1998

February
o       The Kentucky Lottery Corporation reaches a milestone.  The KLC makes history when it transfers $12 million to the state treasury.  That February payment pushes the Lottery past the $1 billion mark in total dividends paid to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, reaching $1,005,000,000 since inception in 1989.  The Lottery celebrated the occasion in the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort where officials presented Governor Paul E. Patton with a ceremonial check for $1,005,000,000.
March
o       CASH 5 reaches its 500th top prize winner when Roger Hicks of Hustonville wins $100,000.
April
o       The Kentucky Lottery Corporation reaches another milestone in instant ticket history with the launch of HAWAII FEVER.  HAWAII FEVER is the first instant game that the KLC has ever offered that has a grand prize rather than cash top prize.  Players can win one of 18 all-expense paid trips for two to Hawaii, as well as other cash prizes ranging from $1 up to $100.
June
o       On June 3, the Kentucky Lottery Corporation launches “Trucks & Bucks,” the first game to give away a vehicle as a top prize. Eight Ford F-150 XLT trucks are to be given away.
o       On June 28, the Kentucky Lottery and officials from the GTECH Corporation flip the switch to start a new on-line gaming system.  The system replaced the network that the Kentucky Lottery has used to sell tickets since start up in 1989.  Conversion from the old analog lines and green Tiffany terminals to a new digital communications network and state-of-the-art blue ISYS terminals was a $50 million project and the culmination of several years of planning and work.
o       On June 30, the Kentucky Lottery Corporation ended Fiscal Year 1998 with another record-setting dividend payment to the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  The KLC transferred $153 million to the state, an amount that surpassed the FY ‘98 dividend budgetary goal by $11 million.
July
o       On July 24, the University of Louisville releases research indicating that 71 percent of Kentuckians approve of the Kentucky Lottery.
o       On July 29, the POWERBALL game sets another world record with a $295 million jackpot. It was won by 13 co-workers from Ohio who purchased their ticket in Indiana.
August
o       The Kentucky Lottery introduces Cash Quest, a new on-line game that gives players 45 ways to win on each ticket.  For $1, players get 15 four-number sets of numbers from 1 to 65.  The 15 sets are automatically placed in three separate prize groups: $50,000, $10,000 and $5,000.  Players win the top prize in each group by matching all four numbers in any four-number set in the respective prize group.  They can also win secondary prizes of $10 and $1 by matching either three or two numbers, respectively, in any four-number set in any prize group. Drawings for Cash Quest are held twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday night.
November
o       “Win for Life,” a $5 scratch-off game is introduced, giving players a chance to win $1,000 per week for life. It is the Kentucky Lottery Corporation’s first lifetime payout prize.