| ‘Gioco del Lotto’ Races Alongside
Women ‘Race For The
Cure’ – Racing To Find A Cure For Breast Cancer In Rome
ROME, Italy (May 15, 2007) -- The ‘Gioco del
Lotto’ is sponsoring the “Race for The Cure”
mini-marathon for the fifth consecutive year. This fund-raising event is
organised by the socially useful NPO, Komen Italia in its bid to fight breast
cancer and raise public awareness as to the need for prevention.
The eighth edition of
“Race for the Cure” – comprising a five-kilometre
mini-marathon and two-kilometre walk - will leave from Terme di Caracalla
sports stadium on Sunday May 20, 2007. Adults and children, families, schools,
company teams, groups of friends, professional athletes and ‘Sunday
sports-lovers’ alike are all warmly welcome to take part.
Starting Friday, a Race Village at the Terme di Caracalla
sports stadium will host an area equipped for children, and provide music and
entertainment for all. Visitors can expect a weekend rich in sporting
activities, amusements and social events with thousands of people once more
gathering to raise funds for educational projects, and actions to help the
prevention and treatment of breast cancer in Italy. It also offers an
opportunity to promote a positive approach towards dealing with the disease and
show support for all the women who have been diagnosed and operated – the
real stars of the race in their pink jerseys. Finally,
the Prevention Village offers women the chance to have a free check up and
prevention test and is a clear demonstration of how such fund-raising events
can support real tangible projects year in, year out. Sponsorship of this event shows
Gioco del
Lotto’s commitment to developing socially-responsible activities and
bears witness to its active involvement in sports as a whole – considering
them a means through which we can communicate essential educational and social
values. SOURCE: Lottomatica S.p.A. press
release.
SAZKA Announce
Record-Breaking Economic Results in 2006 at Regular General
Meeting CZECH REPUBLIC (June 4,
2007) -- In the last year, SAZKA, a
joint-stock company, made the largest net profit in its history. Revenues
reached 10.3 billion CZK, of which sales from the core business, betting and
lottery activities, amounted to 7.9 billion CZK. Compared to the previous year,
revenues increased by 10.2 % and sales from betting and lottery activities by
9.0 %. The economic result of SAZKA, a.s., after taxation reached 1.7 billion
CZK, which represents an increase by 9.5 %. The share of non-lottery
activities, which are subject to income tax, represented 11,4 % of the economic
result.
Compared to 2005, revenues
increased by 949 million CZK, sales from betting and lottery activities by 649
million CZK and net profit by 148 million CZK. In 2006, SAZKA, a.s., spent 1.49
billion CZK on community purposes - activities of sport and athletics
associations, repayment of the development of a multi-purpose facility SAZKA
ARENA and projects in the field of culture, art, education or health services.
Today, the record-breaking economic results of 2006
were discussed at the Regular General Meeting of SAZKA, a.s., which also
approved the business report, annual financial statements and consolidated
financial statements and passed a resolution on distribution of the generated
profit. “The development of sales and profit
demonstrates the increasing performance and efficiency of company
management," stated the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief
Executive Officer of SAZKA, a.s., JUDr.
Aleš Hušák. “In the last five years alone,
revenues increased by more than a quarter and net profit by more than forty
percent. Whereas in 2002 we operated seventeen betting products and credit
charging for mobile phones, we currently offer forty betting games and
lotteries and, in addition, services in the non-lottery field - ticketing, a
sales module and the payment of post money orders, invoices and insurance. We
intend to continue with a similar approach in the future. This year we will
concentrate on optimizing and upgrading the sales network in
particular.” At the beginning of 2006 SAZKA,
a.s., implemented a successful conversion of the central online system, due to
which it now ranks among the best technologically equipped lottery companies on
international level and currently it continues with replacement of all
terminals by a more modern generation of machines. In
July 2006 SAZKA, a.s., issued a new issue of bonds of a total value of 215
million EUR with a maturity in 2021. Simultaneously with issuing new bonds, the
company paid the remaining part of security of the original issue issued in May
2004, in the amount of 159.7 million EUR.
In the last year, SAZKA,
a.s., introduced to the lottery field of the market among others an additional
game Královská hra (Royal Game) to the number lottery
Šťastných 10 (Lucky 10), new instant lotteries and it
significantly expanded the game portfolio operated within the StarPort system.
In 2006, non-lottery activities of credit charging for mobile phones and the
sale of tickets for sport, cultural and other events were completed by the
sales module and payment of post payment orders, invoices and insurance on
SAZKA, a.s, terminals. About SAZKA,
a.s. (http://www.sazka.cz)
SAZKA, a joint-stock company, was established in 1956 and
last year, it celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. Shareholders of SAZKA, a.s., the most significant lottery
company and the largest non-governmental provider of resources for community
purposes in the Czech Republic, include exlusively civil associations operating
in the field of sport and athletics – Czech Association of Physical
Exercise, Czech Sokol Community, Czech Association Sport for Everyone, Autoclub
of the Czech Republic, Association of Sport Associations of the Czech Republic,
Czech Olympic Committee, Czech Gunnery Association, Association of Athletic
Clubs and Sport Clubs of the Czech Republic and The Eagle (Orel).
SAZKA, a.s., is a regular member of the two most
significant international lottery organizations, European Lotteries and World
Lottery Association. SOURCE: SAZKA, a.s. press
release. CONTACT: PhDr. Zdeněk Zikmund, SAZKA, a.s. Press Spokesperson,
Tel.: 266 12 92 22, Fax: 266 12 26 67, E-mail:
zikmund@sazka.cz.
National Lottery's
Love UK Campaign
 |
| Suranne
Jones is supporting the Love UK campaign |
LONDON, United Kingdom
(June3, 2007) -- Actress Suranne Jones is supporting Love UK, a new campaign
celebrating the money raised by National
Lottery players for Good Causes The National
Lottery's Love UK campaign highlights what UK residents love about their
country, and how the National Lottery contributes towards this and funds Good
Causes across the UK. Former Corrie star Suranne
Jones, last seen in Dead Clever on ITV1, is the spokesperson for Love UK.
The campaign will be running from the 4th to 16th June.
It kicks off with a series
of photo-calls and the publication of a survey which shows that UK residents
love the history and heritage of their country above anything else, as well as
a range of other interesting facts about what the British hold most dear.
What do they love about the UK? Research released today to launch Love UK reveals that they
also value their sense of humour above freedom of speech, and traditional roast
dinners above takeaways.
- More than a third of people (38%)
said it was the 'history and heritage' of the UK which makes them feel most
proud;
- Almost a quarter (24%) rated the
country's 'landscape and environment;'
- For more than one in ten (12%)
'culture' came top; and
- 'sporting events' make the hearts
of a patriotic 7% swell with pride
When asked specifically which
aspects of history and heritage made them most proud, respondents handed a
victory to the UK's boffins. More than a third of respondents (40%) chose the
'scientific achievements' of pioneers such as Newton and Hawking.
However, it wasn't just past achievements that made UK
residents proud. For 39% of respondents, the famous UK 'sense of humour'
came top of what makes UK society great, and they are also justly proud of the
right to 'freedom of speech' (37%). And despite much written to the
contrary, for almost one in five, 'tolerance and manners' are something
to be proud of. Survey respondents were also
questioned about less esoteric aspects of UK life, including which grub was
dear to their hearts. More than half of respondents (51%) put a traditional
roast top of their list, 42% had a taste for fish 'n' chips and 36% favoured a
full English breakfast.
Suranne Jones said: "We
rightly think of ourselves as a nation that is on the cutting edge of
everything from science to music, but it seems to be the traditional things
that people are most drawn to, like our history, our sense of humour and our
roast dinners! "We wanted to find out what the
public loved most to highlight how many of these things are funded by Lottery
players. The £25 million they raise each week for Good Causes supports
the things we all love about the UK, from heritage and charities, to the
environment and sport." Tessa Jowell, Secretary of
State for Culture, Media and Sport, said: "This survey shows that the
£20 billion that the Lottery has raised for Good Causes goes towards the
things that people really love. "While some of
the projects supported, like the Angel of the North, have changed the landscape
of our nation, an even bigger impact has been at community level where half of
all Lottery money is invested into the projects that help transform people's
everyday lives." For more information on the Love UK campaign,
click here. SOURCE: GMTV.
Lottery Receives
10th CAFR
WEST VIRGINIA, USA (June 6,
2007) -- For the 10th consecutive year, the West Virginia Lottery is the recipient of
the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting awarded by
the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada.
The Lottery received the award for its annual financial report for the year
ending June 30, 2006. Lottery Director
John C. Musgrave announced the award,
today. “To be continuously recognized for good financial management and
reporting is an assurance to the public that we are doing our best to carry out
our mission,” Musgrave noted. “For the past 10 fiscal years,
we have managed revenues of more $8 billion.”
Musgrave stated that profits transferred to the state for
fiscal year 2006 totaled $551 million. “Clearly, the Lottery is charged
with administering significant public funds. It is imperative, therefore, that
the public has confidence in this agency’s administration of their
trust,” said Musgrave. “The integrity placed on a CAFR award,
indeed the value with which it is held by bond rating entities as well as those
professionals who review our financial statements, cannot be
overestimated.” SOURCE: West Virginia
Lottery.
Lucky Woman
Wins Twice on Same Machine Playing Aristocrat’s Loco
Loot! Two-Time Win
Happened at Mohegan Sun Hotel Casino LAS
VEGAS (June 5, 2007) – Luck struck twice for a woman playing at Mohegan
Sun Hotel Casino in Connecticut. Last month, Carmen Navarro of St. Hartford,
Conn., hit the progressive jackpot playing Aristocrat’s Loco Loot™
Hyperlink® progressive and won more than $61,000.00. Then, just last week,
Navarro was playing the exact same machine and hit the progressive jackpot
again, this time for more than $48,000.00!
“I knew this was a
lucky machine because I already won big, and I was shocked when I won again on
the same machine!” Navarro said. So far this
year, Loco Loot progressives have paid players more than $1.4 million across
the United States. Loco Loot is Aristocrat’s
newest Multi-Site Progressive and brings a gold rush of excitement to casino
floors everywhere. Loco Loot is played on Aristocrat’s Reel Power®
base games that offer players up to 243 ways to win, and is linked with
Aristocrat’s multi-level, multi-site Hyperlink® progressive jackpot.
All Loco Loot games feature cutting-edge graphics, animations, sound and
crystal clear LCDs. Loco Loot is available on six of
Aristocrat’s proven performing game titles: Choy Sun Doa, Dragon Lord,
Five Dragons, Pompeii, Red Baron and Whales of Cash. About Aristocrat Technologies Inc.
Aristocrat Technologies Inc. is a subsidiary of
Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL),
a leading global provider of gaming solutions that consistently outperform the
competition. The Company is licensed by over two hundred regulators and its
products and services are available in over ninety countries around the world.
Aristocrat offers a diverse range of products and services including electronic
gaming machines, interactive video terminal systems, electronic tables, and
casino management systems. For further information visit the company’s
website at www.aristocratgaming.com.
SOURCE: Aristocrat Technologies Inc. press release
distributed by Steinbeck Communications. CONTACT: Paul Speirs, P: 702-413-4278,
F: 702-233-3492, E: paulspeirs@cox.net.
German Lottery
Hits Jackpot with Marathon German Lottery Relies on Marathon’s Continuous
Availability to Ensure Continued Running of the Draw
BERKSHIRE, UK (June 5, 2007 – The German Lottery,
Deutsche Klassenlotterie, today announces the implementation of Marathon
Technologies’ everRun FT to ensure players’ numbers are successfully
and continually collected from lottery retail outlets even through system
failures. Marathon partner, Diventus completed the installation.
The successful running of
the lottery relies on mission critical applications on a Microsoft Exchange
Server. Marathon’s everRun FT guarantees continued availability and
computes-through in the case of failures. Marathon’s everRun FT
virtualises separate servers to ensure there are no failovers; that failures
are completely transparent to the system; and potential threats to processes
are eliminated. Thomas Pauli, head of the data
centre, Deutsche Klassenlotterie, comments: “To ensure that all
purchased lottery tickets are processed and included in the draw, we needed to
ensure continuity of communication with the retail outlets. Marahon’s
everRun FT is allowing us to achieve exactly this; it is constantly in use and
has far exceeded our expectations regarding availability, ease of use and
operational cost.” Reiner Rohde, CEO,
Diventus, the Marathon partner that completed the implementation concludes:
“We continue to see an increasing demand for high availability
solutions by companies of any size and industry. Any mission-critical
application in any company should be protected, as companies will be able to
focus their efforts on running their business.”
Marathon products ensure that any Windows application is
continuously available. Based on standard Intel / AMD servers and standard
Windows software the products achieve availability of up to 99.999 per cent
(less than five minutes of unplanned downtime a year). Neither ‘cluster
aware’ software nor specific cluster or replication software knowledge is
necessary. The solution acts like one single server and drastically reduces
total cost of ownership. About Marathon
Technologies:
| Advertisement |
 |
Marathon Technologies
Corporation is driving the convergence of high availability and virtualization
technologies through its v-Available™ initiative. Marathon is the only
company to deliver a complete range of automated, mainframe-class availability
and disaster recovery software solutions for all essential Windows
applications. The company’s everRun™ product family protects
businesses by ensuring continuity of operations in virtual and physical
environments. Marathon is a privately held, venture-backed corporation based in
Littleton, Massachusetts, USA, with offices worldwide. For more information
please visit www.marathontechnologies.com, call 978-489-1100 or 888-682-1142.
About Deutsche Klassenlotterie:
Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin is the lottery for Berlin
and has been since 1946. It is a member of the Deutschen Lotto –and
Totoblock. It also works on an international level and by knowledge sharing
with the World Lottery Association and the European
State Lottery and Toto Association. The DKLB offers under the name of LOTTO
Berlin the following products: LOTTO 6aus49, KENO, plus 5, TOTO, Spiel 77,
SUPER 6, GlücksSpirale, Rubellose and ODDSET. It looks after over 1,200
lottery outlets and its turnover for 2006 was 327.4 Million Euros.
SOURCE: Marathon Technologies press release distributed by
Atlas Venture.
SCA’s Super 7 Promotions to Help Businesses
Cash in on Lucky Date Promotions Provider Launches Customized Promotional
Games tied to 07-07-07 DALLAS, Texas, USA
(June 5, 2007 -- Businesses interested in turning 07-07-07 into an Independence
Day weekend celebration that generates excitement and drives sales are in
luck.
| Advertisement |
 |
SCA Promotions, the
world’s leading provider of promotional risk coverage for contests, games
and events, has designed a suite of fully customizable promotional programs all
themed exclusively for the holiday weekend that culminates on Saturday, July
7th. All of the promotions give consumers the chance to win big
money on the lucky 07-07-07 weekend, and have been designed to help promotion
sponsors increase sales and drive foot traffic at retail stores, auto
dealerships, radio remotes, casinos, and sporting events.
Customers will be looking for 7s in every game, from
rolling for 7s in the Dice Roll game to spinning the JackPot™ Machine to
see if the reels land on the 7-7-7 line. Games such as Visible Vault™,
Money Bags™, and Scan 2 Win™ give customers the chance to walk away
with lots of 7s -- as in $777,777 in cash. All of the promotions carry big
money prizes with potential payouts as high as $1 million.
Lisa Lantz, Vice President of Sales for SCA, says the
07-07-07 promotions are an example of the attention-getting money promotions
her company can provide to sponsors for a fraction of the actual prize
amount. “Promotion sponsors turn to SCA to
eliminate all of their financial risk in running a promotion with a BIG MONEY
prize,” notes Lantz. “They simply pay a fixed fee that amounts
to much less than the actual prize value. If there is a winner, SCA pays the
business the full prize amount so the sponsor can fulfill the award.
“All of our promotions can be customized to meet
the unique needs of the promotion sponsor,” adds Lantz. “We
offer businesses the start-to-finish solutions they need to turn the 07-07-07
holiday weekend, and any other event, into a huge success.”
For more information, contact Tanya Mathis at 214-860-3700
or Email: tanya.mathis@scapromo.com
SOURCE: SCA Promotions.
LVGI Awarded Most
Innovative Technology in Gaming PortalVision™ Technology Named “Most
Innovative Product of the Year” LAS
VEGAS, Nevada, USA (June 4, 2007) – Since its debut at Global Gaming Expo
2006, LVGI’s PortalVision™ technology has been taking the industry by
storm, earning widespread attention and praise around the world. Now, the
PortalVision technology has won top honors in Casino Journal’s prestigious
annual “Top 20 Most Innovative Gaming Technology Products”
winning the Platinum Award for “Most Innovative Gaming Product of the
Year – 2006."
LVGI’s product swept a
field of nearly 70 gaming product entries from around the world. The award was
announced at the recent Gaming Technology Summit in Las Vegas. Earlier this
year, PortalVision technology was also named one of the “Best Consumer
Service Technologies for 2006” in Global Gaming Business
magazine’s fourth annual Gaming & Technology Awards.
LVGI President and CEO Jon Berkley said, “This is
tremendously exciting news. We are honored to have been recognized in such a
prestigious forum and to have been selected from such an esteemed field of
innovative technology. The PortalVision technology is a paradigm shift in the
manner in which operators can engage players on the gaming floor. This
technology is an innovation that truly impacts the time on machine and
increases incremental percentage of wallet, which is why we are receiving such
a strong reaction from the market.” PortalVision applications enable casino, lottery and slot
operators to dramatically increase productivity of their gaming machines by
delivering additional real-time wagering opportunities, promotions, bonusing,
CRM content, advertising and other content on both new and legacy video slot
machines. LVGI’s products unlock the gaming
screen and enable operators to send an unlimited variety of interactive gaming
offers directly to players. Customers access PortalVision applications based
upon operator-defined prompts via the slot machine’s touch-screen. Casino
operators can choose where and when to deliver content - across multiple
properties, to specific properties, specific machine banks, or individual
machines. For more information about LVGI, visit
www.lvgi.com. SOURCE: Las Vegas Gaming press release distributed by
Steinbeck Communications. CONTACT: Paul Speirs, P: 702-413-4278, F:
702-233-3492, E: paulspeirs@cox.net.
Lottery Reports
More Than $5 Million Won in Draw-style Games and More Than $6.1 Million Claimed
from Scratch-off Tickets During May
LOUISIANA, USA (June 5, 2007) --
Louisiana Lottery reported more than $5
million in winning tickets for its draw-style games during May, highlighted by
two Powerball Match-5 tickets worth $200,000 each and four Cash Quest jackpot
tickets worth $50,000 each.
| Advertisement |
 |
Also during the same month,
scratch-off players claimed more than $6.1 million in prizes, highlighted by a
Ruby Red 7's ticket worth $77,777 and a 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe ticket worth
$30,000. May's winning tickets totaled $5,007,435,
which included nine Powerball prizes of $10,000 each, 122 Lotto Match-5 prizes
averaging $2,353 each and more than 85,000 Cash Quest prizes totaling
$322,556. Pick 3 prizes totaled $1,618,040 and Pick 4 prizes totaled
$806,200. Lottery draw-style game players have 180 days from the date of the
drawing to claim their winnings. "Last month more
than 24,000 Power Play purchasers won a bonus total of $202,397 in addition to
their regular Powerball prize," President
Rose Hudson said. The Power Play
option offers Powerball ticket purchasers the chance to multiply their winnings
up to five times on all nonjackpot prizes for an additional $1.
In addition to the $6,156,924 in scratch-off cash prizes
paid during May, scratch-off players also won more than $1,244,863 worth of
free-tickets. Scratch-off players have 90 days from the official game closure
date to claim a winning ticket. While actual game
performance and the amount of prizes claimed will vary from month to month, the
Lottery sets aside at least 50 percent of all sales to fund prizes with 35
percent of sales transferred to the state treasury for the Minimum Foundation
Program that funds public education in Louisiana. Retailers are paid at least 5
percent in commission and the Lottery retains less than 10 percent to operate.
SOURCE: Louisiana Lottery.
Lottery Names
Giant Sundial A ‘Lucky Landmark’ For Selling Winning Powerball
Jackpot Ticket CHAMA, New Mexico,
USA (June 7, 2007 – The New Mexico
Lottery today christened Giant Sundial No. 5 in Chama as a “Lucky
Landmark” lottery retailer after the store sold last month’s
$62.8 million Powerball jackpot ticket.
Los Ojos resident Felipe
Piña purchased the ticket at Giant Sundial No. 5 on May 23, just one
hour before sales for the Wednesday night drawing closed at 8 p.m.
Piña had the only winning ticket nationwide for the Powerball drawing
held that day. Noting that the odds of winning
Powerball’s top prize are one in 146 million, Lottery CEO
Tom Romero presented the “Lucky
Landmark” plaque to Giant Industries Sales Manager Paul Rix during a
ceremony at Giant Sundial No. 5 located at Highway 84-64 in Chama.
Romero said retailers and players are the lifeblood of the
New Mexico Lottery and its beneficiary, which is the Legislative Lottery
Scholarship fund. “Giant Industries has been
an excellent New Mexico Lottery retail partner since April 1996,”
Romero said. “Giant Industries and their employees statewide can
take great satisfaction in the knowledge that they have helped make a college
education possible for thousands of New Mexicans.”
| Advertisement |
 |
Giant Sundial No. 5 is the
only New Mexico Lottery retailer in Chama. “New Mexico Lottery games are exciting entertainment
products and we’re very glad to be able to offer these games to all the
people who live in and around Chama and to the region’s many
visitors,” Rix said. “Felipe Piña has purchased
his Powerball tickets at Giant Sundial here in Chama for more than 10
years. We’re so glad he won this life-changing prize and that
our company could help make that wonderful event possible.”
Piña’s $62.8 million prize was the fourth
Powerball jackpot won in New Mexico since the New Mexico Lottery’s launch
in 1996. There have been more than 190
second-place winners in New Mexico. Their prizes have ranged between
$100,000 and $800,000. SOURCE: New Mexico Lottery
Communications Office,
CONTACT information: (505) 342-7616, (800) 642-6689,
ext. 7616 or Email: media@nmlottery.com. 
|
