Winning online contests and lottery

Barack Obama stands to win not only the White House — according to recent US opinion polls — but also the lottery in Mesa, Colombia, where his face now graces all the lottery tickets in the city.

The Massachusetts Lottery is slashing $3 million from its operating budget, as the economic downturn eats into ticket sales and threatens to reduce the amount of money distributed…

Japanese police have arrested a man who allegedly killed a woman after she won two million dollars in the lottery, the police said today. Police said they arrested newspaper deliveryman Jinichi Kumagai, 51, for allegedly killing Hisako Yoshida. Some media reports said the two were dating.

Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) — A 51-year-old Japanese man was arrested yesterday on suspicion of killing a woman who won 200 million yen ($2.1 million) in a lottery, Kyodo News said, citing police.

Tickets sales have dropped two years in a row. That means less money for schools and raises questions about Schwarzenegger’s plan to borrow against increasing future lottery money to balance the state budget. Even the California Lottery is getting hit by the bad economy.

Debra and Raul Bennett are faithful lottery players, though in nearly 15 years of playing they never had won much more than pocket money.

The slumping economy is taking a toll on Massachusetts lottery revenues. State Treasurer Timothy Cahill said lottery sales are off 3.5 percent since Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 15.

Gloomy economic news has spread to the state lottery.

(AP:RALEIGH, N.C.) North Carolina’s lottery has made its largest transfer of money to state education programs in the game’s 2 1/2-year history. The North Carolina Education Lottery said it sent $99.8 million to a dedicated state fund Wednesday morning.

North Carolina’s lottery has made its largest transfer of money to state education programs in the game’s 2 1/2-year history.