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Vermont Lottery Receives National Advertising
Award
Award Winning Television Spot Airs During National Problem
Gambling Awareness Week (March 5-11, 2007)
BERLIN, Vermont, USA (March 2, 2007)
-- The North American Association of State and
Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) has presented Executive Director
Alan Yandow and the
Vermont Lottery with its prestigious
Batchy award for a television advertisement that focused on problem gambling,
Vermont Lottery Marketing & Sales Director Gweneth Dean announced today.
The award, named in honor of the
late Ralph Batch – the first director of NASPL – is presented for
outstanding advertising and business communication achievements throughout the
United States and Canada. The Vermont Lottery’s winning advertisement
dealt with the effects of problem gambling on families, and promoted the
Vermont Council on Problem Gambling’s toll-free helpline. A
national and local version was offered to problem gambling councils nationwide,
with a number of councils airing the spot as a public service announcement.
The Batchy is not the first time the
Vermont Lottery has been recognized for its efforts to address problem
gambling, Dean said. In 2005, the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG)
presented the Vermont Lottery with the Government Award for its “superior
achievement in addressing issues of problem and pathological
gambling.”
As in years past, the Vermont
Lottery will pull all Lottery game related radio and television advertising and
only air the Responsible Gaming spot during National Problem Gambling Awareness
Week, March 5-11, 2007 (www.npgaw.org).
“We are certainly proud of
the recognition from our peers and the National Council on Problem Gambling for
this particular problem gambling ad, but even prouder that this ad has
increased awareness around the country that problem gambling is an important
issue”, Yandow said.
Since 1998, the Vermont Lottery and
the Vermont Council on Problem Gambling have collaborated in developing
advertising messages that provide the public with problem gambling awareness
and information about the Vermont Council on Problem Gambling’s toll-free
helpline.
SOURCE: Vermont Lottery. CONTACT:
Gweneth Dean, Director of Marketing & Sales, (802) 476-0103, Fax:
(802) 479-4294, Email: gwend@vtlottery.com
International Recognition Of INTRALOT’s Reliable Technology
Systems
ATHENS, Greece (March 1, 2007) --
INTRALOT is pleased to announce that not
only was able to excel and surpass the current and proposed standards, but were
the first Lottery Vendor in the history to score prefect on the inspection of
the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL)
which is required by the Association in order to provide multi-jurisdictional
games -in this case Powerball© and Wildcard© On-line games for the
State of Idaho.
The intent of the inspection is to
ensure each Party Lottery shall have sufficient systems in place to mitigate
and manage any and all risk associated with participating in a
multi-jurisdictional game.
The inspection covers over 100 items
and the inspected items include the computer gaming system (CGS), internal
control system (ICS), and various controls that protect these systems from
unauthorized access, tampering, power outages, and any event or combination of
events that may affect the security, integrity, or the availability of the
game.
INTRALOT General Technical Manager,
Mr. Constantinos Farris stated: “The perfect score INTRALOT received by
MUSL, affirms our company’s statement and everyday practice in more than
40 countries in the world: quality integrated solutions, adaptability in local
needs, and fulfillment of even the highest expectations of its clients.
INTRALOT by its proven efficacy holds the leading place in the demanding gaming
sector, worldwide”.
About INTRALOT (www.intralot.com)
INTRALOT, a public company listed on
the ASE, is the second biggest supplier of integrated gaming and transaction
processing systems, innovative game content and value added services to
state-licensed gaming organizations worldwide. It’s broad portfolio of
products & services, its know-how of Lottery, Betting & Video Lottery
operations, its experience in sports games and its leading-edge technology,
give INTRALOT a competitive advantage, which contributes directly to
customers’ efficiency, profitability and growth. With 39 subsidiaries, 8
business offices, more than 3,600 people and revenues of €700 M (Ε)
for 2006, INTRALOT’s footprint straddles five continents.
For more informatio: Ms Evi
Ioannidou, Communications Director, Phone: +30-210 6156000, Fax: +30-210
6106800, email: ioannidou@intralot.com
Ontario to Get Toughest ID Check System in Canada
- Anyone under 25 will have
their driver's license swiped before buying age-restricted
products.
- Convenience store
industry urges province to play a bigger role in keeping age-restricted
products from youth.
TORONTO, Ontario, Canada (March 7,
2007) -- The Ontario Convenience Store Association (OCSA) today unveiled what
is the toughest system of ID checks for age restricted products in the country.
The ‘We Expect ID’ program is a rigorous age verification
system to prevent youth from getting access to restricted products sold through
convenience stores, including: alcohol, tobacco, movies, adult-themed
magazines, lottery tickets, fireworks and other combustibles.
“’We Expect ID’
has been under development by the convenience store industry for over two years
and takes a zero-tolerance approach to keeping restricted products away from
youth,” said Dave Bryans, President of the OCSA. “With
this system, anyone that appears under the age of 25 who intends to purchase a
restricted product must present their driver’s license and have it swiped
as proof of age.”
In each and every case, store
employees must swipe customers’ licenses through the lottery terminal. The
terminal reads the age information from the magnetic stripe on the back of each
license and presents the person’s age prominently on the terminal’s
display. The small minority of OCSA members without terminals must, in every
case, visually verify age from the consumer’s license.
After a pilot project of 60
convenience stores around the Greater Toronto Area, the program is now being
rolled out to 2,500 stores across the province. That number will
eventually include all 7,000 of the OCSA’s members. Inquiries have already
been made from other provinces on exporting this system across the country.
“Convenience stores are part
of every community in Ontario and we have an obligation to conduct business in
a responsible way,” added Bryans. “But we also think the
provincial government has a bigger role to play in helping keep these products
out of the hands of youth and we’re asking Queen’s Park to step up
and join our effort.”
As part of this program, every
convenience store worker will eventually undergo a training and certification
program to ensure they understand their duty, obligations, how the system works
and penalties for failing to abide by its stringent rules. Failing to adhere to
the ‘We Expect ID’ rules and selling age restricted products
to minors can also bring heavy criminal and financial penalties.
OCSA has a zero-tolerance policy on
breaches of the program that includes expulsion from the industry association,
recommendations to the OLG to remove the privilege of selling lottery products
or calling on the province to revoke that store’s license to sell
tobacco.
Lottery Training Also
Proposed
The OCSA’s ‘We Expect ID’ program is a
part of the convenience store industry’s ‘Responsible Community
Retailing’ initiative. Because of serious concerns retailers have with
preventing youth from accessing lottery tickets, this initiative also includes
a proposal for a training and certification program for retailers selling
lottery products.
‘Lottery Retailer
Certification’ would enhance consumer protection by ensuring
all workers have a clear understanding of how to properly handle the sale and
redemption of lottery tickets. OCSA has proposed this initiative to the
Ontario Lottery Gaming Corporation (OLG)
and continues to lobby the crown corporation to recognize and support
‘Lottery Retailer Certification’ as an important way to
further enhance consumer confidence.
ABOUT OCSA
The
Ontario Convenience Stores Association and the Ontario Korean
Businessman’s Association represent more than 7,000 convenience store
operators throughout the province. The ‘We Expect ID’ and
‘Lottery Retailer Certification’ programs are
part of the industry’s commitment to Responsible Community Retailing. More
than 1.2 million people visit convenience stores in communities across Ontario
every day.
For further information: Media
contact: John Perenack, perenack@room-40.com, (416)
948-8722.
Iowa Lottery Instant-Scratch Tickets See Highest Sales In More Than A
Decade
DES MOINES, Iowa –
Instant-scratch games, always a product leader for the
Iowa Lottery, recently have seen their
highest sales in more than a decade.
During the lottery’s sales week
ending Feb. 3, $3.35 million in instant-scratch tickets were sold statewide.
That total was followed closely by instant-scratch sales for the week ending
Feb. 24, when $3.32 million in instant-scratch tickets were sold across
Iowa.
Those figures marked the
lottery’s highest weekly sales totals for scratch games since the week
ending Dec. 31, 1994, when $3.31 million in instant tickets were sold
statewide.
An instant-scratch game called
“Scratch, Match and Win” was the only product offered by the
Iowa Lottery when it began sales on Aug. 22, 1985, and scratch tickets have
remained one of the lottery’s leading products in the years since then.
The lottery’s biggest week of instant-scratch sales was that first week of
play, when more than $6.4 million in tickets were sold.
Iowa Lottery CEO Dr. Ed Stanek said
he believes several factors have contributed to the strength of instant-scratch
sales:
- The lottery’s network of
retailers. Lotto, instant-scratch and pull-tab games are sold at more than
2,600 locations statewide, a number that has grown in recent years.
- The variety of instant-scratch
games offered. While just one game was offered for sale when the Iowa Lottery
got its start, more than a dozen instant-scratch games ranging in price from $1
to $20 with top prizes from $100 to $250,000 are sold in most locations
today.
- To a certain extent, seasonal
weather. Lottery sales traditionally have been higher during the fall and
winter months as opposed to the spring and summer, when vacations and outdoor
activities take Iowans out of their normal routines.
“We at the lottery have long
believed that variety and entertainment are the keys to success, and our sales
figures are a demonstration of that,” Stanek said.
The lottery’s top ten sales
weeks for instant-scratch games in recent years are:
| Week Ending |
Instant-Scratch Sales |
| Feb. 3,
2007 |
$3,351,622 |
| Feb. 24,
2007 |
$3,319,340 |
| Dec. 31,
1994 |
$3,315,153 |
| Nov. 25,
2006 |
$3,012,042 |
| Dec. 23,
2006 |
$2,995,695 |
| Feb. 4,
2006 |
$2,801,776 |
| Jan. 6,
2007 |
$2,752,005 |
| Feb. 17,
2007 |
$2,699,987 |
| Jan. 13,
2007 |
$2,668,797 |
| Feb. 19,
2005 |
$2,618,080 |
Since the Iowa Lottery's inception
in 1985, more than $2 billion has been awarded in prizes and more than $1
billion has been raised for state programs.
SOURCE: Iowa Lottery.
CONTACT:
Mary Neubauer, office: 515.725.7906, e-mail:
mneubauer@ialottery.com
Scratch Sales – Rewriting the Record
Books
DENVER, Colorado, USA (March 6,
2007) -- Never in the history of the Colorado
Lottery have Scratch tickets reached $7 million in weekly sales –
until last week that is. Sales were $7,023,308 with 23 Scratch games on the
market.
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Another first, the Lottery averaged
$6.5 million each week in Scratch sales since the week of January 21.
Since the first Scratch game was
introduced in 1983, the most consecutive weeks that the Lottery has sustained
this level of sales is two weeks. Throughout 2006, the average weekly sales
were $5.2 million.
This surge in Scratch sales is
attributed to a strong combination of factors. On January 22, the Lottery
introduced a new game, $37 Million Super Cash Spectacular, which is the second
game in the past nine months to boast a top prize of $500,000.
The game was launched with a
marketing and sales campaign that included television advertising, outdoor
billboards, radio spots and point of sale in retail locations.
$35 Million Cash Spectacular, the
first Scratch game with a $500,000 top prize, debuted in May 2006. Both of
these games credited for about 40 percent of total Scratch sales during the
past four weeks.
“Everything seemed to fall
into place at the right time for us to reach such a milestone,” said
Peggy Gordon, director of the
Lottery. “Seven million in Scratch sales for just one week is a
testament to our new game ideas, successful advertising and extensive retail
network.”
In addition to offering new games
with bigger prizes, the increased sales can be attributed to the enhanced look
of the tickets, which features more vibrant colors and a range of products at
various price points. During the past month, the Lottery had about 25 Scratch
games available for $1, $2, $3, $5 and $10.
Proceeds from the Colorado
Lottery’s games – Scratch, Lotto, Powerball and Cash 5 – stay in
Colorado to improve the quality of life in the state. Since the lottery started
in 1983, more than $1.8 billion has been returned to the state through the
Lottery’s primary proceeds recipients. These organizations provide grants
and direct funding for parks, recreation, open space acquisition, trails,
wildlife and conservation education.
Visit
www.coloradolottery.com for
additional details.
SOURCE: Colorado Lottery.
CONTACTS: Linh Truong (303) 759-6872 or Kristen Shew (303)
759-6846.
Iowa Lottery Wins Awards With “Holiday
Magic”
DES MOINES, Iowa, USA (March 1,
2007) -- The Iowa Lottery’s
“Holiday Magic” campaign has come out a top winner in an
advertising competition.
The Holiday Magic campaign was run
by the lottery in November and December in support of the holiday-themed
instant-scratch tickets it had introduced for the 2006 season. Television and
radio ads that were part of the campaign featured people who were surprised to
find lottery tickets left for them, and wondered if Santa had visited. The
lottery’s point-of-sale materials played on the “magic”
concept by featuring a shooting star against a night sky.
In addition to those traditional
marketing efforts, lottery representatives gave away $1 “Holiday
Magic” tickets during impromptu events in communities around the
state.
The Iowa Lottery’s campaign won
three awards Saturday night from the Advertising Professionals of Des Moines in
that group’s ADDY® competition. ADDY competitions are held across the
United States and are the advertising industry’s largest and most
representative competition, recognizing and rewarding excellence in the art of
advertising. More than 500 entries are judged each year in the Des Moines
competition alone.
The lottery won top honors with a
Gold ADDY Award for TV for its Holiday Magic ads and a Gold ADDY Award and a
Best of Class award for its Holiday Magic mixed media campaign.
Iowa Lottery CEO
Dr. Ed Stanek said that the soft
approach of the Holiday Magic campaign played well with consumers, and that was
reflected in the success the lottery found in the ad competition.
“While we were brainstorming
ideas for the campaign, one of the things we kept in mind is the stress people
report feeling today, whether it be from working long hours, having extremely
busy family schedules or a myriad of other reasons,” Stanek said.
“We ultimately chose a campaign with a restful feel and added in the
unexpected stops we made across the state to give away tickets in the hope that
we would help lift people’s mood.”
This is the second year in a row
that the Iowa Lottery has taken top honors in the Mixed Media category, which
includes two or more of the following: TV, radio, point-of-sale materials,
outdoor, print and Internet advertising. The lottery won a Gold ADDY Award in
the Des Moines 2005 ADDY competition for its mixed media campaign for Quarter
Play, the world’s first electronic version of the instant-scratch
game.
Local ADDY Awards are the first step
of a three-tiered national competition. Across the country, local entrants vie
for recognition as the very best in their markets. Local winners then compete
against other winners within their regions in one of 14 district competitions.
District winners move on to the National ADDY® Awards competition.
SOURCE: Iowa Lottery.
CONTACT:
Mary Neubauer, office: 515.725.7906, e-mail:
mneubauer@ialottery.com
Sona Mobile Receives Gaming Laboratories International (GLI)
Certification
Becomes First Company Worldwide to Receive the
GLI-26 "Wireless Gaming Systems Standards" Certification; Modifies
Strategic Alliance With Shuffle Master
NEW YORK, New York, USA (March 1,
2007) -- Sona Mobile Holdings Corp. (OTCBB: SNMB) announced today that
Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) has
certified its Casino on Demand™ Wireless Gaming System under the GLI-26
"Wireless Gaming Systems Standards." Sona is the first company in the world to
receive GLI certification for a wireless gaming system based on random number
generation technology, a key component in many casino products including
automatic card shufflers, slot machines and multi-player table games.
The certification covers use of
Sona's system with Shuffle Master's Three Card Poker Game® and will allow
Sona and its strategic alliance partner Shuffle Master, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHFL) to
deploy and operate wireless gaming systems in a variety of domestic and
international jurisdictions. Additional regulatory approval in some
jurisdictions may be required. Sona and Shuffle Master plan for additional
games to be GLI certified for use with the system, including Shuffle Master's
proprietary Ultimate Texas Hold'em™, Dragon Bonus® Baccarat and Let It
Ride Bonus® titles.
GLI has certified Shuffle Master's
proprietary table game, Three Card Poker®, for use on the GLI-approved
system. Said Paul C. Meyer, President and COO of Shuffle Master, "We are
pleased that the Sona wireless gaming platform featuring Three Card Poker has
received its GLI certification, and we look forward to the initial commercial
installations of our wireless casino solution later this year."
SOURCE: Sona Mobile.
INTRALOT Successfully Completes Taiwan's Gaming Infrastructure,
Celebrates Chinese New Year With A Great System
Performance
ATHENS, Greece (March 5, 2007) --
INTRALOT, the new technology supplier of
the local gaming operator, Taiwan Lottery Company
(TLC), successfully handled the surplus of demand of lottery games, in
Taiwan.
The new gaming infrastructure
provided by INTRALOT administered more than 23 million transactions in 4700
Points of Sales (POS) during the Chinese New Year celebrations, from 17 to 25
February, for a total sales volume exceeding 62m€.
The dynamics brought by
INTRALOT’s integrated gaming solutions, did not only concern the exemplary
processing of the increased volume of transactions during the festivities
period, but have also seen an increase of sales per Retailer of about 20%
compared to the previous 2 years, even before the Chinese New Year period
began. Of the 4700 active Retailers, all of them handicapped people who
–by law- are exclusively allowed to operate lottery POS, half saw daily
sales exceeding 5,000€, with the top-selling one reaching 30,000€.
With the new system’s launch,
playing opportunities for the players have been enriched: three games have
daily draws. A single ticket won a jackpot of 18m€ on Friday, one of the
largest jackpots in the history of Taiwan’s Lottery. All that,
within the first 2 months of the new system’s launch.
The project’s opening foreboded
its bright future perspectives, with the “Big-Bang” launch of a
4.600-terminal network. By comparison, the previous provider started with
approximately 3.000 terminals.
According to Mr. Tzeng, who had the
top sales volume in Taipei, total sales volume during the Chinese New Year
holidays escalated three times more than usual. The 5-day sales amount recorded
from 19 to 23 February has reached 50% of the average monthly sales. People
stood in line for three to five minutes to purchase a lottery ticket. Mr. Tzeng
even sought the help of extra manpower during the holidays. He says that he has
confidence in February’s sales volume reaching new highs.
“Since the launch of
Taiwan Lottery nationwide two months ago, the lottery industry is already
benefiting from the joint effort of INTRALOT, cooperative partners and
retailers. During the Chinese New Year holidays from 17 to 25 February, our
total sales volume grew phenomenally to exceed €62 million, and 6/49 Lotto
sales volume on 23 February alone exceeded €24 million, a historical feat
for Taiwan Lottery. We believe that with our ongoing partnership with INTRALOT,
the upgraded system and solutions, the Taiwan lottery industry can only
thrive”, said Ruu-Tian Chang, President of Taiwan Lottery
Company.
INTRALOT CEO, Mr. Constantinos
Antonopoulos stated: “We are very pleased to provide a technically
superior lottery solution in Taiwan, one of the most technologically
sophisticated countries in the world. We are confident that INTRALOT’s
state-of-art gaming system will enable TLC to score even higher records.
INTRALOT commits itself to keep
delivering quality, security and reliability, for the good of TLC, the
retailers’ network, the players and the entire local
community.”
About INTRALOT (www.intralot.com)
INTRALOT, a public
company listed on the ASE, is the second biggest supplier of integrated gaming
and transaction processing systems, innovative game content and value added
services to state-licensed gaming organizations worldwide. It’s broad
portfolio of products & services, its know-how of Lottery, Betting &
Video Lottery operations, its experience in sports games and its leading-edge
technology, give INTRALOT a competitive advantage, which contributes directly
to customers’ efficiency, profitability and growth. With 39 subsidiaries,
8 business offices, more than 3,600 people and revenues of €700 M (Ε)
for 2006, INTRALOT’s footprint straddles five continents.
For more information please CONTACT:
Ms Evi Ioannidou, Communications Director, Phone: +30-210 6156000, Fax: +30-210
6106800, email: ioannidou@intralot.com.
SOURCE: INTRALOT.
FLUXX AG Extends Partnership with SCHLECKER
ALTENHOLZ, Germany (March 7, 2007)
-- FLUXX AG (DE000A0JRU67), Altenholz, is
extending the partnership with the discount drugstore SCHLECKER that has
previously focused on the internet. Lottery sales at the till are currently
being piloted at 400 SCHLECKER stores in the Krefeld region. If the test proves
a success, the technology will be installed at all 14,000 SCHLECKER retail
outlets throughout Europe.
Information and Explaination
of the Issuer to this News:
SCHLECKER customers have already
been able to play the lottery on the internet since October 2006. Following the
successful internet launch, the product will now become available at retail
outlets. Various possible forms of integration will be tested in 2007. Playing
the lottery at the till is currently being piloted at 400 SCHLECKER retail
outlets in the Krefeld region.
SCHLECKER IT Director Ingo Naumann
explained: "Our till connections and central network of all 14,000 outlets
throughout Europe are tailormade for connecting up all manner of features.
Services for our customers such as playing the lottery, prepaid top-ups for
mobile phones, credit card transactions and other customer services can be
realised immediately by virtue of having the biggest network of retail outlets
in Europe." The existing till infrastructure and SCHLECKER's data lines are
used. "Assuming the test proves a success, the concept will be rolled out in
all outlets throughout Europe," added SCHLECKER Marketing Director Uwe
Blank.
JAXX GmbH, a subsidiary of FLUXX AG,
is its partner for this trial. "SCHLECKER offers the ideal infrastructure
for our JAXX Lottery Service", explained Rainer Jacken, Management Board
spokesman of FLUXX AG. "As the biggest quality provider in the German
drugstore retail trade, SCHLECKER has precisely the target group that we want
our service to reach."
In its JAXX Lottery Service, JAXX
GmbH has launched an innovative concept – the only one of its kind in
Europe, in fact – for selling lottery products in shops. Whereas the
principle of how to play remains unchanged for the customer – they simply
choose six numbers out of 49 – the new concept brings decisive benefits
for the retailer. The lottery ticket is paid for at the till along with the
customer's shopping, and winnings are automatically transferred to the
customer's account. Paying for a lottery ticket is thus fully integrated into
the everyday shopping process, and the transaction can be handled easily,
conveniently and reliably at any SCHLECKER till.
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About
SCHLECKER:
SCHLECKER is one of the 25 biggest trading companies in
Europe, and continues to grow steadily. In Germany alone, the cut-price chain
has built up a network of over 10,800 drugstores. It has also opened more than
3,000 markets in other European countries. The Swabian company, based in
Ehingen, is pressing forward with its policy of expansion. SCHLECKER has
drugstores in 13 countries throughout Europe. Over 52,500 people work for
SCHLECKER. This makes SCHLECKER the largest drugstore company in the world.
SCHLECKER sells predominantly brand names at its drugstores, but is
increasingly launching its own brands alongside them. From hygiene articles to
care products and from pet food to a baby care range, SCHLECKER sells an
extensive selection of own-brand articles and services.
About FLUXX AG (http://www1.fluxx.com)
FLUXX is Germany's
leading specialist in the lucrative gaming market. Whether as a service
provider for lottery companies and racecourses, as an expertise partner for
major Internet players such as AOL, Lycos and freenet or as a supplier of its
own lottery and betting platforms, FLUXX is participating in the multi-billion
gaming market in many different ways.
SOURCE: FLUXX AG IR Release.
Missouri Lottery Introduces RSS Feeds at Molottery.com
MISSOURI, USA (March 8, 2007) -- The
Missouri Lottery implemented two Really
Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds for Molottery.com visitors starting March 7.
Players and media can use these feeds to stay informed about Lottery news and
the latest winning numbers.
"RSS works like an in-box for
often visited Web sites," said Gary Gonder, director of communications for
the Missouri Lottery. "It’s a way for visitors to keep up with
frequently updated content on the Web. Users subscribe to a feed using RSS
aggregators or readers. RSS readers can check a user’s feeds and display
new content all in one place."
There are many types of free
downloadable RSS readers available. Readers are available in Windows, Mac and
Web-based formats. Some popular RSS readers include NewsGator, FeedReader,
RSSOwl, Google Reader, SlashDock and Bloglines.
To learn more about the Lottery?s
RSS feeds or to subscribe to a feed, go to
http://www.molottery.com/rss.shtm.
SOURCE: Missouri Lottery.
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