News and History

2022

February

• Once again, the Kentucky Lottery was named a finalist in the Best Places to Work in Kentucky competition. This is the second year the Kentucky Lottery has received the designation. 

March

• Received Internet Compliance Assessment Program (iCap) certification from the National Council on Problem Gambling, ensuring the Kentucky Lottery is adhering to the highest responsible gambling standards for internet sales.

June

• Several records were broken during Fiscal Year 2022 including:
  • Total sales of $1, 676,502,000.
  • Total cash transfers to the Commonwealth to fun college scholarship and grant programs (including KEES) totaled $360.8 million.
  • $1,152,007,000 in prizes won by players.
  • Scratch-off tickets sales finished the fiscal year at $963.5 million.
  • iLottery Instant Play sales were $226.1 million

August

• The Kentucky Lottery received the Award of Excellence in Financial Reporting for the 28^th year in a row from the Government Finance Officers Association.

September

• Successfully launched VIP Platinum game as both a Scratch-off ticket and a Fast Play ticket.

October

• The first $50 Scratch-off ticket, 500X, is introduced. This leads to the highest daily sales for instant tickets and total sales. 

November

• Powerball climbed to the world’s largest jackpot, $2.04 Billion before it was hit on November 7^th.
• A new daily draw game, Kentucky 5, launched on November 20^th. Kentucky 5 is a daily jackpot game only available in Kentucky. 
• KLC President & CEO Mary Harville named by Louisville Business First as one its 2022 Most Admired CEOs who are honored for their exceptional leadership.

2021

March

• The KLC achieved the $1 billion in sales mark for FY21 on March 4th, the fastest the corporation ever achieved this milestone.
• The Kentucky Lottery was named one of the Best Places to Work in Kentucky. The designation comes from an annual program presented by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, the Kentucky Society for Human Resource Management and the Best Companies Group The program is intended to motivate Kentucky companies to focus, measure andmove their workplace environments toward excellence. This was only the second time the Kentucky Lottery has received this honor. The organization previously received this designation in 2005.

May

• At the request of KY Governor Andy Beshear, the KLC launches an initiative to reward adults getting Covid-19 vaccines with a coupon for a free CashBall 225 play. The promotion was launched simultaneously at more than 170 Kroger and Walmart locations across the Commonwealth.

July

•  Even in light of unprecedented circumstances due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the KLC posted FY21 sales and proceeds numbers that shatter previous all-time records from the Lottery’s 32-year history. Total sales were $1,586,325,000, a 31.8% increase from the previous year, with $382.9 million in additional sales over FY2020. Proceeds to the Commonwealth totaled $354.8 million. This was $76.3 million or 27.4% more than last year.
• The Lucky For Life multi-state game, drawn twice weekly since inception in 2015, moves to drawings seven days a week.

August

• Powerball added a Monday drawing, with the game now being drawn three days a week – Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
• The Pick 3 and Pick 4 daily games become available on the iLottery platform.
• The Kentucky Lottery received the Award of Excellence in Financial Reporting for the 27^th year in a row from the Government Finance Officers Association.

2020

January

• Cash Pop – a new monitor game with drawings every four minutes – is added, and takes place between Keno drawings. 

March

• Tom Delacenserie retires as president and CEO of the Kentucky Lottery. For the third time in 30 years, Marty Gibbs is named interim President and CEO.
• A global pandemic is declared on March 19^th. All Kentucky Lottery offices were closed, sales reps were pulled from the field and instead contacted vendors by phone, and changes were made to the claims process to minimize contact.

April

• Product advertising was suspended, and replaced with beneficiary advertising to better reflect an appropriate tone during the pandemic.
• Keno monitors were disabled systemwide to encourage social distancing.
• After 31 years, the Kentucky Lottery switched all drawings from balls and machines to random number generators. This was done to keep drawing staff safe, as it greatly reduced the time they had to be in studio to conduct the drawings.

May

• May 2020 became the highest sales month in Kentucky Lottery history. Total sales for the month were $139.1 mil, which were $33.6 mil or 31.9% more than budget. This beat the previous record of $70 mil, set in March 2019, by $22.9 mil or 32.7%.

July

• Even in light of a global pandemic, the Kentucky Lottery Corporation posts record sales and dividend numbers for FY20. Total sales were $1,203,442,000, which is $73.8 million (6.2%) more than the previous record set in FY19. Cash transfers totaled $278.5 million, of which $271.4 million went to the General Fund to pay for college scholarships, grants and education programs, and $7.1M from unclaimed prizes to the KEES Reserve Fund. The General Fund transfers were $7.5 million and 2.8% more than last year.

August

• Win Place Show – the first lottery game based on results of a live sporting event – launches. The horse racing game had completed a successful pilot sales program in 2019.

 

September

• Mary Harville is appointed as the sixth president and CEO of the Kentucky Lottery Corporation. Harville first joined the Kentucky Lottery in 2004 as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for the Lottery. She became the first woman CEO in Kentucky Lottery history and one of only a handful of women lottery directors across the United States.

2019

January

• On January 8th, the Kentucky Lottery unveiled a new logo for only the third time in history. Containing an iconic horse's head, the logo better tied in to Kentucky imagery and became a centerpiece of the lottery’s 30th anniversary celebration. 

February

• The first $30 Scratch-off ticket in Kentucky goes on sale. Break Fort Knox carries the largest top prizes ever offered in a Scratch ticket – four top prizes of $3 million each.
• The new draw game KY Quick Bucks is launched. Similar to KY Cash Ball, the game has an innovative wheel bet where players get all five of the Kentucky Balls used in the game on their ticket (guaranteeing at minimum a $2 win).

April

• The Kentucky Lottery turned 30 years old on April 4 2019. In that time, $20 billion in tickets have been sold,  Lottery players have received over $12 billion in prizes, $1.25 billion has gone to retailers in commissions, and more than $5.2 billion has gone to the Commonwealth for good causes.

July

• Record-breaking sales for FY19 are announced. Total sales were $1,129,655,000, which is $87.1 million more (8.4% higher) than the previous record set in FY18. Transfers totaled $272.7 million, which were $10.9 million (4.3%) more than last year.

September

• TV icon Vanna White comes to Kentucky to launch sales of the new $5 “Wheel of Fortune” Scratch-off.

October

• Fast Play games are launched in Kentucky. These are the first instant terminal games – tickets are printed from a lottery terminal (like a Powerball or Pick 3 ticket), yet instead of waiting for a drawing to take place, players immediately know if they’ve won a prize.

2018

March

• Online Keno sales begin via the iLottery platform.

July

• Lottery sales finish the fiscal year at $1,042,512,000, the largest amount ever in KY Lottery history. This is an increase of $42 million (or 4.2%) from FY17. Cash dividends to the General Fund were a record $253,000,000, which was $11.4 million or  7% more than FY17.

August

• The Red Mile in Lexington, a harness track and Instant Racing parlor, begins selling KY Lottery products. This is the first time a horse racing facility has sold lottery tickets in KY.

September

• The KLC enters into a cooperative services agreement with Scientific Games for outsourcing of instant ticket distribution. This is the first time order taking and shipping has been handled by an outside entity. A new facility in Louisville is dedicated.

October

• A record Mega Millions jackpot, strong Powerball sales due to a jackpot run and solid instant ticket sales led to the largest sales month in KY Lottery history. Overall sales for the month were $115.5 million, which is $33.1 million (or 40.3%) more than budgeted. This shatters the previous record sales month from January 2016, when a world-record Powerball jackpot of $1.6 billion led to sales of $105.1 million.
• A new lottery gift card goes on sales, initially exclusively at Kroger. This allows for a lottery transaction to be conducted from a check-out lane in a grocery store for the first time ever in KY Lottery history.

2017

January

• To coincide with the Commonwealth’s 225th anniversary, the KY Cash Ball game is rebranded Cash Ball 225. The game saw an increase in its top prize from $200,000 to $225,000.

March

• At the end of March, the KLC launched the innovative scratch-off game Big Money. The oversized ticket, 8 inches by 8 inches, was so much larger than regular tickets that new dispensers had to be added at retail. The quantity of tickets ordered was expected to last 210 days. By day three of Big Money sales, one-third of all tickets were sold – and in less than three weeks the first run of the tickets was sold out. This led the ticket to becoming one of the best sellers in Kentucky Lottery history.

May

• Governor Matt Bevin appoints Tom Delacenserie as the new president and CEO of the Kentucky Lottery Corporation. Delacenserie came from the Florida Lottery, where sales records were broken in nine of the 12 years he was in management at the Florida Lottery, and the organization realized sales of $6 billion a year. Delacenserie came the fifth president and CEO of the Kentucky Lottery, replacing Arch Gleason.

July

• For the first time in its 28-year history, sales of Kentucky Lottery tickets exceeded a billion dollars in a single fiscal year. For FY17 overall lottery sales were $1,000,501,000. This is the largest sales figure in Kentucky Lottery history, and surpasses last year’s record-breaking number by $3.2 million (0.3%). Transfers to the Commonwealth were also at a record level - $251.6 million, an increase of $1.6 million.

November

• To support the launch of the holiday family of scratch-off tickets, the KLC films a TV commercial with legendary actor Bob Newhart. He reprised his role as Papa Elf from the iconic holiday movie “Elf”.

2016

January

• The Powerball jackpot swells to a world-record $1.5 billion, breaking the $1 billion threshold for the first time ever for a single lottery drawing. While no one from Kentucky shared in the jackpot, three players did win $1 million in the final drawing.
• For the first time in the more that 20 year history of the daily Pick 3 and Pick 4 games, drawings are held on Sunday afternoons.

April

• On April 17, the KLC launched Internet sales of draw games and Instant Play tickets, which resemble electronic scratch-offs. The site launched with Powerball, Mega Millions and KY Cash Ball draw games, as well as five Instant Play games ranging in price from 50 cents to $3.

June

• The time between Keno drawings shortens from five minutes to four minutes.

July

• Long-time KLC President and CEO Arch Gleason dies following injuries sustained in a fall. Gleason had served 23 year as president and CEO for five different governors. He had announced his retirement just 21 days before his passing.
• Thanks in part to the $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot, a record-breaking sales of $997.3 million and proceeds of $253 million to the Commonwealth for FY16 are announced.

August

• The KLC becomes one of the first US lotteries to complete a responsible gambling verification program offered by NASPL and the Nat’l Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG). In the same month, the KLC becomes the third US state to receive the NCPG’s Internet Compliance Program certification for designing our iLottery site in line with responsible gambling best practices.

December

• The first mobile app where players can buy tickets and play Instant Play games launches.
• The KLC conducts it’s first-ever social media promotion, giving away ten ugly sweater t-shirts via a Facebook promotion.

 

2015

March

• The multi-state game Lucky for Life launches in Kentucky. The game offers a top prize of $1000 a day every week for the rest of a winner’s life. Kentucky joins 15 other states on this date where the game was available.

April

• KLC COO Marty Gibbs receives the 2015 Major Peter J O’Connell Lottery Industry Lifetime Achievement Award from Public Gaming Research International (PGRI). Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer subsequently declares May 6 Marty Gibbs Day in Louisville.

July

• Record-breaking sales of $899.1 million and proceeds of $236.1 million to the Commonwealth are announced.

October

• An updated Powerball game featuring a 10X prize multiplier is launched.

 

2014

March

• Melanie Chilton of Louisville is selected in a second-chance drawing to become the 2014 KY Derby Festival Thundernator, starting the launch sequence for fireworks at Thunder Over Louisville. She was selected through a second-chance drawing.

July

• Lottery sales for FY14 close at a record-breaking $858.9 million, which is 1.4% higher than the previous record. This also led to record-breaking proceeds to the Commonwealth of $225.5 million, which was $4.5 million below what was budgeted by the Commonwealth.
• KLC VP of Communications Chip Polston is elected to the board of directors for the National Council on Problem Gambling.

August

• The KLC airs it’s first-ever beneficiary ad. For the previous 25 years it had been illegal for the KLC to place an ad which promoted where lottery proceeds were spent. A change in law via the state budget suspended this restriction. The first ad featured a UK graduate named Molly who is a public school teacher in Fayette County.

October

• The Monopoly Millionaires Club game is launched. The game offers three different ways to win. Players can win the game’s top drawing prize (up to $25 million); become one of the many, randomly-selected $1 million winners when another player wins the top prize; or register a ticket online where they will build Monopoly brand-themed property sets to earn entries in a drawing for a chance to appear on the nationally televised game show, which will have more than $2.5 million in available prize money on each episode. This is the first time a $5 draw game has been sold in KY.

2013

January

• The Fun Club Rewards program is launched, giving players a chance to earn point to redeem for prizes based on scratch-off ticket purchases. The program also eliminates the old Final Top Prize program, as all tickets entered for points are also entered into a second-chance drawing.

March

• The KLC board of directors passed a motion to “direct the staff of the Lottery to undertake all necessary measures required to offer Keno as a new game and Internet-based sales as a new sales medium as expeditiously and reasonably as possible”.

July

• Several record-breaking accomplishments for FY13 were announced. The KLC finished the year with sales of $846.6 million (including $35.8 million in free tickets). This broke the old sales record established in FY12 of $823.5 million by 2.8%. These sales also led to record-breaking proceeds returned to the Commonwealth. A total of $223.8 million was earned for scholarship and grants programs funded by the Kentucky Lottery, breaking the old record set in FY12 of $216.4 million. In addition, even though sales rose by more than $23 million, operating expenses for the year ($26.4 million) were actually $800,000 lower than FY12’s.

October

• The KLC marks $2,000,000,000 in college scholarships and grants awarded by Lottery proceeds.

November

• Keno launches at 400 retail locations around the Commonwealth.
• The KLC reaches several major milestones this month, including $4 billion in proceeds earned for the Commonwealth, $9 billion in prizes paid to players, and $15 billion in overall sales.

2012

January

• The price of a Powerball ticket increases to $2. The main reason behind the increase was to try to get larger jackpots that players like faster. With the increase came several enhancements - jackpots starting at $40 million, the overall odds of winning any prize became easier, and there was a guaranteed second prize of $1 million cash.
• Just days after this change, the first guaranteed $1 million second prize ticket for Powerball was sold in Taylor Mill.

February

• The online game 5 Card Cash was launched. This $2 draw game was the first to use symbols instead of numbers, and contained both an instant win and nightly draw win feature.
• The online game 3 Line Lotto was discontinued, and 100 players who entered a second-chance drawing split the final $445,000 jackpot.
• The largest jackpot in world history - $656 million – was up for grabs in the Mega Millions game. The drawing’s cash option also set a world record - $474 million. The jackpot was won by three players across the U.S.

April

• The first winning Decades of Dollars ticket was sold in Kentucky at a Kroger store in Madisonville. The multi-state game had been on sale in Kentucky since February 2011.

July

• Record-breaking sales and dividends of $823.5 million and $216.4 million are announced. The sales record shattered the previous amount by $51.2 million.

September

• Kentucky Lottery drawings air on broadcast television for the last time on broadcast TV on September 15. The drawings are moved to KLC headquarters into a new facility where the show is streamed via the Internet. The move saves nearly a half million dollars a year.

November

• Powerball breaks a record with a $550 million jackpot including a $360.2 million cash option. At the time, it is the second-largest jackpot ever offered in history.

2011

January

• The last of 2800 new Altura lottery terminals was installed. The new system included stand-alone ticket checkers at all retail locations, as well as an LCD monitor near the terminal which told players if they’d won a prize and for how much.

February

• The game Decades of Dollars held its first drawing February 3rd. It replaced Win For Life, and was sold in Kentucky, Georgia and Virginia.

May

• The first Final Top Prize drawing is held. This program replaced the Ultimate Second Chance drawings. While Final Top Prize still awarded a top prize for a scratch-off ticket after all the tickets had been sold, players won the ability on a ticket to enter the drawing (rather than all non-winning tickets being eligible as had been the case with Ultimate Second Chance).

June

• The first winner for the Kentucky Lottery 50/50 Split the Pot Raffle is announced. The game split 50% of overall sales as the prize, and was on sale for less than four weeks. The $145,430 prize was claimed by Roger Egnor of Bullitt County.
• A Jefferson County grand jury hands down four indictments against retail clerks as a result of the Integrity Testing Program launched by the KLC. During the investigation, undercover security personnel went to 33 retailers in Louisville and Lexington and presented clerks with tickets that appeared to be high dollar winners. In three of the retail locations, clerks kept the tickets and later presented them for payment.

July

• FY 2011 sales close at $772.3 million, including $53 million in free tickets. This was $200,000 less than FY10 sales. However, dividends to the Commonwealth rose 2% to $204.8 million.

August

• The KLC is awarded Level 3 Certification of the World Lottery Association’s (WLA’s) Responsible Gaming Framework, becoming the first lottery in the United States to achieve both Levels 2 and 3 of certification for responsible play programs, and one of the first two U.S. lottery organizations to achieve Level 3.

November

• The KLC reached the $8 billion in prizes paid milestone.

2010

January

• The largest lottery jackpot awarded (to date) in Kentucky history is claimed by a Georgetown couple. Rob and Tuesday Anderson won after a clerk at the Pro Stop Marathon incorrectly printed a Powerball ticket for Rob on Christmas Eve. The mistake ticket ended up hitting the game’s $128.6 million jackpot.
• Kentucky begins sales of Mega Millions. On the 31 st, the KLC joined 33 states in the U.S. selling both Mega Millions and Powerball tickets for the first time ever.

March

• The KLC becomes the first lottery in the U.S. to receive level 2 certification from the World Lottery Association’s responsible gaming framework. The certification was awarded by a panel of international social responsibility experts who review the KLC’s “Play Responsibly” program.

May

• After an extensive year-long procurement process, GTECH Corporation of Rhode Island was named the apparent successful offeror for the KLC’s online game system and communications network. GTECH was also set to provide 600 combined scratch-off and online vending machines as a part of the deal. Scientific Games of Georgia was named apparent successful offeror for the KLC’s primary scratch-off ticket contract, with GTECH Printing Corporation and Pollard Banknote named as apparent successful offerors for secondary scratch-off contracts.

June

• A record-breaking $214.3 million was returned by the KLC to the Commonwealth in Fiscal Year 2010. This was achieved even in light of lottery sales dropping $38 million or 4.7% during the same period. The $214.3 million surpasses the previous record set last year by $9.9 million or 4.8%. Total sales ended the year at $772.5 million, which is a decline of $38 million compared with the record-breaking sales figure posted in FY09.

September

• A guaranteed $1 million Mega Millions secondary prize via the Megaplier feature was added to the game.

December 

• Knott County native and Louisville resident Muncie Meade became the KLC’s 18th Powerball winner, picking up a $19.12 million check from the December 11th drawing.

2009

January

• Florida joins the Powerball game, and as a result the matrix is changed to 4 of 59 and 1 of 39. The Power Play option is also adjusted so that players who chose the option and match the four white balls but not the Powerball win a guaranteed $1 million.

March

• Rose Fortney of Louisville wins the first Ultimate Second Chance drawing on St. Patrick’s Day. By sending in her non-winning “Money Maker” scratch-off ticket, she won the top $125,000 prize.

April

• The KLC marks its 20 th anniversary. Over the course of the two decades, the lottery sold more than $11.3 billion in tickets, paid $6.8 billion in prizes, and returned nearly $3 billion in profits to the Commonwealth. These proceeds went to fund college scholarships, education, adult and early childhood literacy programs, affordable housing and even bonuses for Vietnam veterans.

May

• The $200,000 prize from a Powerball ticket sold at Oldtown Shell in Covington goes unclaimed.
• Jack’s BP in Richmond sells its third top prize Win For Life ticket. There have been only seven winners of the game’s top prize in Kentucky.

June

• The KLC wraps up yet another record-breaking fiscal year. Sales totaled $810.5 million     (including $45.5 million in free tickets), surpassing FY08’s record-breaking level by $32.3 million, or 4.2%. It also marks the fourth consecutive year of record-breaking sales. This sales improvement placed the KLC in the top five lotteries for sales improvement in FY09. The Commonwealth received record-breaking dividend transfers of $204.4 million during the year. The increased sales led to a record $50.2 million paid to retailers in commissions and incentives, up .2% over FY08’s $50.10 million. This was accomplished while operating expenses in terms of real dollars and as a percentage of sales decreased for the third consecutive year.

November 

• The Kentucky Historical Society obtains the drawing machine used to perform the KLC’s first drawing. The Beitel Criterion machine was used for Lotto Kentucky and Cash 5 drawings from 1989 through 1993, and during that time more than $350 million in prizes were awarded through drawings using the device.

 

2008

January

• After rolling over for 19 weeks, the largest Three Line Lotto jackpot ever awarded was won by Angela McNear from Big Clifty. The winning $670,000 was bought at JC's Cigarette Outlet in Clarkson (near Leitchfield).

April

• A state budget was adopted for the ‘09/’10 biennium that required the KLC to return 28% of sales to the Commonwealth. This was the first binding percentage return mandate ever given to the KLC, and caused a major restructuring that took place in June. 
• 0-0-0 was drawn as the winning Pick 3 number on the evening of April Fool’s Day. The prize payout tied that all-time record for the game ($3 million).
• Keith Griffee, a Mt. Washington banker, was elected chairman of the KLC’s board of directors. Richmond   real estate broker Ray DeSloover was elected vice-chair.
• The KLC adopted a new logo, replacing the one that had been used since tickets first went on sale 19 years earlier. The new logo, highlighted by an exclamation point and a celebrating player, was designed to emphasize the fun of playing lottery games.

May

• The Kentucky CashBall game was changed to add a 50 cent wager capability.

June

• The KLC’s board of directors adopted a budget for FY ’09 that led to a major corporate restructuring. The move was made to adhere to the 28% return mandate set forth in the state budget. Changes made as a part of the reorganization included eliminating 28 positions and displacing 25 staff members (13% of the KLC’s workforce), closing the Bowling Green regional office and restructuring and curtailing the operations of the remaining regional offices, slightly reducing cash prizes and substituting free tickets for low tier prizes in scratch-off ticket prize structures, reducing liability limits for Pick 3 and Pick 4 drawings, restructuring and slightly reducing retailer incentive compensation, reducing advertising expenses, achieving cost savings for scratch-off ticket printing and other contracted services, and significantly reducing capital and other operating expenses.

July

• The KLC announced FY 2008 sales of $778.2 million, which surpassed the previous record set in FY 07 by $34 million (or 4.6%). This led to the largest amount ever paid on prizes to players - $493.1 million, or 63.4% of sales. The key to the new records was the continuing growth of scratch-off sales, which grew to $470.9 million, a 7.1% increase from the previous year’s record level. Retailer commissions also set a new record at $50.1 million, and operating expenses as a percentage of sales dipped below 5% for the first time in the KLC’s history.

August

• The CashBall Kicker option is launched.

September

• Governor Steve Beshear announced the KLC funded college scholarship grant programs had awarded more than one billion dollars to Kentucky students. News conferences were held with the presidents of UK and UofL to announce the milestone.

November

• KLC President and CEO Arch Gleason is elected to his second term as president of the World Lottery Association.
• A Three Line Lotto Jackpot of $760,000 - the largest amount awarded to date - was won by a Louisville player.

2007

January

• The KLC launched its first raffle game called the “Million Dollar Draw”. Offering the best odds ever of winning $1 million (1 in 250,000), the game sold out its ticket run of 500,000 numbers in just eight weeks.

April

• The first $2 online game, “3 Line Lotto”, was launched. Players chose their first line of numbers, with two more lines of numbers being chosen through the quick pick option. Players then won based on how many numbers they matched on each line and on the overall ticket.
• Sales for the online game “Tic Tac Cash” ended.

May

• The $10 billionth ticket was sold by the KLC.
• The amount of prizes paid to players surpassed the $6 billion mark.

July

• The KLC closed out yet another record-breaking sales year for FY ‘ 07. The year saw $744.2 million in ticket sold. Instant ticket sales reached their highest level in KLC history with $439.6 million in scratch-offs tickets sold. This was $34.7 million or 8.6% more than what was sold in FY ’07. The Commonwealth received $196.2 million in proceeds, the second-highest level in KLC history. Operating expenses dropped $2.3 million from the previous year to $38.2 million. This was 5.1% of sales, the lowest percentage of sales in KLC history. Retailers achieved a record-breaking $47.7 million paid in commissions, incentives and bonuses.

August

• The drawing for the second raffle game in KLC history – the Lucky 7’s Raffle – was held on August 14 th. The two $500,000 top prizes were won by players in Florence and Louisville.

September

• A group of 22 employees from a Bardstown company won a $61.5 million Powerball Jackpot. Dubbed “The Nukote 22”, the group had pitched in $1 a week for nine years in the hopes of someday hitting the jackpot.  This was the sixth highest jackpot awarded in KLC history, and the first Powerball winner in Kentucky since July 2003.
• The KLC became the first lottery in North America to receive the World Lottery Association’s Security Control Standard certification along with ISO 27001 certification.

October 

• The KLC hosted World Meet ’07, a joint gathering of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) and the World Lottery Association (WLA). Nearly 1400 delegates from 70 different countries attended the event, which carried a $1.5 million economic impact for the region.

December

• A Shepherdsville man who wished to remain anonymous won a $33.6 million Powerball jackpot. The ticket was sold at the 44 Quick Stop in Shepherdsville, and was the second Kentucky Lottery winner of the game’s top prize in 11 weeks (after a four year drought).

2006

January

• The final winner in one of the two first-ever $1 million scratch-off prizes came forward. An Eastern Kentucky couple claimed the prize from the "Kentucky Millionaire" scratch-off ticket. The first prize had been claimed in June 2005. 
• At the end of January, the KLC hit the $9 billion mark in overall sales.

February

• The record $365 million Powerball jackpot was awarded to a group of Nebraska factory workers following the drawing on the 18th. The jackpot became the largest ever in U.S. history. In Kentucky, an Estill County couple claimed the only Match 5 bonus pool ticket sold for the drawing in the state worth $667,142.

March

• The first-ever top prize in the Win for Life game is awarded to a Kentucky player. Yvette Ward of Mt.Sterling won the guaranteed $1000 a week for life prize.

April

• One of the four Powerball Match 5 Bonus Pool tickets from theOctober 19th 2005 drawing expired. The ticket, worth $653,492, was purchased at a BP station in Hebron located near several Interstates and the Cincinnati airport. The ticket holders had been given 180 days to claim their prize.
• Sales for the February 2006 record-breaking Powerball jackpot led the KLC to its highest sales quarter in history. Sales of $197 million with net income of $52.6 million were recorded.

May

• Russell Simons of Louisville was awarded $125,000 during a second chance drawing at Louisville's 4th Street Live!. He was one of 15 finalists selected in the "$125,000 Payday" scratch-off ticket promotion.

June

• On the 6th of the month, with a date of 6/6/06, players quickly snapped up all 6-6-6 Pick 3 tickets and 6-6-0-6 Pick 4 tickets.

July 

•  The KLC shattered its all-time sales and dividend record with results for FY 2006. Sales for the year came in at $742.3 million ($17 million or 2.3% higher than the previous record), and proceeds finished the year are $204.3 million ($10.8 million or 5.6% higher than the previous record). 
• The KLC and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) teamed up to offer a scratch-off ticket to commemorate the 2006 Breeder's Cup at Churchill Downs. The draw of a great second-chance VIP prize package promotion led the ticket to become one of the most successful scratch-offs in KLC history. Nearly the entire 960,000 ticket run had been shipped to retailers in the first three weeks of sales.

August

• KLC President and CEO Arch Gleason was inducted into the PGRI Lottery Industry Hall of Fame.

October

• The KLC signs a three-year online game contract extension with GTECH, which was expected to save the corporation between $7.6 million and $9.4 million through 2011.

December

• Jack's BP in Richmond sold their second top prize Win For Life ticket in the span of eight weeks. The first was sold to Robert Price of Richmond on October 7th, followed by another big win by Nadine and Bob Bellamy of Richmond on December 2nd. Coincidentally, surveillance video showing Bob Bellamy buying his winning ticket also showed Robert Price standing in line behind him.

 

2005

January

February

• Three sets of triple digits were drawn as winning Pick 3 numbers during the month.  They were 3-3-3 on the evening of the 2nd, 7-7-7 on the afternoon of the 12th, and 0-0-0 on the evening of the 25th.  The evening drawing on the 25th produced the highest Pick 3 prize payout in history when players enjoyed $3 million in prizes. Overall, more than $7.6 million in prizes were won by Pick 3 players during the month.

March

• The KLC reached the milestone of $5 billion in prizes paid to players.  It took nearly five years to reach the first billion dollar in prizes paid mark, yet the gap between the 4th billion and 5th billion prize dollar paid was marked in just a little over two years.
• “Kentucky Millionaire,” the first scratch-off ticket with a $1 million top prize was introduced.
• The March 30th Powerball drawing produced four $100,000 winners in Kentucky and 110 winners at this level around the country.  Statistically, there should have been only four $100,000 winners across the nation. Further review showed nearly all of the tickets contained the white ball numbers 22-28-32-33-39 selected by the players and that nearly all of the players had chosen the red Powerball number 40 (the winning Powerball number for the drawing was 42).  As the winners started to come forward, they revealed their winning numbers came from a fortune cookie.  It’s estimated nearly $20 million in cash prizes were paid on the fortune cookie numbers alone.

April

• A new online game "Double Up Cash", was launched on the 4th.  The game allowed players to double their non-jackpot prize by correctly choosing the results of a heads or tails coin flip, and featured a rolling jackpot.  Poor sales caused the game to be discontinued the following month.
• Winning triple digits in the Pick 3 game were drawn twice in the course of three days.  Triple 1's were drawn on the evening of the 25th, and triple 4's were drawn on the afternoon of the 27th.  Winners picked up nearly $4 million from these two drawings.

June

• William Long of Waddy became the first person to win a million dollars from a single Kentucky Lottery scratch-off ticket.  The 44-year-old construction supervisor won on the $20 dollar ticket "Kentucky Millionaire.”
• On the 26th, Pick 3 triple digits were drawn for the eleventh time and final time in Fiscal Year 2005.  This drawing resulted in the second largest payout in KLC history (more than $2.9 million) for the game’s players.
• The KLC closes the 2005 Fiscal Year with $707.3 million in sales, to date the second-highest sales figure in the organization's history and only the second time the $700 million mark had been broken.  The figure was $41.5 million above quota.  Records broken included player prizes ($457.7 million), scratch-off sales ($385.1 million, which was $28.1 million or 7.8% more than what was sold in FY ’04), Pick 3 sales ($130.3 million), Pick 4 sales ($35.7 million), and retailer commissions ($45.1 million).  The year also saw 20 consecutive weeks of instant ticket sales over $7 million, including ten weeks of sales over $8 million.

July

• The KLC reached a historic milestone on July 1st, as 100% of Lottery proceeds began going to college grant, scholarship and literacy programs.  Since 1999, more than $637 million went to fund need-based grants and merit-based scholarships.  This provided more than 592,000 financial awards to Kentucky high school students. Prior to 1999, the number of students attending college in Kentucky had remained flat for several years.  However, since the start of the KLC-funded scholarship and grant programs, college attendance in the Commonwealth jumped 20%.
• Carol and Paul Daniels from Danville presented a $4 million winning Lotto South ticket at KLC headquarters, but they almost didn't make it.  Paul threw the ticket away after checking the wrong set of winning numbers.  Carol saw a TV story about a winning Lotto South ticket being sold in their area and told Paul.  He was able to fish the winning ticket from the garbage, which came within hours of ending up in their local landfill.

August

•  The KLC launches the addiction-awareness program "Choices-There's Always a Right One.”  In conjunction with the Kentucky Council on Problem Gambling, the KLC initiated the program to help make middle-school students aware of behaviors which could lead to addictions, including gambling. 100 schools were initially targeted to receive the program.
• The matrix for Powerball was changed on August 25. Two additional white numbered balls - 54 and 55 - were added to the mix. Several other changes were made at the same time to the game, including starting jackpots at $15 million instead of $10 million and increasing the game’s second prize to $200,000 from $100,000.

September

• Figures release by the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA) showed the KLC funded more than 117,000 grants and scholarships worth $157 million in Fiscal Year 2005.  Both were record-breaking amounts, bringing the total of KLC-funded grants and scholarships since 1999 to 592,000 worth $637 million.

October

• A then-record was set for a Powerball jackpot on the 19th of the month.  $340 million was on the line for the drawing, which was awarded to an Oregon family.  The record jackpot triggered the first-ever use of the game's Match 5 bonus pool, which was won by four groups of Kentucky players.  Each received the regular prize of $200,000 for matching the five white ball winning numbers, but also received an additional $653,492 in bonus pool prizes.

2004

February

• The Kentucky Lottery hit a major milestone by surpassing $2 billion to the Commonwealth over the last 15 years. The transferred revenue has gone to fund need-based and merit-based scholarships, literacy programs, KEES Reserve fund, the SEEK program, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and the General Fund. A one time bonus was also given to Vietnam Veterans. 
• The Kentucky Lottery conducted an 8-week second chance Powerball promotion giving away 12 grand prize packages that included a trip for the winner and a guest to the Super Bowl. The prize package also included lodging, an MVP party, leather jacket, cash stipend of $500, ground transportation, airfare, federal and state withholding tax. Players entered the promotion by purchasing a minimum of $5 on one (1) Powerball ticket to receive an ISYS-generated second-chance entry form during the period of October 22, 2003 - December 10, 2003.

March

• The Kentucky Lottery re-introduced its very first scratch-off ticket BEGINNER'S LUCK, to help mark its 15th anniversary. BEGINNER'S LUCK, along with the KENTUCKY DREAM STAKES scratch-off ticket generated more than $5 million in sales on the Kentucky Lottery's first day.

April

• On April 4, the Kentucky Lottery celebrated its 15th Anniversary.  At this point, the Kentucky Lottery had sold more than $7.7 billion in tickets, with more than $4.5 billion going to player prizes.  Retailers across the state had enjoyed nearly $471 million in commissions from selling and cashing tickets.  
• On the weekend of April 25th, the largest two day payout in the history of Pick 3 occurred when triple digits came in twice on consecutive nights.  The first appearance came when the numbers 3-3-3 were drawn on Saturday evening, producing a prize payout of $1,970,850 to more than 6,500 PICK 3 winners.  The most popular set of numbers played on PICK 3 were drawn the very next evening (Sunday).  The numbers 7-7-7 paid out more than $2 million to over 6,700 PICK 3 players, making it the fifth largest payout.

May

• A group of 26 employees from a manufacturing plant in Erlanger, Kentucky claimed the Lotto South jackpot worth $12.6 million dollars on May 18th.  The winners all worked at Wild Flavors, Inc., which manufactures flavors and colors for the food and beverage industry.  They held jobs in departments all over the plant, such as production, shipping, research and development, maintenance, and sanitation.  Each member of the group pitched in $10 a week to buy either Lotto South or Powerball tickets.  The players chose to take the jackpot’s cash option, which means each will receive $257,668.72 before taxes (two players are split one of the prizes).?

June

• The KLC held a drawing on June 14th to mark the end of its 15th Anniversary Grand Prize Promotion. David Pearson, a 56-year-old Madisonville resident, won the $150,000 grand prize. The promotion had drawn around 200,000 entries.  Pearson's name was drawn between innings at home plate during a Louisville Bats game.

July

• The midday Pick 3 drawing produced its highest payout ever on July 14th when 0-0-0 was drawn.  The total prize payout was $2,168,520, with 7,322 players cashing in.  
• On July 21st, the KLC announced it had shattered yet another sales record, with final totals for Fiscal Year 2004 showing more than $725 million in tickets sold.  This beat the old record of $673,485,000 set in FY ‘03 by $51.8 million (or about 7.7% higher).  Actual sales were 13.5% higher than the $638.8 projected for the fiscal year.  Two factors combined to send sales levels higher than what had been expected. Scratch-off ticket sales were $357,020,000, an increase of $37.1 million (or 11.6%) from last year’s total of $319.9 million. Powerball sales ended the year at $133,893,000 which is $19.3 million (or 17%) more than the $114.6 million in Powerball sales from last fiscal year.

August

• For the tenth straight year, the KLC was awarded the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and finance reporting.  On August 4th, the KLC received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States and Canada. The award was given after judges concluded the KLC’s comprehensive annual financial report met high standards, including the demonstration of a constructive “spirit of full disclosure” to clearly communicate the corporation's financial story.
• $193.5 million in Lottery proceeds were paid to the state during the 2004 fiscal year.  This shattered the previous record, $180.7 million, set during fiscal year 2003 by 7.1%. The dividend amount jumped $23 million (also 13.5%) when compared to budget.  The increase in sales meant a rise in prizes paid to players, reaching $439.2 million (also a record at that time).
• Tic Tac Cash was launched August 30th.  The new online game, which played like Tic Tac Toe, was the first of its kind ever offered by a U.S. lottery.  Tic Tac Cash was projected to sell approximately $7 million in tickets per year.

October

• Judith Young won $100,000 on the 6th. What set this win apart is what Judith did with the money. Her husband Charles Craig had been working in Iraq as a civilian contractor in Baghdad’s “Green Zone.” He’d been working overseas to pay off debt the couple had amassed, but once Judith win, they had enough money for him to come home. It took several days and a dangerous trip to the airport in Baghdad, but Charles made it home safely one week after the big win.

November

• Arch Gleason is elected Senior Vice President of the World Lottery Association during its meeting in South Africa. As a result of his election, he is slated to become the organization’s president in 2005.

December

• A former Bosnian war refugee won $1 million playing Kentucky Cash Ball after buying 5 tickets with all the same numbers.  Each ticket was worth $200,000. Kemal Barakovic picked the winning numbers from a UPC code on a bottle of vitamins in his home.  When asked why he bought 5 tickets with all the same numbers, he simply replied, "Why play for $200,000 when you can go for a million?"

2003

January

• On January 21, a new feature called Extra Cash is added to the Pick 3 & Pick 4 games. Extra Cash allows players to win INSTANTLY on their tickets. It’s the first time the Kentucky Lottery has offered a way to win instantly on an on-line game. 

February

• The Kentucky Lottery hits $4 billion in prizes paid to players since 1989. This milestone is celebrated with a statewide “Prize Patrol” tour.
• The Kentucky Lottery celebrates Harley-Davidson’s 100th Anniversary with a commemorative scratch-off ticket.

March

• On March 13, Don and Mary Borders become the Kentucky Lottery’s second Lotto South jackpot winners. They claimed a prize of $3 million.
• On March 17, the Lottery reached another milestone, $7 BILLION in sales since 1989. 

April

• A new web site is launched exclusively for Lottery retailers. The Kentucky Lottery is among the first lotteries to have a web site dedicated to retailers.

May

• On May 28, William Ball of Lexington claims his $9.6 million Lotto South jackpot. Ball waited more than two weeks to claim his prize and says he will continue to work.

June

• Concluded the “Put a little extra play in every day” promotion, giving away $300,000 in prizes over four weeks and receiving over 100,000 entries.
• The Kentucky Lottery receives national and state awards for its responsible gaming efforts. The National Council on Problem Gambling and the Kentucky Council on Problem Gambling separately honored the KLC with their Industry Awards for 2003 for exceptional contributions to the recognition, prevention, and treatment of problem gambling.
• For the ninth straight year, the KLC received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States of America.
• On June 30, the Kentucky Lottery ends its fiscal year with then-record sales and dividends to the state. FY ‘03 sales reached a record $673.5 million and dividends to the state were $180.8 million. The KLC also transferred $3.3 million to the Kentucky Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF). Since 1994, more than 3,633 units of affordable housing have been created in the first 296 AHTF projects, a majority of which has been funded with $20.8 million of unclaimed Lottery funds. Funding from the Kentucky Lottery Corporation unclaimed prize fund expired June 30, 2003. The AHTF now receives a General Fund allocation.

July 

• Kentucky sells its 14th Powerball jackpot winner. A Shepherdsville woman, who wished to remain anonymous, cashed in a ticket worth $13.5 million.

August

• The KLC becomes an active participant in the Amber Alert program. The KLC will utilize its various communications methods to put Amber Alert messages on on-line tickets, in-store signage as well as on the Kentucky Lottery’s web sites.
• August 4-8: The Kentucky Lottery partners with the Kentucky Council on Problem Gambling (KYCPG) during Responsible Gaming Education Week to debut messages geared toward youth. A poster, an awareness card and an in-school Beat Addiction program were introduced.

September 

• On the 26th, the Kentucky Lottery introduced its newest $1 scratch-off ticket Dilbert, based on the popular cartoon character.  The ticket featured six different ticket designs so players, collectors and Dilbert fans could collect the whole Dilbert gang.

October

• The Kentucky Lottery Player's Fun Club hit a new milestone by surpassing 20,000 members. The Player's Fun Club was launched in March of 2002 and averaged more than 900 new members per month up to this point.
• The Kentucky Lottery received top honors at the first annual Greater Louisville Inc. Work/Life Alliance Awards (formerly the Business/ Family Partnership) luncheon. The KLC was the top leader in providing Work/Life Balance and was awarded the 2003 Personnel Profiling Inc. Life Award for medium companies (50-249) employees.
• The Kentucky Lottery set another record-breaking sales quarter. Total sales for July through September 2003 were $181.5 million, which is $25.1 million or 16% higher than the same period last year.

December

• Kentucky sells its 4th Lotto South jackpot winning ticket. Shirley Yearby of Louisville cashed in a ticket worth $21 million.

2002

January

• Arch Gleason, President and CEO, and Marty Gibbs, Chief Operating Officer, accept the 2001 Louisville Society of Human Resources Management Leadership Award. The LSHRM’s annual award recognizes exceptional leadership that advances the strategic importance of human resources in an organization.

February

• On February 25, Kentucky Cash Ball expands from three drawings per week to six drawings per week.
• On February 28, the Kentucky Lottery launches another first, a pull-tab with a $1,000 top prize. $1,000 Grand is a $1 pull-tab and has a bonus prize of $1,000. Until now, the highest pull-tab top prize was $300. While there isn’t a $1,000 winner in each pack of tickets, there are ten $1,000 bonus prizes mixed throughout the game. 

March

• On March 19, the Kentucky Lottery launches the initial phase of its Player’s Fun Club on the web site. The club offers chances for players to win prizes, play games, participate in research panels, download screen savers, and more. 
• On March 25, the Kentucky Lottery became only the third Lottery in North America to launch the CD-ROM scratch-off game, TreasureTower. Players purchase the starter kit for $10, which includes the CD-ROM game and three TreasureTower scratch-offs. They scratch-off the tickets to reveal an access code, which is input on the computer to play the game. By playing the game, players find out how much they have won on the scratch-off ticket. They then take the ticket back to a retailer to cash it in. 

May

• New Public Service Announcements featuring Nashville recording stars Sara Evans, Montgomery Gentry, Phil Vassar, and Rascal Flatts debut to promote responsible gaming.

June

• On June 21, Joe & Lili Anderson from Murray, KY became the Kentucky Lottery’s 12th Powerball jackpot winners. They won $14 million from a ticket containing numbers from their anniversary and birthdays.
• On June 30, the Kentucky Lottery ends its Fiscal Year with a bang! The KLC set a then- sales record of $639 million and provided a record $172.7 million to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. 

July 

• On July 23, the Kentucky Lottery has its 13th Powerball jackpot winner when Richard Barbella of Lexington claimed his $41.5 million prize. It was back-to-back jackpot winners for Kentucky, having just sold the last jackpot winner in June.

August

• On August 5-10, the first ever Responsible Gaming Education Week (RGEW) was held in Kentucky. The KLC’s Nichelle Lee chaired the committee made up of the Horse Racing industry, Ohio River Boat Casinos, State-certified compulsive gambling counselors, the Kentucky Council on Problem Gambling and the Department of Mental Health/Mental Retardation Services.
• On August 7, the KLC introduced the “Not 18? No way! No play!” campaign, including TV spots featuring national personalities Nappy Roots, Felton Spencer, and Anthony Anderson.

September

• On September 7, Barbara Edgley of California, KY became the first Kentucky contestant on Powerball - the Game Show to win the $1 million top prize.
• On September 16, Atlantic Recording artists Nappy Roots, along with the Kentucky Lottery and Governor Paul Patton held an event to celebrate Kentucky’s Jeff Green Scholars. The event was held at ShelbyCountyHigh School. Approximately 600 student recipients received the full benefit of $2,500 each from the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship (KEES), funded by the Kentucky Lottery.

October 

• On October 4, “Powerball - The Game Show” changed to “Powerball Instant Millionaire.” The show moved to Las Vegas, a new host was brought on board and new games were implemented.
• On October 6, changes were made to the Powerball game. Four numbers were added to the white balls, the number “1” was removed from the Powerplay, and the odds changed to 1 in 120 million. The changes were made to create bigger jackpots more often.
• On October 21, Nancy and Buddy Meyer of Logan County became Kentucky’s first Lotto South jackpot winners. The Meyers won a $6 million Lotto South jackpot.
• On October 30, Powerball winner Richard Barbella of Lexington made a $1 million donation to the University of Kentucky. The money was a gift to UK’s general fund where it can be used for salaries and scholarships.

December

• On December 2, the Kentucky Lottery celebrated a milestone by hitting $4 BILLION in prizes awarded to players since the Lottery began in 1989. Tony Revack of Burlington, Kentucky helped push the Lottery over the $4 billion mark when he won $240,000 on a scratch-off ticket.

2001

January

• On January 15, the Kentucky Lottery launches its first ever Internet-based promotion with the Elvis scratch-off ticket. Players can enter tickets for a grand prize of a two night vacation for two to Elvis Presley’s Graceland in Memphis.

March

• On March 3, the final Cash 5 drawing takes place.
• On March 4, the Kentucky Lottery launches a new five-number online game called Kentucky Cash Ball. The $1 game offers eight ways to win a prize and the game is similar to a mini-Powerball.  The game’s top prize is $200,000 and drawings are held three days per week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.  The new game is kicked off with a statewide promotional tour. 

April

 

2000

February

• The KLC tops $3 billion in prizes won since ticket sales started in 1989. Lottery players are currently winning an average of $6.3 million every week. 

April

• On April 4 the Kentucky Lottery Corporation celebrates 11 years of Winning! Those eleven years brought over $5 billion in sales and over $3 billion in prizes won by Kentucky Lottery players. Over $1.3 billion of Lottery money has been provided to the State Treasury, money that the state is now putting toward college grants and scholarships.

May

• On May 24 the KLC launched the Player’s Choice instant ticket product line. 
• On May 30 the KLC awards the second Powerball jackpot ticket in a row. On April 26 the Melvin Rhodes family claimed a jackpot worth $42 million in cash. Then the very next Powerball jackpot was also hit in Kentucky when “The Lucky Four,” four automotive parts store employees from Tennessee, split a jackpot worth $60 million. In addition, Jane Sigler won a $17.5 million Lotto Kentucky jackpot on May 13. It was the largest Lotto Kentucky jackpot three years.

June

• FY KLC ended fiscal year 2000 with a then-record $162 million dividend to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Sales reached $583.7 million, the second highest annual sales figure in the KLC’s history. Those dividends provided the following funding:  
• $22 million to the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship (KEES) program, helping send 18,000 Kentucky students to college and technical schools.
• $3 million to Literacy Development and Early Childhood Reading programs.
• $2.9 million to the Kentucky Housing Corporation’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

October

• The KLC joins nine other states in launching the Powerball TV Game Show. Contestants gain entry on the show hosted by veteran TV personality Bob Eubanks and produced in Hollywood, California, by purchasing an Instant Powerball Scratch-off Ticket. The KLC’s first contestant is Harold Hawkins of Danville. He won $1,500 on the show, plus his all expenses-paid trip to Hollywood and $500 spending money. The show airs on nine TV stations across Kentucky and in neighboring states.
• On October 30, The Kentucky Lottery introduces its first ever $10 scratch-off ticket, Kentucky Holiday. Sales for the ticket are astounding. During the first six weeks of sales, the game generated more than $4.3 million in sales, and over 56% of the available ticket stock was sold. 

December

• On December 12, the Kentucky Lottery becomes the first lottery in the world to have an “Elvis” scratch-off game. In a licensing agreement with Media Drop-in Entertainment (MDI), the KLC prints 1.8 million tickets that sell for $3 each. The game has a top prize of $30,000 cash, plus eight trips for two to Graceland in Memphis, TN. In addition, a second-chance promotion is held that gives players a chance to win Elvis memorabilia.
•  On December 16 Billy Adams, a police officer from Ashland is the Kentucky Lottery’s first finalist on Powerball the TV Game Show. He wins $100,000, then declines to give the money back for a chance to play for $1 million.

1999

March

• On March 15 the Kentucky Lottery launches an additional midday drawing for both the Pick 3 and Pick 4 games giving players two chances per day to play.
• From March 16 through April 4 the Kentucky Lottery goes on a statewide tour to commemorate the lottery’s ten-year anniversary in April. Lottery executives and staff traveled to all seven lottery regions statewide to spread the message “Ten Years of Winning.”

April

• The Kentucky Lottery Corporation celebrates its 10th Anniversary!  The statewide anniversary tour ends with a celebration at the Galleria Mall in downtown Louisville.

June

• On June 5 Cash 5 expands to seven days per week and offers players a choice of continuing to receive one play per dollar, or increase their chances but play for smaller prizes by receiving two 50 cent plays for each dollar they spend. This allows players to continue to play for the $100,000 top prize on a $1 play or play for a $50,000 top prize on 50 cent plays.  
• On June 30 the KLC ends Fiscal Year 1999 with another then-record benefit to the state, $159.5 million. Of this sum, $153.8 million went to the General Fund and $5.7 million went to the Kentucky Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing Trust Fund. This 6th consecutive year of record dividends were accomplished on sales of $583.5 million, the second highest total in KLC history.

September

• The Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority starts issuing the first of 30,000 post-secondary education grants to Kentucky college students from funds received from the Kentucky Lottery under Senate Bill 21 passed in the 1998 General Assembly and signed by the Governor. These are the first of hundreds of thousands of grants and scholarships to be issued to Kentucky students from Lottery funds in the future.

November

• On November 1 the Affordable Housing Trust Fund starts issuing funds received from the Kentucky Lottery's unclaimed prize fund in FY '99 for the construction of 1,000 units of housing for needy Kentuckians.

1998

February

• 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

• CASH 5 reaches its 500th top prize winner when Roger Hicks of Hustonville wins $100,000.

April

• 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

• 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.
• 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.
• 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

• On July 24, the University of Louisville releases research indicating that 71 percent of Kentuckians approve of the Kentucky Lottery.
• 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

• 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

• “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.

1997

March

• The Kentucky Lottery reaches the $2 billion mark in cash prizes paid to players.  Jerome Jefferies of Sellersburg, Indiana is recognized as having put the KLC over the $2 billion mark when he won $100,000 playing CASH 5.

June

• The Davidson Family of Evansville, Indiana, are the single winners of a $57.5 million POWERBALL jackpot.
• On June 30, the Kentucky Lottery reaches then-record-breaking sales of $570.4 million and then-record breaking dividends to the state of $151 million for Fiscal Year 1997.

September 

• For 19 weeks and 38 draws, the Kentucky Lottery’s LOTTO KENTUCKY jackpot steadily rose to its highest point in over 5 years—$ 20,000,000.  Two winning tickets are sold for the $20 million Saturday, September 27, drawing.  The McCarty Family of Louisville, claim their half of the jackpot with a ticket that they purchase at Bowman Field Liquors in Louisville.  An Albany, Kentucky doctor and four members of his staff claim the second half of the $20 million prize with a ticket purchased at Pierce’s Grocery in Albany.

October

• Kentucky Lottery President Arthur Gleason, along with Board of Directors Chairman Laurence Summers, Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson and Lt. Governor Steve Henry, officially opens the Kentucky Lottery Corporate Headquarters at 1011 West Main in Louisville by popping open the tabs of a giant pull-tab ticket. The dedication ceremony for the site includes tours of the site, which will house the KLC’s corporate offices, JeffersonCounty regional office, data processing center and warehouse.

November

• On November 1, the Kentucky Lottery’s POWERBALL game undergoes a face lift to offer players more of what they want—higher jackpots and more options.  The POWERBALL enhancements increase the jackpot’s starting point to $10 Million and allows players to select a single lump-sum “CASH OPTION” jackpot payment or 25 annual payments.  The game matrix also changes.  Players now select 5 white numbers from a field of 49 and 1 red number (the Powerball) from a field of 42. The prize structures change too, increasing low tier prizes to $7, $4 and $3. Overall, POWERBALL players now have better odds to win a prize.
• The Kentucky Lottery Corporation introduces its first $5 instant game, MEGABUCKS.  The November 12 start date is just in time for the holiday season.  With over $6.5 million in prizes and a grand prize of $250,000, players love this colorful game.

1996

January

• On January 8, for the second time within a month, a group of Louisville sanitation workers win a big LOTTO KENTUCKY jackpot. The group of 11 split a $2.3 million jackpot.
• On January 10, the Kentucky Lottery launches its first annuity instant ticket, PAYDAY. Grand prize winners get $1,000 a week for a year—a $52,000 top prize.
• On January 18, the Kentucky Lottery Corporation purchases property on West Main Street in Louisville that will be used for the relocation of its Headquarters, Data Processing Center, Warehouse and Jefferson County Regional Office.  Renovations are to begin in the fall and a move is projected for fall 1997.
• Kent Miller of Madison, Tenn. wins Powerball's $89.3 million jackpot on January 26.

February

• The KLC and its president and CEO, Arch Gleason, are named "Marketer of the Year" by the Louisville Chapter of the American Marketing Association.

March

• The KLC is at the cutting-edge of technology when it introduces a computerized pull-tab validation system. The Kentucky Lottery is the first lottery in history to utilize this type of gaming technology.

June

• Arch Gleason is elected president of the board of directors of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) on June 13. MUSL is the organization that operates the Powerball game.
• On June 26, for the second year in a row, the Kentucky Lottery is awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States and Canada.
• The KLC ends another record fiscal year on June 30. Dividends to the Commonwealth total $147 million, $15 million more than the state projected. The KLC also achieved record sales—over $542 million.

July

• State Treasurer John Kennedy Hamilton becomes a voting member of the KLC board of directors as approved in legislation by the General Assembly.
• On July 17, in just over seven years, the KLC reaches the phenomenal $3 billion mark in total sales.
• On July 29, the KLC introduces its first $1 pull-tab. PAYLINE has a top prize payout of $200 and is widely successful.

August

• On August 6, the Kentucky Lottery's $2 instant game, BINGO, tops $150 million in sales, the best-selling instant game in KLC history.
• On August 23, the Lottery's board of directors approves $22,000 in funding for the Kentucky Council on Compulsive Gambling (KCCG). The money will assist the KCCG's efforts in public education, certification of health care professionals to treat the disorder, and assistance in designing a compulsive gambling awareness program for the Kentucky Lottery.

October

• Renovations begin on the KLC’s new headquarters, data processing center and warehouse in downtown Louisville.
• On October 23, the KLC sells its fourth POWERBALL jackpot winner within 10 months.  Robert Mayton and Gwen Howard of Calhoun, Kentucky claim half of the $56.6 million jackpot.  A second winning ticket is sold in Indiana. Mayton and Howard are the fifth POWERBALL jackpot winners to buy their lucky ticket in Kentucky.

November

• The KLC introduces “SURPRISE PACKAGE,” its first $3 instant ticket.  The holiday theme game has a top prize of $150,000—the largest in KLC history.

1995

February

• On February 25, the Kentucky Lottery has seven $100,000 winners in one POWERBALL drawing, a KLC record.
• On February 26, the KLC holds the first LOTTO KENTUCKY Millionaires Reunion. There have been 98 jackpot winning tickets since the game’s inception in October of 1989. The reunion, which 35 winners attended, helps launch a statewide promotional and media tour for the new “Now Choose Cash” LOTTO KENTUCKY.

March

• The “Now Choose Cash” LOTTO KENTUCKY officially kicks off with a promotion celebration at Louisville’s Galleria. The event draws hundreds of downtown workers who buy tickets for the first drawing and try their luck for other prizes.
• The new LOTTO KENTUCKY holds its first drawing.  The game has returned to the original 6/42 matrix. The game also gives players the option of taking a lump-sum payment if they win the jackpot. The choice must be made at the time the ticket is purchased.  If the cash is selected, the winner will receive the current cash value of the annuity prize (the amount the KLC must invest to fund the prize over 20 years).
• WHAS-TV in Louisville resumes production of the KLC’s nightly drawings. WHAS-TV takes over after WKPC-TV handled the drawings for three years. WHAS-TV originally produced the drawings from 1989-1991, along with the game show “Fun and Games.”
• On March 24, the KLC board of directors and President Arch Gleason enter into a four-year employment contract.

May

• BINGO sales total over $112 million. KLC introduces a new BINGO with a top prize of $15,000 and an additional fifth play card to thank the players for their loyalty to the game.

June

• Governor Brereton C. Jones visits KLC headquarters on June 24, to accept a ceremonial check for the record $136 million the lottery paid the state in FY ‘ 95.
• The KLC ends its fiscal year on June 30, with a then-record $512 million in sales and a record $136 million in dividends to the state of Kentucky. Since inception in April 1989, the KLC had earned more than $620 million for the commonwealth.

August

• The Multi-State Lottery Association's POWERBALL drawing is televised live from the Kentucky State Fair. This is only the second time in Powerball history that its drawing has taken place outside of its Des Moines, Iowa television studio
• The KLC ends its fiscal year on June 30, with a then-record $512 million in sales and a record $136 million in dividends to the state of Kentucky. Since inception in April 1989, the KLC had earned more than $620 million for the commonwealth. 

September

• The Kentucky Lottery wins the Government Finance Officers Association Certificate of Achievement for outstanding financial reporting.
• The KLC is also awarded the Purchaser of the Year award in the hospitality/service/nontraditional category at the 13th Annual Minority Enterprise Development Awards.

October

• The KLC is awarded the Katherine G. Peden Award for Corporate Excellence from the Business and Professional Women of River City.

December

• On the 18 th, a family from La Center, Kentucky claims a $33.8 million Powerball jackpot and 17 sanitation workers from Louisville claim a $9,090,000 LOTTO KENTUCKY Cash Option prize. The workers are later tagged "America's Richest Garbage Men.” 

1994

January

• On January 10, CASH 5 is expanded from two drawings per week to five. Drawings are held nightly, Monday through Friday.  Sales for CASH 5 grow quickly in proportion to the additional drawings.
• Many Lottery offices are closed for a week when a storm blankets Kentucky with 16 inches of snow. The Lottery continues its computer operations.  Drawing and security personnel work hard to see that the drawings continue and are televised. The KLC manages to sell over $5 million in tickets for the week, even though virtually every major road in the state is closed.

February 8

• The KLC reaches $1 billion in prizes paid to players.

March

• The KLC begins sales of the $2 niche game, WILD MONEY, on March 2.  The initial order of seven million tickets is sold out in six weeks.  WILD MONEY, which is a matching game, has a top prize of $10,000. This wildly successful game is reordered several times.
• On March 28, the KLC makes a $21 million dividend payment to the commonwealth.  This extraordinary payment is possible because of a new accounts receivable billing procedure that sweeps instant ticket retailer accounts weekly.

April

• On April 4, the Kentucky Lottery Corporation celebrates its fifth anniversary by launching PICK 4, a daily on-line game. PICK 4 replaces The PICK.
• The KLC holds a celebration at the Louisville Galleria where Governor Jones is presented with a symbolic check for $446 million, the amount the Kentucky Lottery has returned to the state in its first five years of operation.  The governor also signs into law a bill written by the KLC, Senator Joe Meyer and Representative Marshall Long.  The law enhances accountability of the lottery and retailers, clarifies procurement and conflict of interest provisions and improves Lottery administration.  It also requires that dividends be paid to the state on a monthly basis (something the board of directors approved in August 1993).
• On April 13, Charles “Shorty” Howard of Winchester, Kentucky wins $9 million in LOTTO KENTUCKY.  It is the largest LOTTO jackpot in nearly two years.  Howard, a tenant farmer for over 20 years, becomes recognized for his remark upon winning, “I’ll keep on farming, but with a smile on my face instead of a worry.”
• On April 20, Brenda Knopf of Bloomfield, Kentucky wins $64.2 million in POWERBALL. At the time, this is the second largest jackpot awarded to a single winner in U.S. lottery history.

June

• The Kentucky Lottery finishes the fiscal year by returning a then-record $114 million to the state. This is $14 million more than in any other year and $4 million more than the state budget estimate. In addition, this record dividend is accomplished on sales that are slightly below those in 1993, when $100 million was returned to the state.

September

• Lottery retailer Paul Rhoton of Adolphus, Kentucky rents a limousine to bring LOTTO KENTUCKY winner Alice Burgess to Louisville to claim her $1.2 million prize.  This was the first time a retailer has provided such first-class transportation for someone who bought a winning ticket in their store.
• The KLC board of directors approves the lottery’s voluntary affirmative action plan.  The plan includes hirings, promotions, diversity training, and procurement.

1993

March 17

• The PICK, a daily numbers game featuring a televised drawing, is launched. The fifth on-line game for the KLC has an 8/56 matrix and features six ways to play and 12 ways to win. Players choose their own level of liability. Prizes range from $2 to $200,000.  Nightly drawings are broadcast at 10:58 p.m. EST.

July

• The state auditor of public accounts releases an audit of the KLC.  It cites conflicts of interest by some board members and employees, questionable procurements and financial practices and abuse of expense accounts. 

August

• Governor Brereton C. Jones asks for the resignations of the entire board of directors.  Four senior staff members, including President Potter, are asked to resign.
• Governor Jones appoints a new board of directors chaired by Patrick Cvengros of Paducah. The board immediately sets a policy that the KLC will pay dividends to the Commonwealth on a monthly basis.  The auditor of public accounts has been critical of the previous board and administration for failing to make payments on a regular and timely basis.

September

• Arthur (Arch) L. Gleason, Jr., is appointed president and CEO. Gleason comes to the KLC from the West Virginia Lottery, where he served as director on two different occasions.  Gleason quickly reins in spending and trims the budget in order to allow the KLC to return more money to the Commonwealth. Efforts to increase profits and dividends were aided by reducing the percentage of prize payouts from 80 to 60 percent on the flagship game LOTTO KENTUCKY.

1992

January

• The Kentucky Lottery becomes one of the top states in per capita sales, moving from 26th place into the top five in just one year. In January 1991, the per capita sales in Kentucky were $1.01. One year later per capita sales are $2.68. Much of the success is attributed to the introduction of a multi-game instant ticket strategy and higher prize payouts.

April

• The KLC launches POWERBALL, a new multi-state, on-line game featuring nine ways to win a mega-million dollar jackpot. The game is governed by the Multi-state Lottery Association and replaces the LOTTO*AMERICA game. Tickets are $1 per play and drawings are held on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The drawings are televised live from MUSL headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa.

May 12

• Jim Hosker resigns as president of the KLC. Governor Brereton C. Jones recommends that CFO Brian Potter be promoted to president.  The KLC board of directors approves the promotion.

July

• The Kentucky Lottery finishes the fiscal year with sales in excess of $427 million, an increase of more than 100 percent from 1991.  The KLC secures a place in history with this feat, which had never been achieved by a state lottery. As a result, the KLC returns $100 million to the Commonwealth of Kentucky instead of the $61 million that had been projected.
• The KLC changes the time of its nightly televised drawings to10:58 p.m. EST in order to allow players additional time to purchase tickets.  This was especially beneficial to citizens in the Central Time Zone who previously had to purchase their tickets prior to a 6:28 p.m. CST drawing.
• “The Dream Machine,” a mobile TV studio is created to take the KLC’s drawings on the road to fairs and festivals across the state.

November 11

• The KLC continues its leadership in the lottery industry by being the first U.S. lottery to offer an extended-play instant scratch-off BINGO ticket that looks and plays like the real game.  Each BINGO ticket sells for $2 and has four BINGO cards.  The game has a top prize of $10,000.

1991

January 10

• The Kentucky Lottery joins LOTTO*AMERICA, a multi-state, on-line lottery game.

April 4

• The Kentucky Lottery is two years old. In this short time, the KLC has generated $480 million in sales and $150 million in dividends to the commonwealth.

August

• LOTTO KENTUCKY changes to a 6/49 matrix which increases the odds to about one in 14 million.

September

• George and Shirley Haines of Cairo, Illinois win $4.4 million when they cash the first winning LOTTO*AMERICA jackpot ticket sold in Kentucky.

October

• The KLC introduces another on-line game, CASH 5, on October 5. It is a 5/35 matrix, known in the lottery industry as a “little lotto” game because of its lower odds. Matching all five numbers to win the lump-sum $100,000 top prize has odds of about 1 in 324,000.  Players also win $100 for matching four of five and $10 for matching three of five.
• On October 11, the first CASH 5 drawing is held. Drawings for CASH 5 are held on Tuesday and Friday nights. Like LOTTO KENTUCKY and PICK 3, CASH 5 drawings are televised live at 7:28 p.m. EST.

November

• On November 1, Jim Hosker becomes the first modern lottery era president to be awarded a personal services contract.  The KLC board of directors offers Hosker a four-year contract. 
• A record LOTTO KENTUCKY prize of $42 million is won by two Kentuckians on November 7. Thomas Savage of Louisville and Robert Coleman of Raccoon split the jackpot. The jackpot attracted players from across the nation as it rolled for nine and a half weeks and 19 drawings before a winner emerged. 

December

• The Kentucky Lottery is recognized as the fastest growing lottery in the nation, with sales finishing the calendar year up 71 percent over 1990.

1990

January 27

• “Fun and Games,” the KLC’s weekly game show hits the airwaves on nine TV stations in Kentucky and surrounding states.  Contestants compete for cash prizes by wagering on stunts performed by members of the studio audience.

April

• On April 4, the KLC celebrates its first year with $266 million in sales, $66 million more than projected. Lottery directors and officials join Governor Wilkinson in Frankfort to celebrate. 
• The KLC announces that LOTTO KENTUCKY will be extended to two drawings per week, Wed. and Sat. nights.

July 8

• Pull-tab games are introduced. They cost 25¢ and 50¢ each with prizes ranging from 25¢ to $125.

November 8

• Jim Hosker is appointed the second president of the Kentucky Lottery Corporation. Hosker joins the KLC after leaving the Massachusetts Lottery, the most successful lottery in the U.S. in per capita sales.

1989

January

• The Kentucky Senate confirms the appointment of the first seven members to the KentuckyLottery board of directors: William Sullivan, chairman, Robert Anderson, Charles Baird, Al Brown, Ralph Hacker, Connie  Lawson and Charlene Vater.
• State Treasurer Robert Mead, CPA was appointed to serve ex-officio.
• Frank Keener, who chaired the lottery commission, is named president of the Kentucky Lottery Corporation.

February

• 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.
• Hiring begins for a 155 member staff.

March

• 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

• On April 4, the first day of sales, over 5,000 licensed retailers sell more than $5 million in Kentucky Lottery tickets.
• 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

• 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

• The KLC makes its first dividend payment to the commonwealth in the amount of $41 million.

August

• 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

• GTECH, the KLC’s on-line vendor, begins the installation of the first 1,000 on-line ticket terminals across the state.

October

• 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.
• 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

• The KLC launches KENTUCKY CASH, its second on-line game. The daily game is later renamed PICK 3.

1988

July

• Governor Wallace G. Wilkinson appoints the Kentucky Lottery Commission to develop a draft for the creation of a lottery in Kentucky.

November 5

• More than a million Kentuckians vote on the lottery referendum. The measure passes with 60 percent of the votes in favor of creating a lottery.

December 16

• Legislation creating the lottery is signed by the Governor. The Kentucky Lottery is the first lottery in the United States implemented as a corporation.