VIDEO: The official drawings of the Illinois Lottery playlist. If the latest drawing is not in the playlist, or if you want to see all Illinois Lottery videos, see youtube.com/user/TheIllinoisLottery/videos.
Youtube.com/TheIllinoisLottery
Youtube.com/TheIllinoisLottery/videos
The Illinois Lottery
The Illinois Lottery began July 1, 1974 amid great excitement across the state. During its first years, it sold “passive” games via weekly drawings. First year sales topped $129 million. Sales faltered in subsequent years, after the novelty of the Lottery wore off, prompting some to call for an end to the Lottery. In 1980 the first terminal game, Pick 3, was introduced. Pick 3 breathed new life into the Lottery, tallying sales of $164 million during its first full year of operation.
Did you know that on November 5, 2008 — the day after Election Day when President Barack Obama was elected — the Evening Pick 3 game drawing was 6-6-6? Irrational fear of the number 6-6-6 is known as hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia, which literally means “fear of six hundred sixty-six”. Fact check: Snopes.
Other strange number results have also occurred with state lotteries. On the one-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the New York state lottery drew 9-1-1 in 2002.
Lottery profits initially went to the State’s General Revenue Fund, until legislation was passed in 1985 earmarking profits for the Common School Fund, which is still the Lottery’s major benefactor. 2006 saw the first “specialty instant games” launched; these games benefit a particular cause like Illinois Veterans, the fight against breast cancer, MS research, and assistance for people living with HIV-AIDS. In 2010, the Lottery began contributing to the Capitol Projects Fund, which helps build and renovate state roads and bridges.
OFFICIAL WEBSITES …
The Lottery has been an independent, cabinet-level department for most of its history, although it operated under the Department of Revenue (DoR) on two separate occasions. Most recently, the Lottery separated from DoR on October 15, 2011. It has a current operating budget of about $30 million a year and employs 152 people, including 80 employees who take their direction from the Lottery’s private manager, Northstar Lottery Group. With Northstar’s assistance, the Lottery launched an internet sales pilot project for Lotto and Mega Millions on March 25, 2012, when it became the first US lottery to sell tickets on the internet.
The Lottery operates under the direction of its Director, BR Lane, and is assisted by the Lottery Control Board. It operates from locations in Chicago, Springfield, Des Plaines, Rockford and Fairview Heights.
On October 1, 2015, the Illinois Lottery started determining the winning numbers electronically, using a computer with a random number generator (RNG), instead of the mechanical method of selecting winning numbers using machines with numbered balls broadcast on WGN-TV. The mechanical lottery results were broadcast on WGN for more than 25 years.
Now the lottery results are generated by a computer in a locked vault with security devices and procedures in place to attempt to prevent lottery fraud. An independent auditor also oversees the number selection. Lottery fraud was attempted in 2010 by a former Information Security Director for the Multi-State Lottery Association — the association that manages Powerball and Mega Millions. Security is an important and necessary function of the state lottery games to attempt to prevent insider criminal activities.
BEWARE: Problem gambling is an addictive behavior with a high comorbidity with alcohol problems. A common feature shared by people who suffer from gambling addiction is impulsivity.
Pathological gambling is a common disorder that is associated with both social and family costs.
The DSM-V has reclassified pathological gambling as “gambling disorder” and has listed the disorder under substance-related and addictive disorders rather than impulse-control disorders. The decision is due to the symptomatology of the disorder resembling an addiction not dissimilar to that of substance-abuse. According to the American Psychiatric Association (May 18, 2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.), in order to be diagnosed, an individual must have at least four of the following symptoms in a 12-month period:
1) Needs to gamble with increasing amounts of money in order to achieve the desired excitement
2) Is restless or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop gambling
3) Has made repeated unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop gambling
4) Is often preoccupied with gambling (e.g., having persistent thoughts of reliving past gambling experiences, handicapping or planning the next venture, thinking of ways to get money with which to gamble)
5) Often gambles when feeling distressed (e.g., helpless, guilty, anxious, depressed)
6) After losing money gambling, often returns another day to get even (“chasing” one’s losses)
7) Lies to conceal the extent of involvement with gambling
8) Has jeopardized or lost a significant relationship, job, education or career opportunity because of gambling
9) Relies on others to provide money to relieve desperate financial situations caused by gambling
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Warning from PowerBall …
Never spend more than you can afford on any lottery product.
Please remember, it’s just a game.
The Multi-State Lottery Association encourages all lottery players to be responsible in their amount of play.
For some people gambling can become a problem. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, there are a number of helpful resources listed below.
National Council on Problem Gambling
24 Hour Confidential National Helpline
Call: 1-800-522-4700
Chat: ncpgambling.org/chat
Text: 1-800-522-4700
Association of Problem Gambling Service Administrators
www.apgsa.org