The Mississippi Lottery Commission issued the following press release and commercial.
Amid lively music from the Southern Komfort Brass Band and a live radio remote from Mix 98.7, Mississippi Lottery Corporation (MLC) board members, elected officials, MLC employees, Sweet Potato Queens and an Elvis Presley tribute artist gathered around Rep. Alyce G. Clarke as she made a ceremonial purchase of the first lottery ticket in Mississippi at H and R Raceway located at 5785 State Hwy. 18 in Jackson.
The first four scratch-off lottery tickets went on sale today in Mississippi. With more than 1,200 approved retailers on board, the system activated at 5 a.m. (CST).
“I am extremely proud of MLC President Tom Shaheen and his staff at the lottery,” said Dr. Mike McGrevey, chairman of the MLC Board. “In a short period of time, he and his team have created something truly amazing. I have watched them meticulously work through hundreds of action items.
“They created the organization from the ground up in less than six months,” he continued. “This is not only a monumental day for the MLC, but it is also an incredible day for Mississippi. Legislative members determined net proceeds from the lottery will go toward infrastructure and education needs, which are both extremely important to Mississippians.”
Retailers selling today will be able to say they were among the first to be a part of this historical moment in Mississippi. Retailers range from traditional convenience stores, convenience stores with gas, grocery stores, tobacco stores, casinos and even barber shops. Approved retailers have successfully submitted applications, cleared background and credit checks, attended retailer training and received lottery equipment. From start to finish, the approval process on average takes approximately 30 days.
“Today would not have been possible without our retailers,” said MLC President Tom Shaheen. “Some are so excited they are hosting their own giveaways and promotions. In the coming weeks, the retailer base will continue to grow as we continue to process applications, as well as receive new applications.”
Shaheen went on say that none of this could have happened without the support of the MLC Board of Directors, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, the Mississippi Department of Revenue, the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration, our vendor partners and other state lotteries.
36 comments:
I've already won $8 off $10 worth of tickets. I like those odds!
Remember people, this is for the bridges and potholes.
"Shaheen went on say that none of this could have happened without the support of the MLC Board of Directors, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, the Mississippi Department of Revenue, the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration, our vendor partners and other state lotteries."
And the Patels.
Will the fake social security cart and drivers license people be able to convert their equipment to fake scratch offs?
But what if I'm already rich?
Lots of welfare money will be recycled into the lottery system.
Did any of the "1st tickets" payout?
@11:27 AM - Not only welfare money, but also money coming into the system from folks who get paid in cash and as result pay no income or payroll taxes. It is still just a fool's game.
Scratch off tickets. After the jackpot has been won, every ticket is a loser.
Will the government let us know that worthless tickets are still out there?
@11:12
Give me any amount of money you want and I'll give you 80% of it back! Great odds!
Now the poor can pay their fair share!
Finally, I have a retirement plan!
There will be a bump in crime, most commonly commercial burglaries where scratch-off tickets are stolen, in large quantities.
When large jackpots are won, we will also see thefts and sometimes homicides.
But it's for the children, right? Or is it potholes?
It's a tax on stupid yall!
Another exercise in gullibility.
Those who can least afford it will keep this funded.
On the other hand, as has been pointed out above, those professionally on the dole will contribute something too.
Most lotteries pay out ab out 40%. How did this one get to 80%?
Lawd, DPS is involved?? So Marshal Fisher is involved in deciding who gets a lottery retailer permit?
"I spent half of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted."
- W.C. Fileds
The state will bring in much needed revenue with this lottery. A tax in a sense yes but it’s voluntary. Don’t like it then don’t buy any lotto tickets.
No matter how conservative we might be.
No Matter how much we might want to be the only holdout.
No matter how much the bible teaches against this.
No matter how "fiscally responsible" we are.
No matter how much we want the gov'ment out of our pockets and lives.
No matter how much we want to oppose anything "they" want.
Mississippi just can't resist the chance to keep the po' folks po'. After all this can't hurt the rich. That's what matters.
Get ready to see thousands of used scratch off tickets just about everywhere within walking distance of lottery sellers.
Over time you will see faded out tickets in trees along creeks and just about every place imaginable.
Periodic hare-brained burglaries of tickets from stores are a certainty ( tickets are worthless within minutes when stolen)
Poor decision making with critical income forcing even worse economic conditions on many will occur.
I spend more money on ammunition than I ever will on lottery tickets. I fire at least 500 rounds a month of cheap Russian zinc plated lead. I'm not going broke from buying a few $2 scratchers each month.
Cigarettes literally go up in smoke and ash. Food turns to feces.
The news media mentions that we have gone so long without a lottery due to the influence of "powerful churches" but I haven't a peep from them. Don't hardcore evangelicals protest everything they hate?
Seems to me it was more like a powerful gambling lobby that kept the lottery out. Sort of like how a powerful bootleg liquor lobby kept the state dry for so long.
The only difference between an 80% payout and a 90% payout on these lottery schemes is the time it takes to lose all of your money. This is about “jackpot dreams”. The people who play these do not quit until their money is gone, and unfortunately it is the “have nots” that almost always fall for these ephemeral hoaxes.
I'd rather see discarded scratchoff tickets than the raw sewage.
But, nothing says classy more than heading to SoJack to a malt liquor dispensary and borrowing from the lottery man to buy tickets.
Except, maybe, the Elvis impersonator. Was Flavor Flav booked or still in detox?
11:27 & 11:38.....people are foolish if they think this hasn't been going on for years.
Countless backroom Crap games, Poker Skin Games!! Many years ago, busted a gaming house in sight of Capitol. About 30 people put in jail, but they were all smiling...why, because we got the tally books with all debits owed. Well over 6 figures.
People who think the so called poor haven't been gambling and this is just another tax, well you really don't have a clue to what goes on in life.
Another shocker. You could even buy liquor and sex in these places you didn't have a clue about that existed.
Nothing new going on under the sun, just every day business and even with casinos and lottery, they will continue to thrive.
Did you read in the clarion-Liar that the high-roller holding up these tickets had to "borrow" three dollars to partake in the evils of the lottery?
Guess stupid just isn't limited to the "poor"!!!
Jeez people....get a grip.
There have been people gambling for years, even all your good Baptist!
Ever year when the fair comes to town, they lined up to win that oversized "teddy Bear" or a Goldfish to take home.
You knew the odds were in the games favor, but it was part of the fun. No one made you play break the 2 plates and walk away a winner, but it was just like that "corn dog", ya just had to have a go at it.
On the whole gambling thing.
Like Andy Taylor said: Act like ya got some common sense.
Very appropriate that W.C.Fields is mentioned right here at Christmas time when we're listening to Gene Autry's Rudolph on the radio.
Ironic, isn’t it? Mississippi passed on a lottery decades ago in favor of casinos. Windfalls and buckets of cash were to solve our educational woes.
Today, the buckets of cash have done nothing for the education system while businesses and families have been bankrupted by compulsive gamblers (including those businesses that were driven under by embezzlement of non owners).
And we have decided that we want the money because so many people drove to LA when there was a $500,000,000 powerball. My god, we sold our future for a bowl of soup.
Just glad Tater didn't raise our gas tax so I have extra money to buy lottery tickets. It's a great day!! I'm glad to do my part for roads and bridges, just don't need the government raising my taxes.
2:00pm, please tell me where it says “Thou shalt not play the lottery”. If you don’t want to play then by all means don’t play but spare the rest of us from your BS!
7:03 - You've resurrected that tired old (and inaccurate) claim about gaming promising to solve our educational funding woes. Yet, you can't point to a single thing in any comments, bills, regulations or intent that ever mentioned funding education.
Bingo halls have had similar products for decades. Gas stations have had scratch offs, in the form of prepaid phone cards, for decades. Big deal.
Tate is a coward for not raising the gas tax, a tax that hasn't kept up with inflation. The 80 million that they hope to get from the lottery won't put a dent in this states new construction and maintenance needs. They just keep kicking the can down the road because "taxes" are bad. Gas taxes are a legitimate user tax required to fulfill a legitimate function of government. I use at least 50 gallons of gas a week. I would gladly pay another five cents or more per gallon to know that I can get to where I need to go without having to worry about getting a new alignment every six months or that I have to take another detour because a bridge is out. Hey but you conservatives just keep on voting for those cowards.
If you want revenue, you tax whatever you have a surplus of.
In Mississippi, that means taxing uneducated, desperate people.
to 7:03 - whoa - back up a minute. You say the buckets of cash have done nothing for the schools? The schools have more money now than ever, so maybe the problem is not with the schools. Could it be that the problem lies with the kids that come to school with bad attitudes, no respect for anyone, no basic manners and no will to get an education? You think that maybe the problem is not with the schools. You think maybe the problem is at home???
....to leave an unscratched lottery ticket in the offering plate at church tomorrow?
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