After Saturday night, Maine residents will not be able to purchase some multi-state lottery games, such as Powerball and Mega Millions, until the state shutdown ends, state officials announced Saturday.
At convenience stores in Portland on Saturday, a bright red screen flashed with "Breaking News" near cash registers, letting customers know that they had until 9:30 p.m. to purchase Hot Lotto tickets and 9:50 p.m. to buy Powerball tickets. Mega Millions and Lucky for Life stopped being sold on Friday night.
"Oh, no — my addiction!" joked Karen O'Shei, after buying some scratch tickets at Joe's Super Variety on Congress Street in Portland. The 55-year-old Portland resident had just won $6 from Hot Lotto, a game she plays on a weekly basis. "That's the only one of the draw tickets I play on a regular basis."
Instant scratch tickets, as well as Megabucks, Pick 3, Pick 4, Gimme5 and World Poker Tour, will remain on sale. However, people with winning scratch tickets worth more than $600 will not be able to redeem them until state government reopens.
Gregory R. Mineo, director of the Maine State Lottery, said the state voluntarily stopped selling the four draw games because of it would be unable to meet its contractual obligations with a consortium of other states. That contract requires each state to send a portion of its sales into a reserve account, so money will be available to any winners.
"During a shutdown, no funds may go out of the state government that were not appropriated by the Legislature and this would fall under that category," Mineo said.
Megabucks, Pick 3 and Pick 4 are tri-state games offered in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Mineo said those games will not be affected because there is enough money in reserves to pay winners.
While scratch tickets will continue to be sold, any big winners will have to wait until the shutdown ends. Players with winning tickets worth $600 or less can still redeem them at stores. However, winning tickets above $600 need to be redeemed at the Maine State Lottery office in Augusta, which will remain closed until the shutdown ends.
Mineo said that the state has enough reserve funds to reimburse store owners, as well.
Mineo said the state's lottery vendor, Scientific Games, based in Gardiner, will continually update lottery vendors and players throughout the shutdown. "It's a frequent blast on those terminals when those stores are open about what's going on," he said.
At the 7-Eleven on Congress Street in Portland on Saturday, a sign hung in the window indicating that the store had recently had a $9,000 Hot Lotto winner. Cashier Charles Davis said he had only tried to sell one Lucky for Life ticket on Saturday, but it wouldn't go through.
"Only one guy," Davis said. "And he was upset."
The four draw games affected by the shutdown generate $800,000 in weekly sales, including $200,000 in weekly profit for the state, Mineo said. Like everyone, he's eager for the state government to reopen.
"We hope it's not long-lived," he said.
The money is there. As the article says, they bring in a profit of $200k for the state. There is no reason why they cant enact a bill that says they will fund the lottery as other states have done when they have failed to pass a budget on time.
Unfortunately People have a Short Memory: When it comes time to vote: They won't remember to Vote these Legislators Out of Office.
I need some help in setting up this scene.
Maybe it starts with a close-up of our antagonized ticket buyer's face as he starts his rant.
"You maniacs! You blew it up! "
Now, the new angle shows the buyer on his knees before a lottery terminal knocked over on the sand of the beach.
"Ah, <snip> you! <snip> you all to hell!! "
Now, the camera does one of those impossible close-up zooms to the cash and playslip in his hand. We see the six numbers he has selected. The picture spins for a second or two. Then, we see the page in the newspaper showing the winning numbers, and his are all there.
And, now he's seen back on the sand pounding his fist into the ground. The camera pans behind him. We hear him shout "maniacs!" a few more times as the camera then changes angles to reveal a state capitol in front of him. This last scene needs a little something extra.
Until very recently I thought it was just Illinois but saw something very interesting last night....16 states are in the same boat financially....thanks to decades of democrat leadership.
Truth be known, PB and MM could probably survive with NY, CA, PA,Tex, and FL.
I do not have a short memory, unfortunately this state of WA is run by the looney leftist liberals in Seattle. Its the same ole, same ole, wish I had the answer. Patty Murray has been in office since 1992, Maria Cantwell in office since 2001, Cathy McMorris Rogers (Republican but makes no difference) from Eastern Washington since 2005. THIS IS RIDICULOUS, WE NEED TERM LIMITS.
Hi Raven62 ,,
You ain't kidding ..people forget way to easy on things like this
The Supreme Court has ruled that term limits for congress are unconstitutional. Not that it matters though because the state budgets are state issues which have nothing to do with the federal representatives and senators.