| Missouri Lottery Surpasses $3 Billion in
Proceeds MISSOURI, USA (August 17,
2007) -- The Missouri Lottery today
exceeded $3 BILLION in proceeds to the state of Missouri with its monthly
revenue transfer of $20.6 million. The August transfer, based on sales in July,
pushed total Lottery proceeds to the state, including education, to
$3,014,894,547.
"During the past 21
years, the Missouri Lottery has provided the state and public education with
significant funding for a variety of education programs and capital
improvements," said Larry Jansen,
executive director of the Missouri Lottery. "Without these funds, the state
would have had to generate more than $3 billion in funding through tax
increases, or it may have been forced to reduce services."
Jansen noted that the Lottery has not only provided the
state and public education with funding, but it has also benefited the
thousands of retailers who earn commissions for selling Lottery tickets and the
millions of winners who have won prizes from $1 to $254 million.
The $3 billion in transfers represents the total amount in
proceeds that the Missouri Lottery has earned since it began selling tickets on
Jan. 20, 1986. Through fiscal year 1993, the Lottery’s proceeds of
$542,540,033 went to the state’s General Revenue Fund. In August 1992,
Missouri voters approved an amendment to direct all Lottery proceeds to public
education, and since July 1993, when the law took effect, the Lottery has
contributed $2.5 billion to the state’s public education system.
Proceeds from the Missouri Lottery have been used for a
variety of programs, including computer technology and virtual instruction, the
construction and the renovation of buildings, salary supplements and
professional development training for teachers, helping at-risk students
graduate from high school and providing state-paid assistance for students
attending community colleges and technical schools through the A+ program.
"One of the newest programs to receive funding from
Lottery proceeds is the Missouri Virtual Schools (MoVIP) program," said
Jansen. "The Lottery has funded the program 100 percent during the past two
fiscal years with more than $5.3 million." The
new MoVIP program was authorized by state law enacted last year, and the first
academic session is set to begin this month. Private vendors selected by the
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) will offer the
on-line Internet courses to students throughout the state at no cost, and
classes will be taught by teachers licensed in Missouri. The program will make
courses available to approximately 2,500 full- and part-time students who are
homebound due to illness, students who need remedial help and students from
smaller schools looking for a broader curriculum and Advanced Placement
classes.
"Missouri is the 25th
state to launch a state-sponsored virtual program, and we are very excited
about the start of this first academic year," said Dr. Curt Fuchs,
DESE’s director of virtual education. "The virtual classes will create
new options and offer greater flexibility for students and schools alike."
Each year, Missouri Lottery proceeds are allocated by
the state’s General Assembly during the annual appropriation process.
These funds represent approximately 4 percent of the total annual funding
required for Missouri’s public education system. For each dollar spent on the Lottery, more than 96 cents goes
back to the citizens of the state in one form or another. Sixty-three cents is
returned to players as prizes, 27.1 cents goes to the state’s public
education programs, 3.8 cents is used for administrative costs and 6.1 cents
pays for retailers’ commissions, incentives and bonuses.
For more information concerning Missouri Lottery proceeds,
including complete lists of public education programs funded since July 1993,
visit the Missouri Lottery’s Web site at molottery.com.
SOURCE: Missouri Lottery.
State Lottery
Plans Another Raffle; “Merry Millionaire Raffle” Coming in
November RALEIGH, North Carolina
(August 17, 2007) -- Due to popular demand, the
North Carolina Education Lottery (NCEL) is
planning to introduce its second raffle and it is bigger and better than ever!
The “Merry Millionaire Raffle” will pay out nearly fives times
more prizes than the NCEL’s first raffle offered earlier this year.
In addition to four top
prizes of $1 million; five prizes of $100,000; and 500 prizes of $1,000 to be
awarded around the holidays, there also will be a total of $320,000 in more
prizes including lots of $100 prizes. One of the exciting additions is that
players who purchase their “Merry Millionaire Raffle” tickets early
will have a chance to win $10,000 in four separate drawings, with two winners
per drawing, in the weeks leading up to the big drawing and those players will
still be eligible for the big drawing. “It is
five times the fun compared to our first raffle! That one was so successful and
so well-received by players that we thought we would introduce another one even
bigger and better than the first,” said
Tom Shaheen, NCEL executive director.
“There were 509 winners in counties all across the state on the first
raffle and players told us they really liked the odds. This time there will be
2525 prizes and it will still be the best odds of winning $1 million.”
Tickets for the “Merry Millionaire
Raffle” are scheduled to go on sale Nov. 14 with the big drawing on
Dec. 27. Tickets are priced at $20 each. SOURCE:
NCEL. CONTACT: Pamela Walker, Phone: (919) 301-3308. Brooks Pierce Named President of Scientific Games
Racing NEW YORK, USA (August 22,
2007) -- Scientific Games announced
Brooks Pierce has been appointed to the role of President of Scientific Games
Racing, the Company’s pari-mutuel wagering division. Mr. Pierce is a
16-year veteran of Scientific Games, most recently serving as Vice President of
Corporate Marketing for Scientific Games, where he focused on business
development, particularly in international markets. Mr. Pierce was also
instrumental in the sale of the Company’s Racing Communications business
earlier this year. Prior to that position, Mr. Pierce was President of
Scientific Games Racing from 1997 until 2004. Mr.
William Huntley, previously President of Racing Sports & Gaming Technology,
has announced his intention to accelerate his retirement, currently scheduled
for February 2009. Between now and his retirement— the exact date of which
is still to be determined—he will continue to manage our worldwide video
lottery business as well as Autotote Enterprises Inc., our Connecticut
Off-Track Betting and venue management business.
“We are delighted
to have Brooks return to the helm of our racing division,” said Mr.
Lorne Weil, Chairman and CEO of Scientific Games. “The respect,
confidence and trust Brooks has from customers and staff is a true testament to
his leadership abilities. This move will also allow Bill to focus his attention
on growing our sports betting and other businesses within the Diversified
Gaming Group.” About Scientific
Games Scientific Games Corporation is the
leading integrated supplier of instant tickets, systems and services to
lotteries worldwide, a leading supplier of fixed odds betting terminals and
systems, Amusement and Skill with Prize betting terminals, interactive sports
betting terminals and systems, and wagering systems and services to pari-mutuel
operators. It is also a licensed pari-mutuel gaming operator in Connecticut,
Maine and the Netherlands and is a leading supplier of prepaid phone cards to
telephone companies. Scientific Games’ customers are in the United States
and more than 60 other countries. For more information about Scientific Games,
please visit our web site at http://www.scientificgames.com.
Company Contact: Investor Relations, Scientific Games,
212-754-2233. SOURCE: Scientific Games
Aristocrat Welcomes Tom Smock as Senior Vice
President and General Counsel LAS
VEGAS, Nevada, USA (August 17, 2007) – Aristocrat Technologies Inc. has
appointed long-time gaming industry lawyer Tom Smock as Senior Vice President
and General Counsel.
Prior to joining
Aristocrat, Smock spent the last seven years with Las Vegas Sands Corporation,
most recently acting as Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the
Venetian Macau. Smock’s extensive operator experience also includes
Corporate Counsel for Caesars Palace Hotel Casino. Additionally, Smock has held
numerous attorney-at-law positions with various firms. He holds a Juris Doctor
from the University Of Colorado School Of Law. Aristocrat President Tim Parrot said, “We are thrilled
to welcome Tom to the Aristocrat family. While his primary focus will be the
Americas, his diverse experience in the industry domestically and abroad will
serve the company well, in the Americas and across the global company’s
many points of operation.” 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
The Florida Lottery Warns Citizens of Bogus Check
Lottery Scams TALLAHASSEE,
Florida, USA (August 20, 2007) -- The Florida
Lottery is warning consumers nationwide of a lottery scam involving a
letter indicating the recipient has won money from a sweepstake sponsored by
multi-national companies in North America.
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The letter is typed on
letterhead containing a Canadian address and is accompanied by a bogus check
from "Florida Leisure & Gaming" that includes the forged signature
of Florida Lottery Secretary Leo
DiBenigno, implying a connection with the Florida Lottery.
Would-be victims from New York, Pennsylvania, other parts
of the northeast and Florida have called the Florida Lottery asking if the
checks are authentic. "Unfortunately lottery scams
are widespread, and consumers should beware," said Doug Pitts, director of
security at the Florida Lottery. "The Florida Lottery will never ask players
for money in order to collect a prize." The bogus
checks have been written for various prize amounts to the would-be victims, but
share an underlying objective: the recipient is asked to deposit the check and
return a sum via Western Union to cover so-called surcharges or government
tax. "People are willing to pay out-of-pocket fees
in order to receive the large prize amount promised to them," Pitts
explained. "However, during the bank's verification process, victims
discover the check mailed to them is worthless." Unfortunately, at this
point, the victim has already wired the money. According to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, consumers
send $120 million a year to those running bogus lotteries. While such scams are
illegal, these cases are often hard to prosecute because the scammers
frequently operate from outside the United States. Also, with advancements in
technology, it becomes harder to tell a phony check from an authentic one.
Scammers are using a sophisticated version of an old trick.
The public should remember
that in a legitimate lottery, a winner would never be asked to pay any type of
upfront costs to collect a prize. Additionally, a Florida Lottery prize cannot
be won without the purchase of a Florida Lottery ticket; and, to claim a
Florida Lottery prize, the original winning ticket must be presented for
payment. For tips on how to avoid becoming a victim
of lottery scams, visit the Security section of the Florida Lottery Web site at
www.flalottery.com/security.
For more information or to report a lottery scam,
consumers should contact the Florida Lottery's Customer Service Division at
(850) 487-7787 or Security Division at (850) 487-7730.
For information on prevalent scams, including lottery and
check schemes, consumers may visit the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of
Consumer Protection Web site at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/index.shtml
or the U.S. Postal Inspection Service's Web site at
http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors.
Florida residents may also visit the Florida Attorney General's Consumer
Protection Web site at http://myfloridalegal.com/consumer.
SOURCE: Florida Lottery.
CONTACT: Jacqueline
Barreiros, Phone: (850) 487-7727.
NSW Lotteries
Top Shop Awards SYDNEY, NSW,
Australia (August 21, 2007) -- Over 100 of the State’s best performing
lottery agents came together at NSW Lotteries
10th Annual Top Shop awards night held at the Star City Casino Hotel in Sydney
last Friday night. Theobald’s Newsagency in
Bathurst was named as the “Top Shop” in the NSW Lotteries
retail network for 2007.
Owner Robert Theobald said
he was ecstatic about taking out the prestigious trophy as well as over $10,000
in prize money. “I love turning my customers into winners and I’m a
big fan of putting together big syndicates, which keeps everyone happy. This is
such a boost and I plan to come back next year. “I did this through a combination of hard work and
excellent customer service, and of course I could not have done this without my
customers and family behind me. This is a family business, comprising my
brother and my father who is in his 90th year. “I could not believe it when I was named as the Top
Shop for 2007, I knew I was in the running but there was stiff competition
– I was literally blown away,” he said. High achievers were recognised with 25 other awards,
including the prestigious Chairman’s award, which is given to an agent
that was unable to or prevented from achieving sales volume due to a slow
growth area. The winner in this category is Rutherford Newsagency.
NSW Lotteries Chairman John Bagshaw noted that the owners
– Ian and Pat Turner - were not only great Top Shop performers but also
great citizens, who had been operating for the past 30 years, and were
providing a vital community service by also taking over the local Bank after it
closed down. John said that, while sales were
important, “the most important thing to NSW Lotteries was the total
relationship with the customer”.
Ian Turner said he is
overwhelmed and “couldn’t put it into words how wonderful it
felt” to receive this award from NSW Lotteries.
“I’m humbled it’s such a privilege
– it’s a wonderful industry and I’ve been in it for the past 30
years and enjoyed every moment of it. I have the trophy proudly displayed in
the shop – but this is not just for me, it’s been a team effort with
Pat and all the staff,” he told a NSW Lotteries official.
Other awards were given in categories such as
Merchandising, Agency Co-ordination and Sales. In addition, awards were given
to the top performers in NSW Lotteries sales territories throughout NSW and the
ACT. The Top Shop program delivers over $125,000 in award money and other
incentives each year. Announcing the Top Shop
finalists and winner, NSW Lotteries CEO Michael Howell said that his greatest
kick came from seeing agents attend one Top Shop Awards Night and return to win
the next year. “That’s what Top Shop is
all about. Setting a high standard and helping you to reach that
standard,” he told the audience.
With over 1000 NSW
Lotteries agents competing to offer the best service in the Top Shop program
for 2008, lottery players can look forward to receiving a warm welcome the next
time they visit their local agency. Media
personality Shelly Craft – from Channel Seven’s The Great
Outdoors - was the glamorous and bubbly host for the evening, adding
further lustre to the star studded night of entertainment provided by vocalist
Tamsin Carroll, David Malek and Brydon Stace, who dazzled the audience with
song and dance during the gala event on Friday 17 August.
SOURCE: NSW Lotteries.
Australasian
Gaming Expo a Sell Out Success Trade show & Conference Reinforce Position as a
Must-See Event in Australian Region SYDNEY, NSW, Australia (August 22, 2007) -- The
organisers of this year’s Australasian Gaming Expo (AGE) have announced
that the show was yet another resounding success, attracting over 11,000 people
over the three day event.
The sold out
exhibition, which was held August 19-21, saw more than 210 exhibitors display
their latest gaming and hospitality related products over three halls at the
Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre. In addition to the trade show,
industry representative Associations in Australia and New Zealand united to
present a range of plenary discussions and conference sessions to over 200
registered delegates on the first morning of the show. “We were very pleased with the high quality of
the equipment and products on display, the creativity of the stand
presentations, and the industry representation including key executives, senior
management and other trade visitors from the gaming industry,” said
Mr. Ross Ferrar, Executive Officer of the Australasian Gaming Machine
Manufacturers Association (AGMMA), which hosts and operates the AGE.
“There were some 780 gaming machines on
display, and AGMMA’s seven members alone featured their products and
services over a record 4,000 square metres of the 15,000 square metres of
exhibition space. The 17th annual AGE is securely positioned as a world class
gaming event, and a strategically important industry show for the Australian
region,” Mr. Ferrar explained. Overall, the
trade show and conference offered a number of solutions for a sustainable and
successful gaming industry, including the release and development of new
products. A current concern – the revenue decline due to the impact of
smoking restrictions on venues – was discussed amongst both visitors and
exhibitors, and its effect on suppliers to the industry.
Key gaming companies believe that global,
technological, demographic and societal influences – together with
changing consumer preferences – will impact the gambling landscape.
With regard to the
future, the recent approval of ticket-in ticket-out (TITO) technology for the
major Australian market of New South Wales, will no doubt stimulate and
energise the development of products and services for casinos, clubs, hotels,
betting outlets and other gaming operations over the coming years.
Next year’s AGE will be held at the Sydney
Convention & Exhibition Centre on August 24-26, 2008.
For further information, please visit
www.austgamingexpo.com or contact
Mr. Ross Ferrar, Executive Officer, AGMMA - Phone +61 2 9960 0125 or
email: info@agmma.com
About AGMMA AGMMA is a not-for-profit industry association established in
1990 for the purpose of promoting the development of the manufacturing
resources of Australia. AGMMA’s members provide technology and
equipment to hospitality venues in over 250 jurisdictions around the world.
AGMMA’s members are Ainsworth Game Technology,
Aristocrat Technologies, Aruze Gaming Australia, Global Gaming Industries, IGT
(Australia), Konami Australia, and Stargames Corporation.
AGMMA hosts and operates the Australasian Gaming Expo and
the New Zealand Gaming Expo. For further information contact AGMMA’s
Executive Office at info@agmma.com
SOURCE: Australasian Gaming Machine Manufacturers
Association press release distributed by KellyCom Pty. Ltd. Sydney, Australia,
International Gambling Consultants.
Svenska Spel
Shows its Commitment to Responsible Gaming with
Playscan Svenska Spel
Introduces Playscan SWEDEN (June 29, 2007) --
World première for a unique device and a revolution in the area of
gaming responsibility; alarms the player on future gaming problems.
For more than twelve months
Svenska Spel has conducted a project
aiming at finding a tool that prevents problems with gaming in an active way.
The final result is named Playscan, and it is the first device in the world
that actively helps players to avoid developing problems with their gaming at
an early stage.
With Playscan we have
brought our gaming responsibility to a completely new level. To detect players
in the risk zone of developing gaming problems and to offer them tools to
change their behaviour in good time we prevent gaming problems in a way that
has never ever been done before. Playscan can not only decide if a player is
having problems with gaming but also, above all, it can, with a precision of
more than 90 percent, decide whether the player is running the risk to develop
gaming problems within the next three months, says Jesper Kärrbrink, CEO
Svenska Spel. Mark Griffiths, Chartered Psychologist and Professor of Gambling
Studies at Nottingham Trent University: Svenska Spel’s work with Playscan
is an excellent example of prominent gaming responsibility and the most
outstanding innovative single project in the area of responsible gaming I have
seen worldwide. It is most exciting to follow the development of Playscan and I
sincerely hope that Svenska Spel’s example will inspire many others.
Playscan is another result of Svenska Spel’s
commitment in responsible gaming aiming at increasing the customers’
control of their own gaming. Our philosophy is that
gaming responsibility is most effective when it is placed in the hands of the
player himself. Therefore Playscan is voluntary – the customer makes an
active choice with no constraint, says Jesper. Playscan is built on information
in Svenska Spel’s customer database. But unlike the conventional purpose
of customer data bases – to promote sales – the objective of Playscan
has been the opposite. Playscan identifies and helps those players who would
benefit from playing less. Playscan is lika a safety
belt agains problem gaming – something you use without the intention of
actually making use of it. But if the accident still happens, well, you have a
fair chance to cope with it, says Jesper Kärrbrink.
Provided with the data in
the Svenska Spel customer database the Swedish Gaming Institute and the
datamining company ICU Intelligence have been engaged to find a tool that
actively helps the player. Not so easy an assignment, as the solution
integrates wide spread areas as behavioural science, psychology, mathematics,
artificial intelligence and technique. Playscan is a
unique device that can be reached by almost all players. The tool is produced
based on all available research in this area and is built on the player’s
real gaming behaviour, no presumptions and suppositions. I am certain that this
is the right path to follow in order to decrease the risks for more gaming
problems and full of expectation before the future effects of Playscan, says
Thomas Nilsson, psychologist and CEO of the Swedish Gaming Institute.
It is most inspiring knowing that our technology has been
the foundation of the development of Playscan and that ICU thus takes an active
part in the important work to prevent problem gaming in Sweden, says Andreas
Holmström, CEO ICU Intelligence. Since the end of
June Playscan has been available on svenskaspel.se for players to report
themselves as users. The only condition is that the player has Svenska
Spel’s customer loyalty card, Spelkortet. Playscan is based on gaming
registred with Spelkortet at Svenska Spel’s retailers and
svenskaspel.se. But our ambition is to implement
Playscan in all our distribution channels in order to provide for our customers
even better possibilities to stay in control of their own gaming, says Jesper
Kärrbrink. For more information please
contact: Andreas Jansson, Director of Communication
& Social and Environmental Responsibility, Svenska Spel, +46-070-330 37
70. Niclas Cederberg, Project Manager, Svenska Spel,
+46-070-206 64 05 Thomas Nilsson, Psychologist and CEO
Spelinstitutet, +46-070-333 05 70 Andreas
Holmström, CEO ICU Intelligence, +46-070-970 37 00
Anna Aspholmer, CTO ICU Intelligence, +46-070-313 22
53 Mark Griffiths, Chartered Psychologist and
Professor of Gambling Studies at Nottingham Trent University, +44-115-848 55
28 About ICU Intelligence:
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ICU Intelligence provides
market leading datamining and predicative database analyzes. With Artificial
Intelligence ICU analyze and predict customer behaviours, that is turned into
applications in order to optimize marketing and customer service. The
technology is built on over 17 years of research at the Chalmers Technical
University in Gothenburg. ICU Intelligence is based in Gothenburg. For more
information see: www.icuintelligence.com
About ICU Intelligence: Spelinstitutet, the Swedish Gaming Institute, is a
knowledge-based company specializing in gambling and its negative consequences
for the individual, family and society. The company is private and is not
linked to any authority, organization or company, but they cooperate with other
companies in the gaming area, for example Svenska Spel. For more information,
see www.spelinstitutet.se.
About Svenska Spel: Svenska Spel is the leading gaming company in Sweden with an
annual turnover of approx SEK 20 billion. The state-owned company administrates
games and lotteries via retailers, the Swedish sports movement, Internet, four
international casinos and VLTs on pubs and restaurants. Some of Svenska
Spel’s products belong to the best-known brands in the country: Triss,
Lotto, Keno, Oddset and Stryktipset. Approx 80 percent of the Swedish adults
purchase some of Svenska Spel’s products in a year.
The Swedish society benefits in different ways from
Svenska Spel’s surplus, approx SEK 4.8 billion in 2006.
The company is also the main sponsor of sports, among
others for football and ice hockey. For more information see
www.svenskaspel.se
SOURCE: Svenska Spel via European Lotteries. The "European Lotteries
and Toto Association" is an independent European association composed of State
Lottery and Toto companies established in Europe. Betware Signs Contract With New Gaming Client
REYKJAVÍK, Iceland (August 22,
2007) -- Sistemas Tecnicos de Loterias del Estado
(STL), the operator of the online systems for the
Entidad Publica Empresarial Loterias y Apuestas
del Estado (LAE), the Spanish National Lottery has signed a contract that
makes Betware its interactive gaming service supplier.
LAE and STL are developing a Research, Development and
Innovation (R+D+I) project, the main goal of which is to get the Spanish
Lottery ready to launch new games as well as new services on the web, mobile
and digital TV. Betware has been appointed as STL’s primary supplier for
these new games and services. “We started
collaborating with STL on a potential partnership in late 2006 and are pleased
to announce that we will provide STL with a platform to develop current and
future services for online channels. All current web services will also be
migrated to this platform”, says Wojciech Bachorski, Betware’s
Marketing Director. With this contract Betware
becomes the prime service provider for STL for these types of services.
“Betware has a
powerful platform to support our games,” says Alfonso Pedro Fernandez,
STL’s New Channels Sales, Communications and Logistics Director.
“The solution is flexible enough to add new games and supports quick
integration ensuring short time to market. This enables us to improve our web
channel in the short term and to set up the suitable resources and processes to
compete in a changing market environment in the long term”.
About Betware (www.betware.com) Betware is a software and services company that specializes
in providing technical solutions to gaming companies operating in fully
regulated jurisdictions. Betware has a wide product line, covering most
types of sports betting, number games, instant games (scratch and slots), horse
racing, live betting, bingo and multiplayer games (casino, casual, skill). All
of these are available for a variety of channels such as the Internet, mobile
systems and on-line retailer systems. Betware’s flexible application
program interface (API) allows independent third party gaming developers and
operators to create their own games on top of Betware’s core
platform. About Sistemas Tecnicos de
Loterias del Estado (www.stl.es)
Sistemas Tecnicos de Loterias del Estado S.A. (STL) was
constituted in 1988, its prime objective being the acquisition, installation,
maintenance and exploitation of integral management systems for lotteries by
means of gaming terminals, including the issuing of lottery tickets, data
transmission and performing the win account for the Entidad Publica Empresarial
Loterias y Apuestas del Estado (LAE). STL is a specialised service company
based on the use of online information technology. STL is currently offering
most of their online games on the Internet. CONTACT:
Prerna Desai, Media Manager, Betware Tel: +354 5804721, Email:
peri@betware.com. 
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