Category: Arkansas Lottery

Lottery Approves Monitor Games Despite Legislators’ Objections

On Wednesday the Arkansas Lottery Commission voted to approve “monitor games” despite objections from lawmakers.

According to testimony from the lottery director and members of the commission, these games will allow players to purchase lottery tickets and watch lottery results on flat-screen televisions in places lottery tickets are sold. Monitor game drawings would occur every four minutes, and games would be similar to keno or bingo.

Explained in the cold light of day, the image doesn’t sound too dangerous: People will watch lottery results on a television screen instead of scratching off a piece of paper. The truth is this opens the door for “lottery” gambling that looks and feels more like casino gambling, with people gathering to wager on games played out via video monitors. The fact that these games will run on a four-minute cycle means lottery play will be fast-paced and continuous–two ingredients that factor heavily into gambling addiction.

This means that very soon Arkansas’ bars, gas stations, or convenience stores could operate more like miniature casinos under the guise of the Arkansas Lottery. By designating a lounge or back room for playing the lottery, any business licensed to sell lottery tickets could set up video screens and terminals for playing these monitor games. In the case of bars and restaurants, patrons may be able to purchase lottery tickets and play variations of keno while drinking or dining. The games at this point will not be the full-fledged video lottery terminals you see in some states–which are interactive, with touch-screens that look and function more like slot machines–but these games are a step in that direction.

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Lottery Lowers Scholarship Goal, Shows Evidence of Poor Management

The Arkansas Lottery is “a success story” compared to other state lotteries, but it’s reducing its college scholarship budget for the year.

That’s what lottery officials said in a meeting yesterday. The Arkansas Lottery is reducing scholarship projections for 2014 by roughly $6.8 million. This tracks with what we wrote last week about how the Arkansas Lottery is on target to come in nearly $8 million under budget on scholarships this year.

If you read the news coverage from yesterday’s meeting, it seems as if lottery officials are ready to blame the budget shortfall on everything and everybody except themselves. The lottery is allegedly struggling because they can’t accept credit or debit cards; because they can’t sell lottery tickets online; because they can’t do monitor games; because scratch-off ticket sales are down; and because they took a loss on a new raffle game.

But lottery officials say Arkansas’ lottery is “a success story” compared to other state lotteries, because we are sixteenth out of forty-five states in lottery ticket sales, per-capita.

Something about those statements just doesn’t add up.

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Lottery Could Pay Higher Scholarships Even If Sales Dropped by Millions?

An old myth keeps resurfacing about the Arkansas Lottery: The idea that by not allocating a large percentage of its revenue for scholarships each year, the Arkansas Lottery is somehow more profitable and able to “generate” more scholarship money in the long-run.

Currently, about 19% – 20% of the Lottery’s revenue goes to scholarship. Lottery proponents say if the Arkansas Lottery were required to allocate 30% of its gross revenue for scholarships (like many state lotteries), it would have less money to spend on promotional activity and prizes, which drive lottery ticket sales. By letting the Arkansas Lottery allocate a smaller percentage of revenue for sales, the Lottery is able to spend more money on prizes, which leads to more lottery ticket sales and–ultimately–more college scholarships.

To put it bluntly, this idea is complete nonsense. To prove it, let’s do the math.

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