When ex-con David Edwards won $41 million playing Powerball last year, the lottery finally came full circle. Petty criminals used to run the numbers for the mob; today the lotto racket is legit, state-sanctioned — and big business. The evolution started in 1964, when New Hampshire lifted its ban and became the first state to cut in on the action. Now 38 states participate. Their take: $43 billion a year. The money pours in with the help of a sophisticated technological network that organized crime can only dream of.
LOTTERIES CASH IN ON SATELLITES, DSL, AND THE WEB
Ticket to Ride
The minimart clerk who sold this Powerball ticket may soon do double duty for the DMV, the IRS, or the Department of Fish and Game. For governments, lottery machines — manned or unmanned — are a pipeline to the people. The terminals could someday be used to give driver�s license tests, collect taxes, and print benefits checks. Bolivia and Chile have experimented with bill payment through the terminals, and Oregon tried using them to issue hunting permits.
Rewiring the System
When a ticket is printed, a remote server registers the numbers for verification. Until recently, most US lotteries moved that data over dialup lines at a poky 1.2 Kbps. Equipment manufacturer Scientific Games is helping South Carolina�s lottery speed things up with an encrypted Internet system that transfers data at DSL speeds. Competitor Gtech has upped the ante: In July, it won a bid to equip California lottery terminals with mini-satellite dishes.
Quick Pick Tricks
Most players let the terminal pick their numbers, which means it all comes down to random timing. A microprocessor starts counting as soon as the keyboard is tapped. Each time you or the clerk behind the counter presses another key, the processor computes the elapsed time. The processor takes the resulting figures and scrambles them with the numbers issued on the last ticket sale. The jumbled output is your lucky number — or not.
Follow the Bouncing Ball
The actual Powerball is made of natural-gum rubber that�s meticulously weighed and measured, but its exact specs are a closely guarded secret. Forty-two red balls are used per drawing; the first to drop into a depression in the mixing globe is the winner. It�s the final number in the six-digit game, which in 2000 generated the biggest jackpot ever — $363 million. The 23 Powerball states also run their own lotteries using random numbers that pop out of PCs.
Who Wants to Be a Billionaire?
Every lottery in the US publishes winning numbers on its Web site. And if InternetLoto.com has its way, the game will soon be played online, too. The San Diego company wants to run the first international lottery. Players would log on, choose their numbers, and then click the flags of the territories where they want to play. No one has signed on yet, but the company says Vietnam and Mexico are in final negotiations. The goal: the first billion-dollar jackpot.
START
signal : noise
The Transparent Corporation
Lose $6,000, Win a Vacation
jargon watch
Pssst — Pirate Radio, Pass It On
Only You Can Prevent Spam
Cleaning Up Clean Rooms
Smashing Pumpkins
Why Telemarketing Is Evil
Playing the Numbers
The Six Degrees of Six Degrees
The Daily Tribunal
The Future Is � Then
The End of TV — Again
Wired | Tired | Expired
Nuclear Anxiety
