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| Vol. 34 No. 4-- Monday January 30, 2006 |
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Tennessee Lottery Celebrates Second Anniversary NASHVILLE, Tennessee, USA (Friday, January 20, 2006) - The Tennessee Education Lottery today marks its two-year anniversary with an estimated one-half billion raised for education and an optimistic outlook for the year ahead.
“So many exciting things have happened since we began selling tickets two years ago,” said Rebecca Paul, CEO and President of the Tennessee Lottery. “Not only have we raised over a half-billion for education and created new opportunities for students and families, but we’ve also provided millions of dollars to players and retailers.” Lottery ticket sales are used to provide scholarships to higher education institutions in Tennessee, in addition to funds raised for after-school and pre-kindergarten programs. "In less than two years since the first awards were made, more than 60,000 students have benefited from Lottery scholarships and grants," said Dr. Robert Ruble, executive director of the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation. "In addition to keeping the best and brightest students in Tennessee, the success of the Lottery is improving the lives of so many in the state who otherwise might not have the opportunity to pursue their educational goals." Here’s a few details and fun facts about the Lottery’s first two calendar years (estimates through close of business, Jan. 19, 2006):
For more information about the Tennessee Education Lottery, please visit www.tnlottery.com. SOURCE: Tennessee Lottery media
release. INTRALOT Announce Executive Appointments ATHENS, Greece (January 26, 2006) -- INTRALOT, a leading supplier of integrated gaming and transaction processing systems, innovative game content and value added services to state-licensed gaming organizations worldwide is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Mark Michalko as President and Mr. Tim Groth as Vice President, Product Development of INTRALOT’s Asia / Pacific Division. Mark Michalko is a 29-year veteran of the lottery industry, with unique credentials and experience in the United States and many foreign jurisdictions. He stands as the only lottery industry executive to serve as both Executive Director of a world-class lottery organization, California State Lottery, and as a Chief Executive Officer of an International lottery supplier company, International Lottery & Totalizator Systems. With this diverse experience, Mr. Michalko brings a great understanding of both the perspectives of the customer and the supplier. “I am delighted to join INTRALOT’s dynamic team of talented professionals and I am confident that I will significantly contribute to securing INTRALOT’s position as the world’s premier gaming company” stated Mr. Michalko For the past 11 years Tim Groth has been Vice President of Technical Operations for International Lottery and Totalizator Systems in the US. As a company officer there, he was responsible for all product and service development, and was instrumental in the company's efforts to incorporate open architecture, and open systems into their product line. Mr. Groth has spent his entire professional career designing, developing, and marketing mission critical, real time systems for international government and public sectors. "I am extremely pleased to be joining the INTRALOT team”, noted Mr. Groth. “They have consistently been on the forefront in developing state of the art and innovative products, providing exceptional customer service worldwide, and, most importantly to me, they exhibit the highest level of integrity and ethics in the industry. I look forward to contributing to their continued success."
INTRALOT’s CEO, Mr. Constantinos Antonopoulos stated “The appointment of Mark and Tim is a key step in the implementation of our corporate plan. Mark and Tim bring significant experience and we look forward to them bringing their abilities to bear to continue and accelerate the INTRALOT’s growth.” About INTRALOT (www.intralot.com) SOURCE: INTRALOT media release. Scientific Games to Acquire EssNet AB Online Lottery Assets for $60 Million NEW YORK, USA (January 20, 2006) -- Scientific Games Corporation (SGMS)has signed an agreement to acquire substantially all of the online lottery assets of the Swedish firm EssNet AB for 460 MSEK or approximately $60 million. EssNet specializes in online lottery systems and terminals to run numbers games, sports betting, instant tickets and mobile games on a national level. EssNet's lottery customers include seven states in Germany, the national lotteries of Hungary and Norway, Golden Casket and Tattersall's Lottery in Australia, and other national lotteries. EssNet's reported online lottery revenues for the first six months of 2005 were approximately 130 MSEK or approximately $16 million.
The acquisition will include substantially all of EssNet's existing online lottery contracts, as well as all technology and intellectual property pertaining to its online lottery business. Scientific Games will also inherit EssNet's staff of technical experts and game designers, a key to its selection as "IT Challenger of the Year" by the Swedish business magazine Veckans Affarer. "This acquisition will not only boost our international lottery revenues and market share, it will give us fresh access to some key markets including Scandinavia, Australasia and Europe, particularly in Germany where it brings our online lottery customer list to 13 of the 16 states," said Lorne Weil, Chairman and CEO of Scientific Games. "We are confident that this acquisition will integrate well with our existing operations, provide a platform for additional growth, and assist us in helping our instant ticket customers grow their business." The sale is subject to certain closing conditions including regulatory and customer approvals, purchase price adjustments, and other specified conditions. Scientific Games will finance the purchase under its existing $250 million revolving credit facility. The company expects the acquisition of EssNet to be accretive to earnings. About Scientific Games Scientific Games Corporation is the leading integrated supplier of instant tickets, systems and services to lotteries, and the leading supplier of wagering systems and services to pari-mutuel operators. It is also a licensed pari-mutuel gaming operator in Connecticut 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 www.scientificgames.com SOURCE: Scientific Games Corporation media
release. ALPHARETTA, Georgia, USA (January 20, 2006) -- Lottery players who feel a little inhibited at getting in on the Hold ‘Em Poker craze have nothing to worry about now that MDI Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Scientific Games Corporation (NASDAQ: SGMS), has developed a new user-friendly website to explain the lottery poker games and enhance a player’s experience.
“The popularity of Hold ‘Em Poker is sweeping the nation, but sometimes, people who want to get in on the phenomenon are a little hesitant when it comes to playing Lottery Hold ‘Em Poker,” said Steve Saferin, MDI president. “That’s not the case any longer. MDI has solved that issue with our ultra-easy tutorial website that is proving to be a huge hit with lotteries, retailers and players.” MDI offers lotteries a wide selection of poker-themed games including Hold ‘Em Poker®, World Series of Poker®, World Poker Tour™, and Celebrity Poker Showdown™. Currently, 27 lotteries are running MDI poker-themed games or have a game in production to launch soon. The copyrighted tutorial is available at no charge to any lottery that is selling an MDI-licensed Hold ‘Em Poker game. Two lotteries are already providing the Lottery Hold ‘Em Tutorial to their customers on the Internet. The program has been added to the Player Information Center website for the $10,000,000 Hold ‘Em Poker game in Massachusetts (http://www.lotterybonuszone.com/holdempoker/ma/), and the tutorial is now featured in the “Game Lab Annex” of Michigan’s PLAYER CITY™ VIP site (http://www.playercity.net). The Tennessee Lottery is launching its tutorial site next month. Bob Kowalczyk, MDI vice president of internet services, said that like any other new lottery play style, Hold ‘Em Poker has elements that players need to learn in order to discover the fun of playing. According to Kowalczyk, players actually designed this tutorial, in that it is based on player comments that MDI received in the last year. He said he learned that consumers want to play Hold ‘Em Poker lottery games even if they’ve never played poker before.
Saferin said MDI’s website tutorial adds an excellent opportunity for more interaction between a lottery, its games and its players. “I encourage all of the lotteries doing Hold ‘Em games to review the tutorial and make it available to their players through their own websites, because I think the result will be a larger market for Lottery Hold ‘Em,” Saferin said. The tutorial is one of two web-based programs for lottery players that MDI is providing to support Hold ‘Em lottery games. A second program called HandBuilder™ is nearing release. Kowalczyk said HandBuilder will enable players to enter cards from any Hold ‘Em game and have the program automatically calculate the player’s best poker hand and whether that hand would have won or lost against their scratch game “opponent.” About Scientific Games Scientific Games Corporation (www.scientificgames.com) is the leading integrated supplier of instant tickets, systems and services to lotteries, and the leading supplier of wagering systems and services to pari-mutuel operators. It is also a licensed pari-mutuel gaming operator in Connecticut and the Netherlands, and is a leading supplier of prepaid phone cards to telephone companies. MDI Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Scientific Games Corporation, is the worldwide leader in licensed lottery games and promotions. SOURCE: MDI Entertainment. EssNet Focuses on the Rapidly Growing Interactive Gaming Market STOCKHOLM, Sweden (January 20, 2006) -- EssNet AB today announced that it has signed an agreement to sell substantially all of the assets of its traditional online lottery division to Scientific Games Corporation for MSEK 460 in cash. Following this, EssNet will focus strongly on further developing its subsidiary EssNet Interactive’s position in the fast developing interactive gaming market.
“The lottery market is in a consolidation phase where the big suppliers get even bigger. We have for quite some time been evaluating various solutions where our traditional lottery business could best be leveraged and we feel that this agreement with Scientific Games will benefit both our customers and employees", said EssNet CEO and President Hans Vigmostad. “The future for EssNet Interactive is exciting. The entire market for gaming machines is going through a transition from stand-alone machines to real-time connected, interactive entertainment terminals and with our leading technology we are in a very favourable position to benefit from this evolution.” About EssNet EssNet’s lead investors are:
EOC Partners LLP has acted as EssNet’s financial advisor in the transaction with Scientific Games. For further information, please contact Hans Vigmostad, EssNet CEO and President, on +46 8 702 57 00. SOURCE: EssNet (www.essnet.se) media release. The Colorado Lottery Awards a New Contract to OGT for the Production of Instant Lottery Tickets SAN ANTONIO, Texas, USA (January 19, 2006) -- Oberthur Gaming Technologies (“OGT”) is pleased to announce that the company has been awarded a contract by the Colorado Lottery for the production of instant lottery tickets. The contract term is for an initial period of two years, with the option to extend for three additional one-year periods. “We assure the Lottery of our dedication to helping them succeed for the benefit of a more beautiful Colorado,” said Jim Nulph, Vice-President, Sales and Marketing of OGT-USA. “We are looking forward to continuing our partnership and to developing new and exciting games that will boost the Lottery’s sales.”
About Oberthur Gaming Technologies (www.oberthurgt.com) With more than 35 years of
lottery-specific expertise and over a century's experience in the security
printing industry, Oberthur Gaming Technologies is the world’s leader in
the printing of innovative instant lottery tickets. Comprehensive services
include strategic game planning and innovative conceptual design with
OGT’s Dream Team™, mobile gaming, Cyber Games™ as well as
state-of-the-art Global Operations and Lottery Distribution System (GOLDS).
SOURCE: Lyse Trudel, Communications Officer, Oberthur Gaming Technologies, (+1-514) 254-3600, ext. 101, Email: lyse.trudel@mtl.oberthurgt.com. For information: Jeffrey Shoumaker, Account Manager, Oberthur Gaming Technologies – USA, Phone: (+1-210) 509-9999, ext. 238, Email: Jeffrey.shoumaker@sa.oberthurgt.com. Missouri Lottery To Celebrate 20th Anniversary With Raffle Promotion JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri (January 20, 2006) -- Missouri Lottery players can help the Lottery celebrate 20 years of fun and prize-winning with the Lottery's new "20th Anniversary Dream Draw" raffle game. Players can win up to $200,000 tax paid* in the Numbers Game raffle, which starts on Jan. 23 and ends on Feb. 23. "We wanted to do something special for our 20th anniversary on Jan. 20," said Scott White, on-line product manager for the Missouri Lottery. "The raffle promotion is the perfect way to offer unique prizes that reflect the number 20."
White said players who purchase a Dream Draw raffle ticket will have a chance to win $20 instantly. Instant-win tickets will be generated randomly at the time of purchase and can be validated at the retail location or at any other Numbers Games retail location. Each week during the four-week promotion, one raffle number will be drawn and the raffle ticket holder will receive a $20,000 tax-paid prize. During the final drawing on Feb. 24, the Lottery will draw from among all the entries received for the four drawings to award one grand prize: $200,000 taxes paid. Raffle tickets will cost $2 for one 10-digit raffle number or $5 for three 10-digit numbers. Drawings will be held on Feb. 3, Feb. 10, Feb. 17 and Feb. 24. For more information about the new raffle, go to the Lottery's Web site at molottery.com. NOTE* The Missouri Lottery will pay standard withholding taxes for the prizes based on its value. Depending on personal income, winners may owe additional taxes for the prize, or they may be entitled to a refund. The total value of the top prize is $281,690.10. After withholding, winners will receive $200,000. The total value of the $20,000 tax-paid weekly prize is $28,169. After withholding, the winners will receive $20,000. SOURCE: Missouri Lottery media
release. Dansk Tipstjeneste A/S Becomes Danske Spil A/S COPENHAGEN, Denmark (January 24, 2006) -- In the course of 2006, the Danish pools and lottery company Dansk Tipstjeneste A/S will change its name to Danske Spil A/S, and the company’s logo will be revised in connection with the change of name. The Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Ministry of Taxation have both approved the management’s request for permission to change the company’s name.
“Historically, the name Dansk Tipstjeneste dates back to a time when the company only offered one type of game of chance, i.e. Tips (football pools), and when “tjenester” (services) were often used in connection with public institutions,” explains H.C. Madsen, Managing Director of Tipstjenesten. “Today, the pools games represent less than 4 % of Tipstjenesten’s total turnover. Concurrently, there has been a marked change in forms of betting and entertainment, which develop in parallel with the technological development. Seeing that Dansk Tipstjeneste expects to offer a number of new games of chance in the coming years, both to its dealers and via the Internet, it makes perfect sense to change the name “Dansk Tipstjeneste” to the broader name “Danske Spil”,” adds H.C. Madsen.
The outside world will therefore also be introduced to a new set of concepts from Danske Spil, i.e. a “company soul”, which expresses the company’s overall mission: “For joy and for benefit,” a mandate that will be based on the existing legislation and the company’s licence as well as a new set of values that contains the company’s rules of conduct rooted in four core concepts: trust, entertainment, innovation and responsibility. “The changes of name and logo will not take place everywhere at once, as experience shows that this is a relatively expensive way of implementing such changes. Instead, we will implement these changes over a slightly longer period of time, and the changes will primarily make themselves felt in the day-to-day advertising of our games,” ends H.C. Madsen. Further information may be obtained from H.C. Madsen on +45 36 72 00 11 SOURCE: Thomas Rørsig, Information Manager, Mobile: +45 40 32 93 39 Variations of the new logo can be seen at Tipstjenesten’s website, www.tips.dk Louisiana Lottery Transfers Over $106.4 Million in Revenue to State for Calendar Year 2005 LOUISIANA, USA (January 20, 2006) -- The Louisiana Lottery Corporation announced that it has transferred over $9.9 million from December revenues to the state treasury department, bringing its calendar year total transfers to $106.4 million. President Randy Davis said that revenue for December totaling over $28 million resulted in $9,919,900 being sent to the state treasury, which allowed the Lottery to meet its budgeted goal for calendar year 2005 despite having nearly 42 percent of its retailer operations adversely affected by Hurricanes Katrina or Rita in the last quarter of the calendar year.
"Like so many Louisiana businesses, the Lottery continues to face challenges created by the storms. We are proud of the resiliency shown by our retailers. Their cooperation has enabled us to meet our revenue goals," Davis said. Since the Lottery began operations in 1991, more than $4.7 billion in revenue has been generated by its scratch-off and drawing-game ticket sales and more than $1.6 billion has been transferred to the state treasury department. Lottery proceeds are earmarked for the Minimum Foundation Program, which funds public education in Louisiana. Under state law, the treasury department receives 35 percent of every $1 sale. At least 50 percent is returned to players in the form of prizes and retailers receive at least 5 percent as commission on ticket sales. Less than 10 percent is retained by the Lottery for operating costs. Davis noted that all ticket purchasers must be at least 21 years of age and that anyone with a gambling problem, or friends of anyone with a gambling problem, are encouraged to call toll-free 1-877-770-7867. SOURCE: Louisiana Lottery media release. OGT Brings Currier & Ives to the Lottery Industry
SAN ANTONIO, Texas, USA (January 25, 2006) -- Oberthur Gaming Technologies (“OGT”) is pleased to announce the expansion of its artist series with 19th century American lithography Currier & Ives. Currier & Ives complements OGT’s hugely successful artist series with images produced not only by Currier & Ives, but the firms “Stodart & Currier” and “N. Currier”. OGT’s portfolio of world-renown artists have shown global success on lottery tickets; and with the addition of Currier & Ives, this gives OGT another collection that has been truly celebrated throughout time. Nat Currier and Jim Ives, the creators of these famous historic prints, produced over 7,500 scenes which included: sentimental images, sports, humor, city and rural scenes, historical portraits, and many more general topics that could easily translate onto traditional, whimsical and seasonal lottery tickets for consumers to enjoy.
Today, the Currier & Ives prints are collected and treasured by art lovers worldwide. Their historic images can be found in millions of households as reproductions on home décor, social expressions, kitchen, textile and domestics. “In addition to the popularity of Currier & Ives, and the vast number of prints available to OGT, the tie between Currier & Ives and lottery beneficiaries is remarkable, as the Currier & Ives Foundation benefits education,” claimed Carla Schaefer OGT’s V.P. of New Business Development at OGT. OGT’s exclusive agreement is with the Currier & Ives Foundation, a non-profit corporation dedicated to preserving, cataloging, and providing education about their historic American lithographs, and Stone America Licensing, who is the licensing agent for the Currier & Ives Foundation. About Oberthur Gaming
Technologies (www.oberthurgt.com)
About The Currier & Ives
Foundation About Stone America
Licensing SOURCE: Lyse Trudel, Communications
Officer, Oberthur Gaming Technologies, (+1-514) 254-3600, ext. 101, Email:
lyse.trudel@mtl.oberthurgt.com.
New Zealand Lotteries Commission Chief Executive Resigns NEW ZEALAND (January 25, 2006) -- The Chief Executive of New Zealand Lotteries Commission (NZ Lotteries), Trevor Hall has resigned from his position to take up a new role at Tourism Holdings Limited, effective June 2006, NZ Lotteries Chair John Goulter announced today.
Mr. Goulter said that on behalf of the Board he wanted to congratulate Mr. Hall on his appointment and to thank him for the very positive contribution he has made to NZ Lotteries since joining in February 2003. He said the Board plans to commence the recruitment process for a new Chief Executive in the very near future. "I am confident that an appointment will be made before Trevor leaves in June," he said. Mr. Goulter said that since Mr. Hall joined NZ Lotteries as Chief Executive in February 2003 the organisation had experienced a business turnaround that has been particularly impressive. Mr. Goulter said Mr. Hall was leaving with the Board's blessing, and goodwill, and would continue in his role until June this year. SOURCE: Press Release, New Zealand Lotteries Commission.
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The
change of name will be followed up with a minor modernisation of
Tipstjenesten’s well-known logo: The Yellow Pools Dice. In the future, the
dice will appear without the product logos on it, as the products will be
marketed independently in the future.
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