational purposes. Through 2009, the Lottery has sold $21.1 billion in wagers, of which $7.1 billion in profits were turned over to the Commonwealth. Critics argue that Lottery revenues merely displace other general fund revenues that would otherwise be spent on education without increasing total education funding. While S. Vance Wilkins, Jr.
Vance Wilkins
Shirley Vance Wilkins, Jr. is a retired American politician of the Republican Party. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1978-2002...
was the Minority Leader in the Virginia House of Delegates, he observed, "There's absolutely no point in earmarking except for fooling people into thinking we were doing something for education when we didn't do a thing...It didn't change the budget one penny. It's a sham."
Under Virginia law, all unclaimed prizes go to the Virginia Literary Fund, which is also used for educational purposes. As of 2009, $190.1 million in unclaimed prizes have been donated to the Literary Fund.
In 2005, four mobility-impaired residents sued the Lottery seeking accommodations for wheelchair-confined customers. Their suit was initially dismissed, but the case was appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court, which ruled in 2009 that the Lottery must make accommodations for such customers. In sum, the plaintiffs argued that the Lottery should require retail establishments to become wheelchair accessible as a condition of being authorized to sell lottery tickets.
In 2006, the Lottery selected GTECH to provide a lottery central computer system, new terminals, and a new IP wireless communications network, all under a seven-year integrated services contract. The selection was controversial because GTECH had bribed lottery officials in some states and in Great Britain, GTECH was found to have offered bribes to induce others to withdraw competing bids for lottery business. GTECH was also investigated for alleged bribes in Brazil. GTECH lobbyists subsequently gained public attention due to their close ties to the John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
2008 Presidential campaign. Since 1996, GTECH has donated $6,000 to the Virginia Democrats and $1,500 to the Virginia Republican caucus. GTECH sought to enhance its image in Virginia by donating funds to establish an after-school computer center for at-risk children in Richmond.
Governance
The Lottery is operated by the Virginia State Lottery Department, which is an independent agency, separate from the other branches of government. The department is governed by a five-member board, with each member appointed by the GovernorGovernor of Virginia
The governor of Virginia serves as the chief executive of the Commonwealth of Virginia for a four-year term. The position is currently held by Republican Bob McDonnell, who was inaugurated on January 16, 2010, as the 71st governor of Virginia....
to serve a five-year term. The board is authorized to adopt regulations governing the establishment and operation of the Lottery, including price points, the number of, and sizes, of prizes; prize payment, frequency of drawings, and licensing of, and compensation for, sales agents. The board also hears appeals on the denial, suspension, or revocation of retailers’ licenses.
The Lottery's staff is headed by an Executive Director, who is appointed by the Governor and confirmed by both the House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate. On February 1, 2008, then-Gov. Timothy Kaine appointed Paula Otto, a former spokesperson of the Lottery and an associate director of the School of Mass Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...
, as the fourth executive director in the Lottery's 21-year history.
In Fiscal Year 2010, Lottery sales exceeded $1.4 billion. Of this total, the Lottery generated $430.2 million, or 30%, for public education, 59.3% was paid to
players in the form of prizes, 5.6% was paid to retailers as sales commissions, and 5.1% covered the Lottery Department's operational expenses. The Lottery conducts an annual Super Teachers contest. A Commonwealth-wide panel of educators select one Super Teacher from each of eight regions yearly. Each Super Teacher receives $2,000 credit from The Supply Room Companies to outfit their classroom, and $2,000 from the Lottery. The Lottery does not actually control how its surpluses are spent. Instead, the Virginia legislature appropriates money for specific educational programs.
Games
The Virginia Lottery gives winners (of Powerball, Mega Millions, Decades of Dollars, or certain scratch games, but not in Win for Life) a choice of cash or annuity. Installment winners receive: 26 equal yearly payments in Mega Millions, 30 yearly payments of $250,000 in Decades of Dollars, or 30 graduated payments in Powerball. (Virginia Lottery winners have a 60-day period to choose cash or annuity.) When a Virginia Lottery top-prize winner of Powerball, Mega Millions, or Decades of Dollars is claimed, the Lottery purchases sufficient US Government bonds to cover the prize. If the cash option is chosen, the winner receives two payments; the first when the claim is made, and the second after the Lottery sells the US government bonds that were purchased to invest the prize proceeds. The actual cash payment depends on the market value of the bonds on the date they are sold.Virginia Lottery sales are conducted by licensed businesses which receive a commission. Credit cards cannot be used to purchase Lottery tickets. The Lottery offers a subscription service for Mega Millions and Win for Life (Decades of Dollars and Powerball subscriptions not yet available in Virginia) by automatic withdrawals from the subscriber's checking account.
The Lottery offers in-house games, as well as four multi-jurisdictional games. Within Virginia, the Lottery offers drawing games called "Pick 3", "Pick 4" and "Cash 5."
Pick 3 and Pick 4
Virginia offers three- and four-digit games that are similar to those of other US lotteries. The maximum prize on a $1 play are $500 in Pick 3 and $5,000 in Pick 4.Cash 5
Virginia's Cash 5 game draws five numbers from a pool of 34. The minimum wager is $1; games can be played for 25 and/or 50 cents providing the total is $1 or more. The top prize on a $1 single-game wager is $100,000; that pool's liability limit is $2,000,000.Decades of Dollars
On January 30, 2011, Virginia, GeorgiaGeorgia Lottery
The Georgia Lottery is overseen by the government of Georgia, United States. Headquartered in Atlanta and run by the Georgia Lottery Corporation, the lottery takes in over US$1 billion yearly. By law, half of the money goes to prizes, one-third to education, and the remainder to operating and...
, and Kentucky
Kentucky Lottery
The Kentucky Lottery, consisting of various games of chance, is a government-regulated form of gambling. The Lottery began in April 1989 after a November 1988 vote in which over 60% of voters cast ballots in favor of it. On April 4, 1989, ticket sales began with first day sales of over $5 million...
began sales of Decades of Dollars
Decades of Dollars
Decades of Dollars is the name of a lottery game that became available on January 30, 2011 in Georgia, Kentucky, and Virginia. The game is drawn Monday and Thursday nights, including holidays...
, which is drawn on Mondays and Thursdays; its first drawing was on February 3, 2011. (Arkansas joined on May 3, 2011.) Each game costs $2; players choose 6 numbers from 1 through 47. Any game matching at least two numbers wins. Matching two numbers (on a Virginia-generated ticket) wins a $2 quick-pick Decades of Dollars ticket; three numbers wins $10, four numbers wins $100. Matching five numbers wins $10,000; that prize pool has a liability limit of $250,000 across the four lotteries.
The top prize is $250,000 yearly in 30 equal installments ($7,500,000 total); unlike Win for Life, a cash option ($4,000,000) is available to Decades of Dollars winners. The top prize has a liability limit of $15,000,000 (annuity) or $8,000,000 (cash); these amounts are reduced if there are at least three top-prize winners in a given drawing across the four lotteries.
Georgia and Kentucky no longer offer WFL as part of the launch of Decades of Dollars.
As of September 5, 2011, there has yet to be a Decades of Dollars top-prize winner (of either payment option) across the four lotteries; changes to the game are being considered.
Win for Life
Win for LifeWin For Life
Lottery games with a "lifetime" prize, known by several names, including Win For Life, comprise two types of US lottery games in which the top prize often is automatically paid out in an annuity; unlike most annuities with a fixed period, lifetime annuities often pay until the winner's death,...
draws 6 of 42 numbers plus a Free Ball. Matching all 6 wins $1000 a week for life. Matching 5 plus the free ball wins $52,000. It is drawn Wednesdays and Saturdays. Games are $1. Unlike Decades of Dollars, Mega Millions, or Powerball, there is no cash option
Present value
Present value, also known as present discounted value, is the value on a given date of a future payment or series of future payments, discounted to reflect the time value of money and other factors such as investment risk...
for the top prize.
Georgia and Kentucky offered WFL until January 30, 2011; they dropped the game as part of the launch of Decades of Dollars (see above.)
Initially, Virginia Lottery winners of WFL could choose a $520,000 lump sum; however, the cash option was eliminated in 2007 without warning. An unusually high number of first and/or second prizes result in winners receiving a lower parimutuel prize. Top prize is paid as $13,000 quarterly for a 10-year minimum.
Mega Millions (multi-lottery game)
On September 6, 1996, six lotteries, including Virginia's, began a game originally called The Big Game. It was renamed The Big Game Mega Millions in 2002, then shortened to the current Mega Millions. Currently, 43 lotteries offer Mega Millions, which had only 12 members before January 31, 2010—see Powerball for more information. Mega Millions jackpot winners can choose cash in lieu of annuity payments. Its jackpot starts at $12 million. Drawings are held Tuesdays and Fridays. On March 6, 2007, Mega Millions produced a jackpot of $390 million — setting the record for the largest annuitized jackpot in North American history; there were two winning tickets, one each in Georgia and New Jersey. On January 31, 2010, Mega Millions and Powerball had their cross-selling expansion. On August 29, 2010, Virginia added Mega Millions' Megaplier option—similar to Powerball's PowerPlay—ahead of a January 2011 deadline in which all Mega Millions members are required to offer the Megaplier.Powerball (multi-lottery game)
PowerballPowerball
Powerball is an American lottery game sold in 44 jurisdictions as a shared jackpot game. It is coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association , a non-profit organization formed by an agreement with lotteries. Powerball is a game whose advertised jackpot starts at $20 million and can roll into...
is played in 44 jurisdictions. It began in 1992. On October 13, 2009, the Mega Millions consortium and the Multi-State Lottery Association
Multi-State Lottery Association
The Multi-State Lottery Association is a non-profit, government-benefit association owned and operated by agreement of its 33 member lotteries MUSL was created to facilitate the operation of multi-jurisdictional lottery games, including Powerball, Mega Millions), video lottery, and instant ...
(MUSL; which coordinates Powerball) reached an agreement in principle to cross-sell Mega Millions
Mega Millions
Mega Millions is a US multi-jurisdictional $1 lottery game. Since it replaced The Big Game in May 2002 , Mega Millions' advertised jackpots have started at $12 million, paid in 26 yearly installments , increasing when there is no jackpot winner...
and Powerball
Powerball
Powerball is an American lottery game sold in 44 jurisdictions as a shared jackpot game. It is coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association , a non-profit organization formed by an agreement with lotteries. Powerball is a game whose advertised jackpot starts at $20 million and can roll into...
in US lottery jurisdictions. Virginia, already offering Mega Millions, joined Powerball on January 31, 2010. Top-prize Powerball winners, as in Mega Millions or Decades of Dollars
Decades of Dollars
Decades of Dollars is the name of a lottery game that became available on January 30, 2011 in Georgia, Kentucky, and Virginia. The game is drawn Monday and Thursday nights, including holidays...
, can choose cash
Present value
Present value, also known as present discounted value, is the value on a given date of a future payment or series of future payments, discounted to reflect the time value of money and other factors such as investment risk...
in lieu of annuity payments.
The basic Powerball game has always been $1; the Power Play option, begun in 2001, is $2 per play. Powerball will change in January 2012, its first alteration with Virginia as a member; the basic game will cost $2, or with Power Play, $3.
Fast Play and scratcher games
From its inception, the Virginia Lottery has sold instant (scratcherScratchcard
A scratchcard is a small card, often made of thin paper-based card for competitions and plastic to conceal PINs, where one or more areas contain concealed information which can...
) games. Originally, all scratch tickets were $1 each; in the mid-1990s, the first Bingo scratcher was introduced; each Bingo ticket cost $2. Eventually, higher-priced scratchers with larger prizes were introduced. Currently, the most expensive scratchers are $20 each. These almost always offer a top prize of at least $1 million (annuitized; "fixed" annuity scratcher prizes always offer a cash option.) The largest prize offered in a Virginia scratcher was $5 million (annuity.) Winners of scratcher annuity prizes of at least $1 million can choose cash (just as in the top prizes in Powerball, Mega Millions, or Decades of Dollars.) When the last top prize is claimed for a particular game, retail sales are to end immediately, with unsold tickets returned to the Lottery. However, in June 2008, Scott Hoover, a business professor at Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States.The classical school from which Washington and Lee descended was established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, about north of its present location. In 1776 it was renamed Liberty Hall in a burst of...
, sued the Lottery for $85 million, alleging that it failed to stop sales immediately upon the awarding of a game's final top prize. Hoover had sought a class action
Class action
In law, a class action, a class suit, or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued...
lawsuit on behalf of scratch ticket purchasers, but a judge denied expanding the lawsuit to other players. In 2009, the judge refused to allow an interlocutory appeal
Interlocutory appeal
An interlocutory appeal , in the law of civil procedure, is an appeal of a ruling by a trial court that is made before the trial itself has concluded. Most jurisdictions generally prohibit such appeals, requiring parties to wait until the trial has concluded before they challenge any of the...
of the issue to the Virginia Supreme Court.
In 2007, the Lottery began complementing scratchers with Fast Play games, including "Bingo" (later replaced by "Bonus Bingo") and "Find the 9's": each with its own set of rules and play instructions. Most Fast Play games cost $2 each ("Three Card Bingo" costs $3). As with traditional Lottery games, tickets are printed by the terminal; however as in scratchers, winning status is determined when the ticket is printed (there is no drawing for a Fast Play game).
On October 19, 2008, the Lottery used GTECH equipment to introduce the "Fast Play Super 7s" game. On the game's first day, the Lottery discovered that GTECH had misprogrammed the terminals to incorrectly print on tickets that certain number combinations were winners, when they were not. The Lottery sold 2,336 tickets before it halted sales, with 609 tickets printed incorrectly, showing prizes ranging from $2 to $7,777. The Lottery announced that paying the promised prizes was against Virginia law, instead offering reduced payments to the holders of the incorrect tickets, to be paid from the Player Recognition Fund. For example, tickets with a $7,777 win actually paid $2,000. In turn, GTECH entered into a financial settlement with the Lottery over the episode. After corrections were made, the game itself was re-branded as "Fast Play Find the 9's" and re-introduced, this time without incident; the game continues to be available.
Millionaire Raffle
In 2007, the Lottery offered its first Millionaire Raffle; 330,000 tickets were sold at $20 each, after which numbers were randomly drawn to win up to $1 million. The Lottery has held Millionaire Raffles irregularly: some during spring; but most have been drawn on New Years Day. Rules vary with each raffle; the top prize is usually always $1 million; generally, all raffle prizes are paid in lump sum.Criticisms
Critics of the Lottery argue that its advertising is deceptive. The advertised odds of winning are for all prizes, including the top prize. In addition, because major prizes are paid as an annuity, these prizes' cash value is "less" than that of the annuity payments. Until Hoover introduced his lawsuit (see above), the Lottery continued to sell scratcher tickets after the top prize in certain games was won. Critics questioned whether good public policy encourages gambling, while the Lottery included in its objectives "To grow the number of Virginians who play lottery games by 2015...." The 1999 National Gambling Impact Study Commission Final Report found that there were about 15 million problem and pathological gamblers in the US, with 7.9 million being (underage) children. Although the Lottery prohibits sales to minors, and seeks to address compulsive gambling, the Lottery's general advertising repeatedly contacts this population. The conservative organization Focus on the FamilyFocus on the Family
Focus on the Family is an American evangelical Christian tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 1977 by psychologist James Dobson, and is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Focus on the Family is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s...
argued "concerning lotteries' impacts on families, consider that, in relationships where a spouse is addicted to gambling, domestic abuse is 10 times more likely to occur. When alcohol is added to gambling addiction, domestic abuse is 50 times more likely. Children are abused and neglected, bankruptcies increase, desperate addicts turn into criminals, and families are ultimately destroyed." Critics claim that scratcher games do more to cater to the needs of compulsive gamblers than do drawing games where the outcome is not known immediately.
Security
Virginia Lottery drawings are conducted under elaborate security protocols, in which each drawing supervised is by two Lottery employees and a representative of an independent accounting firm. The set of balls used for each drawing are randomly selected from a number of sets; and detailed records of "test" drawings are maintained to prevent systematic biases. In addition, forging lottery tickets, or tampering with a Lottery drawing is a Class 5 felony. All Virginia Lottery employees and applicants to become Lottery sales agents are fingerprinted and subject to criminal background checks.Theft of Virginia Lottery tickets are investigated by both the Lottery and local law enforcement agencies. Many thefts of tickets have been reported, with criminals attempting to illegally cash in. The Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts criticised the Lottery in its Report on Audit for the Year Ending June 30, 2010 regarding security of its computer systems. In response, the Lottery instituted an improved Incident Response Plan and staff training.
Compulsive gambling
Virginia law requires that each ticket include a telephone number for a counseling service that addresses compulsive gambling. The Lottery also includes information on compulsive gambling on its website. During March 7–13, 2010, the Lottery supported National Problem Gambling Awareness Week by suspending its television and radio product advertising for that period. A Washington Post investigation of the Virginia, MarylandMaryland Lottery
The Maryland Lottery is an independent agency of the Maryland government. Its games include Mega Millions, Powerball, Multi-Match, Keno, Bonus Match 5, and numerous scratch tickets. The Maryland Lottery is headquartered in Suite 330 at 1800 Washington Boulevard, in Montgomery Business Park,...
, and District of Columbia
D.C. Lottery
The D.C. Lottery is run by the city of Washington, the US capital. It is a charter member of the Multi-State Lottery Association . Games offered include Powerball, DC Daily 6, DC-5, DC-4, Keno, Mega Millions and numerous scratch tickets.The D.C. Lottery began in 1982...
lotteries found that they "rel[y] on a hard core of heavy players, who, on average, have less education and lower incomes than the population as a whole." The Post had performed an analysis of 1995-1996 Virginia Lottery survey data, finding that Virginia Lottery sales were concentrated in 8 percent of Virginia's adult population, who accounted for 61 percent of Lottery sales. The Post found "of that small pool of heavy gamblers, one in five never finished high school, and more than one in three were African Americans, roughly double the rates among all Virginia adults surveyed. Those heavy Virginia players on average spent $47 for lottery tickets in two weeks, the equivalent of more than $1,200 annually. Yet one in six had household incomes of less than $15,000, according to the lottery data."
External links
- VALottery.com – Official site