Lottery news from http://wjz.com/
(AP) Baltimore, MD Maryland Lottery sales hit a new record in the fiscal year that ended in June, topping $1.5 billion for the first time and bringing more than $501 million to state coffers and $900 million to players.
Lottery director Buddy Roogow said attractive scratch-off cards and more second-chance prizes contributed to the strong sales.
Keno and scratch-offs continued to be the lottery's top earners. And several jackpots in the hundreds of millions of dollars in the fall and winter led to a sharp increase in sales of the multistate Mega Millions game.
Most of the $501 million goes to the general fund, with about $20 million going to the state's stadium fund.
The numbers represent about 5 percent more than last year's and exceeded budget estimates by $10 million, Roogow said.
"We have been growing fairly consistently in the past eight or nine years," Roogow said. Lottery sales increased every year for the past nine years.
The state is constantly refining its lottery games to keep interest up. It designed new Keno screens, introduced new
scratch-off cards and in February revamped and renamed Lotto to create more chances to win smaller prizes. The new game is called Multi-Match.
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