1989

January
o       The Kentucky Senate confirms the appointment of the first seven members to the Kentucky Lottery board of directors: William Sullivan, chairman, Robert Anderson, Charles Baird, Al Brown, Ralph Hacker, Connie Lawson and Charlene Vater.
o       State Treasurer Robert Mead, CPA was appointed to serve ex-officio.
o       Frank Keener, who chaired the lottery commission, is named president of the Kentucky Lottery Corporation.
February
o       Louisville is selected as the site for Kentucky Lottery Corporation (KLC) headquarters.  Regional offices are designated for Lexington, Florence, Henderson, Prestonsburg, Bowling Green, and Ashland.
o       Hiring begins for a 155 member staff.
March
o       The board of directors and other KLC officials decide to launch the Kentucky Lottery with two instant games rather than one, the traditional number.  BEGINNER’S LUCK is a $1 game with a $1,000 top prize.  KENTUCKY DERBY DREAMSTAKES, a $2 game, is based on the world’s most famous horse race, the Kentucky Derby.
April
o       On April 4, the first day of sales, over 5,000 licensed retailers sell more than $5 million in Kentucky Lottery tickets.
o       The KLC’s first week of sales generates $27 million, making Kentucky’s lottery one of the leaders in first-week sales per capita.
May
o       Big winners in DERBY DREAMSTAKES attend the Kentucky Derby as guests of the KLC. Each winner draws the name of a horse running in the Derby.  The person with the winning horse wins $1 million.  Danny Hurley of Chavies, Kentucky becomes the KLC’s first million dollar winner as Sunday Silence crosses the finish line.
July 10
o       The KLC makes its first dividend payment to the commonwealth in the amount of $41 million.
August
o       Lottery officials again differentiate the Kentucky Lottery from those in other states by approving nontraditional pricing for on-line lotto tickets: One play for $1; three plays for $2; and eight plays for $5.  LOTTO KENTUCKY, a traditional lottery game, will be the first on-line game introduced.
September
o       GTECH, the KLC’s on-line vendor, begins the installation of the first 1,000 on-line ticket terminals across the state.
October
o       On October 16, the first LOTTO KENTUCKY ticket is sold. The game has a 6/42 matrix with about a 1 in 5.2 million odds of winning the jackpot. Jackpot prizes are paid in 20 annual installments.  A weekly drawing is held on Saturdays at 7:28 p.m. EST.
o       LOTTO KENTUCKY makes its first millionaires on October 28.  John and Pat Ackerman of Louisville win the $2 million jackpot with the only ticket that matches all six numbers.
November 20
o       The KLC launches KENTUCKY CASH, its second on-line game. The daily game is later renamed PICK 3.