January 2016Volume 27Issue 1

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Minnesota players get lucky for life!

Lottery director update

Win once, win for life! That’s what sets Lucky for Life® apart from all the other lotto games.

It’s been almost one year since we joined the Lucky for Life multi-state game, which offers TWO lifetime prizes.

On Nov. 19, 2015, South Carolina had the first $1,000 a day for life grand prize winner. That’s equivalent to earning $83 an hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! Now that’s what we call a payday.

So far this year, 40* lucky players throughout the 16 participating lotteries have won $25,000 a year for life prizes, including five right here in Minnesota!

Don’t forget that retailers can win big too when their players win:

Minnesota retailer selling bonus:$1,000 a day for life prize, $10,000 $25,000 a year for life, $5,000

How can you increase your chance of selling a big winner? It’s simple—ask for the sale! Lucky for Life is an easy upsell for your sales associates: If a player purchases three Mega Millions® tickets, ask if they want to try Lucky for Life for an even $5 purchase. Challenge your sales staff to see who can sell the most Lucky for Life tickets on drawing days (Mondays and Thursdays) and reward the top associate with a store gift card. Contact your Lottery sales representative for more easy and fun ideas.

*As of Dec. 29, 2015

As you may know, the Lottery’s Executive Director resigned at the end of 2015. Governor Dayton and his team are leading the search for a new Executive Director.

We will properly introduce you to the next Executive Director in an upcoming issue of the LINK, as soon as one is named. Kristin Batson, from Minnesota Management and Budget, has been named acting Executive Director.

All of us at the Lottery wish you a happy and prosperous 2016. We look forward to another successful year working with you.

We greatly value our retail partners.

A White Bear Lake resident got himself a Christmas gift that keeps on giving. On Dec. 25, Shane Koller discovered that the Lucky for Life ticket he purchased the night before won a $25,000 a year for life prize.

Holiday Stationstore Inc., located at 1800 E. County Road F in White Bear Lake, sold the winning ticket.

Koller’s ticket matched the first five numbers drawn. Had the ticket matched the sixth winning number—the Lucky Ball, which was 5—he would have won the game’s top prize of $1,000 a day for life. “It was just one off from winning $1,000 a day for life!” he recalled. “If I had had a 5 instead of a 6 … .”

Minnesota’s fourth $25,000 a year for life winner stepped forward on Dec. 24. Irina Ivanov of Shakopee won the lifetime prize on Dec. 21. She opted for the $390,000 cash option. Cub Foods, located at 3550 Vicksburg Lane N. in Plymouth, sold Ivanov’s winning ticket.

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Conversion update A chance to escape winter that practically sells itself!By now you have received your new equipment. We’re

hearing from you that you really love the speed of the new terminal. The next step is the new software downloads, which are targeted for April 17. Some major innovations with the new software and other enhancements will make selling and accounting even easier:

• Scratch shift accounting will allow you to scan your last tickets at the end of each shift and at the end of the day to balance your sales against your cash register and reports will calculate the sales automatically!

• A new report shows exactly what inventory is in your store!

• A new online training so you can train new employees at your convenience.

• Re-designed scheduled return ticket receipt includes more detailed information requested by retailers.

• Retailer website: one-stop location for all your information needs, from billing statements to plan-o-grams to a variety of reports you can download.

• Winners specific to your store will appear on your LottoVision® screen to advertise your lucky store.

• We’ll keep you posted as we progress toward the April 17 launch date.

Your customers will definitely warm up to this fun ticket.

When it’s cold and snow is blowing, suggest the Escape to Margaritaville® ticket to your customers.

Not only can they win $75,000, but they can enter for a chance to win a trip to warm up in Florida!

There are 85 prizes of $1,000 to $75,000, so your players will have lots of chances to win big!

The Lottery’s Top Sellers recognizes retailers for exceptional sales performance. Each of the businesses that made this month’s Top Sellers

will receive $50 in free scratch tickets.

Top 10 sellers of #560, Hunt for Big Cash and #561, Bearded Bucks (combined), Sept. 29, 2015 – Dec. 14, 2015:

M & H Gas, Moorhead

MSP Airport Foundation, St. Paul

Casey’s General Store #3357, Moorhead

Cub Foods, Crystal

SuperAmerica #4445, Blaine

Casey’s General Store #2202, Moorhead

Cedar BP, Bloomington

Cash Wise Foods #3009, Waite Park

Kaposia Convenience Center, South St. Paul

SuperAmerica #52, White Bear Lake

Upcoming Top Sellers (schedule is tentative):February – Fiscal Year 2016 sales leaders, 2nd quarter

March – Top two regional Minnesota Millionaire Raffle sellers

A new group of environmental projects is making its way to the legislature next spring for approval to receive Lottery funding through the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.

A total of 89 projects have been selected by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources to receive

$46.3 million. The projects will benefit Minnesota’s environment through land acquisition, water resources, environmental education, air quality, climate change, renewable energy and research.

Lottery dollars to support new projects

Photo courtesy of Carrol Henderson, DNR.

© 2016 Margaritaville Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved. MARGARITAVILLE and NO PASSPORT REQUIRED are trademarks of Margaritaville Enterprises, LLC and are used under license.

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Minnesota Lottery is committed to offering fair and secure games

There have been recent news stories about the employee of the Multi-State Lottery Association (Eddie Tipton) who was found guilty of tampering with lottery equipment after attempting to claim a Hot Lotto® jackpot won in Iowa in 2010.

Please let your staff and customers know that the Minnesota Lottery is committed to offering fair and secure games for the people of Minnesota. We have no reason to believe Tipton compromised any in-state game

(Daily 3®, Northstar Cash®, Gopher 5®) offered by the Minnesota Lottery. Tipton built and serviced random number generators (RNGs) for the Multi-State Lottery Association. (The Minnesota Lottery uses RNGs built by an industry-leading third party, and Tipton has never serviced our RNGs.) All drawings conducted in Minnesota are done under camera and in the presence of a third party auditor. Further, all RNGs used for the national games in which Minnesota participates

(Hot Lotto®, All or Nothing®) have been replaced since Tipton’s arrest.

The Lottery has undergone an extensive internal review by security staff and an external review in cooperation with the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation and no fraud involving Tipton has been uncovered in Minnesota.

Please share any questions or concerns with us at pr@mnlottery.com or (651) 635-8273, then press 1.

Locations:

Hilltop Quick Mart in MankatoLe Hillier Quick Mart in MankatoMankato Quick Mart in MankatoNew Ulm Quick Mart in New UlmSt. Peter Quick Mart in St. Peter

Background:

“This is a family-owned five-store chain. You get the friendly face of a friendly clerk and they appreciate your business,” explained Lottery sales rep Cindy Boerner, who works with three of the stores.

D&R Marketing Chain in southeastern MinnesotaRetailerSpotlight

Why this is a great Lottery retailer:

All the stores do a great job of displaying Lottery signage. “It reminds players to check their tickets and that in turn increases sales because if they’re digging in their purse or their billfold for their tickets, there’s a good chance they’re going to purchase some additional tickets,” explained chain supervisor Jane Younge.

“They do a great job with promotions and winner awareness,” said Lottery sales rep Joel Erickson, who works with

two of the stores. Boerner added, “They are always open to suggestions and opportunities to increase sales; we have great success with promotions here. They have done ‘buy and gets’ with tickets, envelope promotions, a Raffle promotion, second-chance drawings and we also include clerk incentives.”

According to Younge, “It’s definitely worth doing promotions. The clerks are always excited about doing that and letting the customers know. I don’t know that we’ve ever turned down a partnership with the Lottery.”

Younge continued, “I think the Lottery is a good partnership with us and it does bring in foot traffic without inconvenience. It’s just a good plus to have at the convenience store level.”

Lottery Luck:

“They’ve had a lot of big winners. I hear from many players talking about the lucky store on 2nd St. in Mankato,” said Erickson. All of the stores in this chain have had several big winners, but the Mankato Quick Mart is an especially lucky spot. Big winners at the Mankato store include a $1 million Minnesota Millionaire Raffle prize, a $50,000 Cash for Life prize, a $33,414 Northstar Cash prize and a $25,000 a year for life Lucky for Life prize.

Above: Quick Mart store manager Jenny Swanson (left) and chain supervisor Jane Younge.

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Minnesota State Lottery2645 Long Lake RoadRoseville, Minnesota 55113mnlottery.comDebbie Hoffmann, executive editorMarie Hinton, managing editorEmily Frost, editorKelly Barto, graphic designer

This publication is available in alternative formats to individuals with disabilities by calling (651) 635-8273, (888) 568-8379.

PRESORTEDSTANDARD

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

DETROIT LAKES, MNPERMIT NO. 14

T & B’s Short Stop in Ashby, $130

Holiday Stationstores, Inc. in St. Peter, $1,000

SuperAmerica #4180 in Bloomington, $433

Holiday Stationstores in Bloomington, $2,000

Coborn’s #2044 in Montevideo, $130

Orton’s Point Tesoro in East Grand Forks, $270

Stop-N-Shop #1 in Minneapolis, $1,000

Cub Foods in Brooklyn Park (North), $500

Top prize winning ticket bonus

Feb. 2, 2016: Feb. 23, 2016:

New Games

County Market in St. Francis, $500

Coon Rapids Holiday #3514 in Coon Rapids, $500