Online Lottery Could Be Coming To A State Near You

[seabeyond]

Several states — including Illinois and New York — are now pushing forward with plans to offer lotteries on the Internet. That's in the aftermath of an opinion from the Justice Department, which reverses a long-standing policy and says states are free to conduct online gambling within their borders.

The lottery issue came to the forefront when the two states, which were both moving forward with Internet lottery plans, asked the Justice Department for clarification. The answer came two days before Christmas when federal authorities said the 1961 Wire Act — long considered a provision prohibiting all Internet gambling — only prohibits betting on sports.

"What that means is [that] states are now free to do just about anything they want," says gambling analyst and Whittier law professor I. Nelson Rose. Rose says the Justice Department opinion was a Christmas present from the Obama administration to cash-strapped states, which will be able to raise hundreds of millions of dollars.

"There's more than 44 lotteries in this country. They are all looking at 'Let's go online immediately if we can.' They are all looking at their state statutes," Rose says.

http://www.npr.org/2012/01/24/145647048/online-lottery-could-be-coming-to-a-state-near-you

_______________________

i kinda had issue with sttes going lottery and promising money to education, where it didnt go.

[Tunkamerica]

1. And online poker was outlawed why?

[Systematic Chaos]

3. +1

When I can go fuck around on PokerStars or Full Tilt for pennies (or nickels, or quarters, or dollars, or what the fuck ever my finances can support) again, then and only then do I want to hear this shit about online lotteries.

Fucking bunch of asshole morons!!

[closeupready]

7. +2.

nt

[Jello Biafra]

2. Because the government wasn't making any money on it......n/t

[TreasonousBastard]

4. Yet another tax on the poor and...

mathematically challenged.

Yeah, I buy lottery tickets, but drop maybe a buck when I feel like it or a jackpot gets huge. Damn near every time I buy one, though, I'm behind someone with a roll of bills buying a hundred numbers. Really long lines in the poorer neighborhoods.

Between commissions and the state's take, less than half the money is paid out-- highly illegal in casinos, race tracks, or your local Bingo hall.

The odds? Better with your bookie.

Pick 3-- 1,000 to one for an average 300-400 payout.
Pick 4-- 10,000 to one for an average $4000-5000 payout,
Lotto-- around 18 million to one for a $3-7 million payout
Megamillions and Powerball-- 180 million to one for a big payout, but you're not gonna win it.

So, a lottery machine on every block isn't easy enough? Gotta fleece the last dime out of the hungry?

[rurallib]

5. when I heard this story this morning all that went through my mind

was a variation of an old hymn:

Fleecing the sheep
Fleecing the sheep
now there is one more way of
Fleecing the sheep.

[seabeyond]

6. exactly. i feel the same. nt