January 2016
Volume 27
Issue 1
Minnesota players get lucky for life!
Win once, win for life! That’s what sets Lucky for Life apart
from all the other lotto games.
®
It’s been almost one year since we joined the Lucky for Life
multi-state game, which offers TWO lifetime prizes.
On Nov. 19, 2015, South Carolina had the first $1,000 a day
for life grand prize winner. That’s equivalent to earning $83
an hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! Now that’s what we
call a payday.
So far this year, 40* lucky players throughout the 16
participating lotteries have won $25,000 a year for life
prizes, including five right here in Minnesota!
Don’t forget that retailers can win big too when their players win:
Minnesota retailer selling bonus:
$1,000 a day for life prize, $10,000
$25,000 a year for life, $5,000
How can you increase your chance of selling a big winner?
It’s simple—ask for the sale! Lucky for Life is an easy upsell
for your sales associates: If a player purchases three
Mega Millions tickets, ask if they want to try Lucky for Life
for an even $5 purchase. Challenge your sales staff to see
who can sell the most Lucky for Life tickets on drawing days
(Mondays and Thursdays) and reward the top associate with
a store gift card. Contact your Lottery sales representative for
more easy and fun ideas.
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®
*As of Dec. 29, 2015
Lottery director update
As you may know, the Lottery’s Executive Director resigned
at the end of 2015. Governor Dayton and his team are
leading the search for a new Executive Director.
We will properly introduce you to the next Executive Director
in an upcoming issue of the LINK, as soon as one is named.
Kristin Batson, from Minnesota Management and Budget,
has been named acting Executive Director.
All of us at the Lottery wish you a happy and prosperous
2016. We look forward to another successful year working
with you.
We greatly value our retail partners.
A White Bear Lake resident got himself a Christmas
gift that keeps on giving. On Dec. 25, Shane Koller
discovered that the Lucky for Life ticket he purchased
the night before won a $25,000 a year for life prize.
Holiday Stationstore Inc., located at 1800 E. County
Road F in White Bear Lake, sold the winning ticket.
Koller’s ticket matched the first five numbers drawn.
Had the ticket matched the sixth winning number—the
Lucky Ball, which was 5—he would have won the game’s
top prize of $1,000 a day for life. “It was just one off
from winning $1,000 a day for life!” he recalled. “If I had
had a 5 instead of a 6 … .”
Minnesota’s fourth $25,000 a year for life winner stepped
forward on Dec. 24. Irina Ivanov of Shakopee won the
lifetime prize on Dec. 21. She opted for the $390,000
cash option. Cub Foods, located at 3550 Vicksburg Lane
N. in Plymouth, sold Ivanov’s winning ticket.
The Lottery’s Top Sellers recognizes retailers
for exceptional sales performance. Each of the
businesses that made this month’s Top Sellers
will receive $50 in free scratch tickets.
Top 10 sellers of #560, Hunt for Big Cash and #561, Bearded
Bucks (combined), Sept. 29, 2015 – Dec. 14, 2015:
M & H Gas, Moorhead
MSP Airport Foundation, St. Paul
Casey’s General Store #3357, Moorhead
Cub Foods, Crystal
SuperAmerica #4445, Blaine
Casey’s General Store #2202, Moorhead
Cedar BP, Bloomington
Cash Wise Foods #3009, Waite Park
Kaposia Convenience Center, South St. Paul
SuperAmerica #52, White Bear Lake
Upcoming Top Sellers (schedule is tentative):
February – Fiscal Year 2016 sales leaders, 2nd quarter
March – Top two regional Minnesota Millionaire Raffle sellers
Conversion update
By now you have received your new equipment. We’re
hearing from you that you really love the speed of the new
terminal. The next step is the new software downloads,
which are targeted for April 17. Some major innovations with
the new software and other enhancements will make selling
and accounting even easier:
•
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Scratch shift accounting will allow you to scan your last
tickets at the end of each shift and at the end of the day
to balance your sales against your cash register and
reports will calculate the sales automatically!
•
A new report shows exactly what inventory is in your
store!
•
A new online training so you can train new employees at
your convenience.
•
Re-designed scheduled return ticket receipt includes
more detailed information requested by retailers.
•
Retailer website: one-stop location for all your
information needs, from billing statements to plan-ograms to a variety of reports you can download.
•
Winners specific to your store will appear on your
LottoVision screen to advertise your lucky store.
Lottery dollars to support
new projects
A new group of environmental projects is making its way to the
legislature next spring for approval to receive Lottery funding
through the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.
A total of 89 projects have been selected by the LegislativeCitizen Commission on Minnesota Resources to receive
$46.3 million.
The projects
will benefit
Minnesota’s
environment
through land
acquisition,
water resources,
environmental
education, air
quality, climate
change, renewable
energy and
research.
Photo courtesy of Carrol Henderson, DNR.
A chance to escape winter
that practically sells itself!
Your customers will definitely warm up to this
fun ticket.
When it’s cold and snow is blowing, suggest
the Escape to Margaritaville ticket to your
customers.
®
Not only can they win $75,000, but they can
enter for a chance to win a trip to warm up in
Florida!
There are 85 prizes of $1,000 to $75,000, so
your players will have lots of chances to win big!
®
•
We’ll keep you posted as we progress toward the April
17 launch date.
© 2016 Margaritaville Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved. MARGARITAVILLE and NO PASSPORT REQUIRED
are trademarks of Margaritaville Enterprises, LLC and are used under license.
Minnesota Lottery is committed to offering
fair and secure games
There have been recent news stories
about the employee of the Multi-State
Lottery Association (Eddie Tipton) who
was found guilty of tampering with
lottery equipment after attempting to
claim a Hot Lotto jackpot won in Iowa
in 2010.
®
Please let your staff and customers
know that the Minnesota Lottery is
committed to offering fair and secure
games for the people of Minnesota.
We have no reason to believe Tipton
compromised any in-state game
Retailer t
Spotligh
(Daily 3 , Northstar Cash , Gopher 5 )
offered by the Minnesota Lottery.
Tipton built and serviced random
number generators (RNGs) for the
Multi-State Lottery Association. (The
Minnesota Lottery uses RNGs built by
an industry-leading third party, and
Tipton has never serviced our RNGs.)
All drawings conducted in Minnesota
are done under camera and in the
presence of a third party auditor.
Further, all RNGs used for the national
games in which Minnesota participates
®
®
®
(Hot Lotto , All or Nothing ) have been
replaced since Tipton’s arrest.
®
®
The Lottery has undergone an
extensive internal review by security
staff and an external review in
cooperation with the Iowa Department
of Criminal Investigation and no fraud
involving Tipton has been uncovered in
Minnesota.
Please share any questions or
concerns with us at [email protected]
or (651) 635-8273, then press 1.
D&R Marketing Chain in southeastern Minnesota
Locations:
Why this is a great Lottery retailer:
Hilltop Quick Mart in Mankato
Le Hillier Quick Mart in Mankato
Mankato Quick Mart in Mankato
New Ulm Quick Mart in New Ulm
St. Peter Quick Mart in St. Peter
All the stores do a great job of
displaying Lottery signage. “It reminds
players to check their tickets and that
in turn increases sales because if
they’re digging in their purse or their
billfold for their tickets, there’s a good
chance they’re going to purchase some
additional tickets,” explained chain
supervisor Jane Younge.
Background:
“This is a family-owned five-store
chain. You get the friendly face of a
friendly clerk and they appreciate your
business,” explained Lottery sales rep
Cindy Boerner, who works with three of
the stores.
“They do a great job with promotions
and winner awareness,” said Lottery
sales rep Joel Erickson, who works with
two of the stores. Boerner added, “They
are always open to suggestions and
opportunities to increase sales; we have
great success with promotions here.
They have done ‘buy and gets’ with
tickets, envelope promotions, a Raffle
promotion, second-chance drawings
and we also include clerk incentives.”
According to Younge, “It’s definitely
worth doing promotions. The clerks
are always excited about doing that
and letting the customers know. I don’t
know that we’ve ever turned down a
partnership with the Lottery.”
Younge continued, “I think the Lottery
is a good partnership with us and
it does bring in foot traffic without
inconvenience. It’s just a good plus to
have at the convenience store level.”
Lottery Luck:
“They’ve had a lot of big winners. I hear
from many players talking about the
lucky store on 2nd St. in Mankato,” said
Erickson. All of the stores in this chain
have had several big winners, but the
Mankato Quick Mart is an especially
lucky spot. Big winners at the Mankato
store include a $1 million Minnesota
Millionaire Raffle prize, a $50,000 Cash
for Life prize, a $33,414 Northstar Cash
prize and a $25,000 a year for life Lucky
for Life prize.
Above: Quick Mart store manager Jenny Swanson (left) and chain supervisor Jane Younge.
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Top prize winning ticket bonus
Orton’s Point Tesoro in East
Grand Forks, $270
T & B’s Short Stop
in Ashby, $130
Holiday Stationstores, Inc.
in St. Peter, $1,000
Coborn’s #2044 in
Montevideo, $130
Cub Foods in Brooklyn Park
(North), $500
Stop-N-Shop #1 in
Minneapolis, $1,000
SuperAmerica #4180 in
Bloomington, $433
Holiday Stationstores in
Bloomington, $2,000
County Market in
St. Francis, $500
Coon Rapids Holiday #3514
in Coon Rapids, $500
PRESORTED
STANDARD
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
DETROIT LAKES, MN
PERMIT NO. 14
Minnesota State Lottery
2645 Long Lake Road
Roseville, Minnesota 55113
mnlottery.com
Debbie Hoffmann, executive editor
Marie Hinton, managing editor
Emily Frost, editor
Kelly Barto, graphic designer
This publication is available in alternative
formats to individuals with disabilities by
calling (651) 635-8273, (888) 568-8379.
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New Games
Feb. 2, 2016:
Feb. 23, 2016: