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Tag: Lotteries

  • Mega Millions jackpot grows to $640 million, among highest in lottery game’s history

    Mega Millions jackpot grows to $640 million, among highest in lottery game’s history

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    The Mega Millions top prize has grown again to an estimated $640 million after there was no winner of the lottery’s latest giant jackpot

    FILE – A Mega Millions wagering slip is held in Cranberry Township, Pa., Jan. 12, 2023. The Mega Millions jackpot has grown again, to at least an estimated $640 million, after there was no winner Friday night, July 14. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

    The Associated Press

    The Mega Millions top prize has grown again to an estimated $640 million after there was no winner of the lottery’s latest giant jackpot.

    The numbers drawn late Friday night were: 10, 24, 48, 51, 66 and gold Mega Ball 15.

    The estimated $640 million jackpot in the next drawing would only be distributed to a winner who chooses an annuity paid over 29 years. Nearly all grand prize winners opt to take a cash payout, which for Tuesday night’s drawing is an estimated $328 million.

    The jackpot is the seventh largest in the game’s history, Mega Millions said in a statement.

    Four tickets matched all five white balls to garner the second prize level in the drawing. A ticket sold in South Carolina included an optional multiplier making it worth $2 million. Two tickets in California and one in North Carolina also were second-tier winners, Mega Millions said.

    Despite the game’s long odds of 1 in 302.6 million, players continue to purchase tickets as the size of the grand prize grows.

    The last time a Mega Millions player hit the top prize was April 18.

    Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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  • Mega Millions jackpot grows to $640 million, among highest in lottery game’s history

    Mega Millions jackpot grows to $640 million, among highest in lottery game’s history

    [ad_1]

    The Mega Millions top prize has grown again to an estimated $640 million after there was no winner of the lottery’s latest giant jackpot

    FILE – A Mega Millions wagering slip is held in Cranberry Township, Pa., Jan. 12, 2023. The Mega Millions jackpot has grown again, to at least an estimated $640 million, after there was no winner Friday night, July 14. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

    The Associated Press

    The Mega Millions top prize has grown again to an estimated $640 million after there was no winner of the lottery’s latest giant jackpot.

    The numbers drawn late Friday night were: 10, 24, 48, 51, 66 and gold Mega Ball 15.

    The estimated $640 million jackpot in the next drawing would only be distributed to a winner who chooses an annuity paid over 29 years. Nearly all grand prize winners opt to take a cash payout, which for Tuesday night’s drawing is an estimated $328 million.

    Despite the game’s long odds of 1 in 302.6 million, players continue to purchase tickets as the size of the grand prize grows.

    The last time a Mega Millions player hit the top prize was April 18.

    Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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  • A Maryland woman played her lottery numbers for over a year. A simple switch turned her into a $50,000 winner | CNN

    A Maryland woman played her lottery numbers for over a year. A simple switch turned her into a $50,000 winner | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A Maryland woman who’d played the same lottery numbers for a year won big after getting some inspiration from a previous winner, she told lottery officials.

    The unidentified woman from Forestville, which is about 10 miles east of Washington, DC, won $50,000 in a Pick 5 game, according to the Maryland Lottery.

    She’s calling herself “Grateful Winner,” which is what appears on her winning lottery check from the June 23 midday drawing.

    The woman said she’d read a Maryland Lottery story about a player “who decided to play one of his Pick 5 number combinations after seeing variations of his numbers drawn,” a news release stated.

    Using the technique to her own benefit, the federal government worker said she began seeking out patterns in the Pick 5 winning numbers.

    Between June 5 to June 21, the woman saw that the number six was the first Pick 5 digit that was drawn in four games, so she tried an experiment, the Maryland Lottery said in the news release.

    Normally, she’d play the numbers 56389, but this time, she switched the first two numbers in the sequence and placed a $1 straight bet at a 7-Eleven in Prince George’s County.

    It paid off.

    “I just started playing that number last week and I couldn’t believe it,” the winner said in the news release.

    She said she found out she’d won while checking her phone during a manicure appointment.

    “My eyes started to water, I was shaking and I couldn’t see,” the woman recalled.

    The winner said she planned to use the funds to pay off bills.

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  • A winning combination: Man who played same lottery numbers for a decade finally nets a big payday | CNN

    A winning combination: Man who played same lottery numbers for a decade finally nets a big payday | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    After nearly 10 years of playing the same lottery number combination, a $50,000 payday has finally arrived for a man in Maryland, lottery officials said.

    The winner from Prince George’s County, who remained anonymous, won the big prize on May 28 after playing the Maryland Lottery’s Bonus Match 5 game, according to a news release.

    “I play the same numbers all the time, I’ve been doing so for years,” the man told officials from the Maryland Lottery’s headquarters in Baltimore.

    He visited a liquor store in Temple Hills and bought a $4 ticket containing six lines – one of which included his usual combination of the numbers 5, 6, 8, 23 and 30, he said.

    The winner, who is a retired printing press operator, says he chose four of the lines himself while the computer system randomly generated the remaining two lines.

    He learned in disbelief the following day that he’d won the top prize using his special set of five digits, the Maryland Lottery reported.

    As a bonus, the anonymous winner also won an additional $15 off of three numbers from another line that he’d selected himself.

    He called his wife of 22 years immediately to share the good news, the news release said.

    “Many lottery players tell us that they have certain combinations of numbers that they use on a regular basis,” Seth Elkin, a spokesman for Maryland Lottery and Gaming, told CNN in an email.

    “Sometimes it’s birthdates or house numbers or uniform numbers of their favorite athletes, and sometimes they’ve just decided certain numbers feel ‘lucky’ to them,” Elkin said.

    The winner says he plans to use the prize to pay bills and put the rest into savings.

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  • Some Democrats are already warning of a government shutdown as budget battle with GOP takes shape

    Some Democrats are already warning of a government shutdown as budget battle with GOP takes shape

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    WASHINGTON — Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s bid to appease Republican hard-liners and get the House moving again after a recent party rebellion on the floor has some Democrats warning of a difficult road ahead when it comes to passing legislation that will keep the government running.

    Republicans teed up votes this past week on guns and on censuring one of former President Donald Trump‘s most prominent critics, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. Those votes helped get the House moving again, though the latter effort failed, with Schiff helped by some 20 Republicans.

    The most consequential move of the week, however, was an announcement from GOP leadership that arrived with little fanfare. Republicans said they plan to pursue appropriations bills, which fund government programs and agencies, with less spending than the top-line numbers they agreed to in a deal with the White House last month. That compromise avoided what would have been an unprecedented federal default.

    McCarthy argued that the numbers he negotiated with the White House amount to a cap and “you can always do less.” GOP Rep. Kay Granger of Texas, who leads the House Appropriations Committee, followed with a statement that said she would seek to limit nondefense spending at 2022 budget levels, saying the debt agreement “set a top-line spending cap -– a ceiling, not a floor.”

    The announcements delighted Republicans who had criticized McCarthy, R-Calif., and opposed the debt ceiling legislation because they felt that agreement allowed too much spending. But it drew immediate pushback from Democrats who say an attempt to circumvent the debt ceiling agreement’s top-line numbers effectively guarantees a standoff with the Senate and White House and possibly even a damaging government stoppage when funding expires this fall.

    “It is a prelude to a shutdown — what they are engineering,” said Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

    The emerging dynamic raises the potential for another round of economy-rattling brinkmanship in Washington just months after lawmakers narrowly avoided a damaging federal default.

    Partial government shutdowns have become increasingly common in the modern era, with the longest coming under President Donald Trump as he demanded money for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. With President Joe Biden facing down the Republican-controlled House as he runs for reelection in 2024 and some conservatives openly dismissive of the damage a shutdown can cause, the spending fight appears nearly certain to escalate.

    The tension created by the GOP’s pursuit of more non-defense spending cuts was evident during hearings held Wednesday and Thursday of the House Appropriations panel.

    Democrats accused House Republicans of going back on their word. “Do you think any of us would have made a deal if we thought your ‘22 number was the deal?” said Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md. “What kind of deal is that? What kind of respect for yourselves is that?

    “You knew that wasn’t a ceiling,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla. “Traditionally, that’s where we are starting. Caps are not ceilings in our world. They are a starting point and then we negotiate from those numbers we have agreed to. That’s how it has always been.”

    But Republicans said McCarthy was clear during negotiations that spending had to come down from current levels.

    “We can try to fool the American people with smoke and mirrors and pretend, but the speaker was clear. We are in a debt crisis in this country,” said Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md.

    Under the debt ceiling agreement, the White House said nondefense spending was expected to be roughly flat in the next budget year and increase by 1% the following year. Defense spending would increase by about 3.3% next year and 1% the following year. The agreement to curb discretionary spending does not include programs like Medicare and Social Security, which are considered mandatory spending.

    A few Republicans have urged leadership not to bend to a minority within the conference.

    “I think we’ve just got to be really careful not to allow, you know, a small portion of our conference to continually be chipping away at previously agreed upon issues,” said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark. “That top-line number was agreed to in the (debt-ceiling bill.) They may not like it. They voiced their displeasure last week. They kind of shut the House down, but we’ve got work to do. We need to be doing it.”

    Republicans only have a five-seat majority in the House, which magnifies the power that a small bloc can have. It took just 11 members, mostly members of the House Freedom Caucus, to stall House votes on legislation in early June and send lawmakers home early. One of those 11, Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., said moving to 2022 spending levels for nondefense programs will be good for Republican candidates in next year’s general election because that’s what voters are demanding.

    “Democrats have no interest in cutting spending,” Good said. “They have to be forced to do so. We should have used the debt ceiling to force them to cut spending. We should use the appropriations process to force them to cut spending. We shouldn’t fear a government shutdown. Most of what we do up here is bad anyway.”

    Many senators, Democrat and Republican, did not seem as concerned about the possibility of a shutdown.

    “This crowd that is giving McCarthy trouble is irrelevant for purposes of getting appropriations bills passed,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. “When it comes to appropriations bills, you have to create a coalition that doesn’t include the Freedom Caucus.”

    “In the end, I think we’ll resolve these issues,” said Sen. Susan Collins, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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  • Father and son sentenced for decadelong, $20 million lottery fraud scheme

    Father and son sentenced for decadelong, $20 million lottery fraud scheme

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    BOSTON (AP) — A father and son from Massachusetts have both been sent to prison for running an elaborate lottery fraud scheme designed to enrich themselves and help prize winners avoid paying taxes on their windfall, prosecutors said.

    Ali Jaafar, 63, and Yousef Jaafar, 29, both of Watertown, cashed in 14,000 winning lottery tickets over a roughly 10-year period, laundered more than $20 million in proceeds, and then lied on their tax returns to cheat the IRS out of about $6 million, the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston announced Monday.

    The Jaafars purchased winning lottery tickets at a discount from people who wanted to avoid identification by the state lottery commission, which withholds taxes and outstanding child support payments from payouts.

    After purchasing the tickets, using the stores that sold them as go-betweens, the Jaafars claimed the full prize amount. Although they reported the winnings on their tax returns, they also claimed equivalent fake gambling losses as an offset to avoid federal income taxes, prosecutors said.

    Ali Jaafar was sentenced to five years in prison. Yousef Jaafar received a sentence of more than four years. They were also ordered to pay $6 million in restitution and forfeit the profits from their scheme.

    They were convicted in December of conspiracy to defraud the IRS, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and filing a false tax return.

    Mohamed Jaafar, another of Ali Jaafar’s sons, pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme in November and awaits sentencing.

    The defendants paid the owners of dozens of stores that sell lottery tickets to facilitate the transactions, and the state lottery commission is in the process of revoking or suspending the licenses of more than 40 lottery agents, authorities said.

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  • How does the NBA lottery work, and who has the best chance to draft Wembanyama?

    How does the NBA lottery work, and who has the best chance to draft Wembanyama?

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    The NBA draft lottery has offered teams a quick path from bad to good for nearly four decades. The stakes this year are unusually high with French phenom Victor Wembanyama the top prospect.

    The lottery format has undergone a few changes since the New York Knicks won the first one in 1985, when there were seven teams.

    There are twice as many lottery teams now, all hoping, like the Knicks did when they drafted Patrick Ewing, to have luck strike at the right time and land the player who can turn around a franchise.

    The Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and Spurs all have a 14% chance of getting him, but there will be 14 teams at the McCormick Place Convention Center that have hopes.

    WHEN IS THE NBA DRAFT LOTTERY?

    The league will hold this year’s lottery Tuesday night in Chicago, with the winner getting the No. 1 pick and the chance to draft Victor Wembanyama. He is considered the best prospect in years — perhaps since LeBron James went No. 1 20 years ago. The lottery telecast begins at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN and during the televised portion, Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum opens envelopes that reveal the draft order. Neither he nor any of the representatives on stage will know the results until then.

    WILL WEMBANYAMA BE AT THE LOTTERY?

    The most coveted prospect in this year’s draft will not be there. Wembanyama plays his last regular-season game for his pro team in France on Tuesday, a few hours before the lottery.

    All the teams that missed the postseason are in the Wembanyama Sweepstakes. In addition to Houston, Detroit, and San Antonio, the list includes Charlotte, Portland, Orlando, Indiana, Washington, Utah, Dallas, Chicago, Oklahoma City, Toronto and New Orleans.

    WHAT ABOUT THOSE PING-PONG BALLS?

    Fourteen ping-pong balls numbered 1 to 14 are placed in a machine and the teams are assigned various four-number combinations. The balls are mixed for 20 seconds before the first one is drawn. The remaining balls are mixed again before another is drawn, and that happens twice more until four have been removed.

    The team with that combination of numbers gets the No. 1 pick. The balls are then returned to the machine and the process is repeated for the Nos. 2-4 picks.

    Teams have representatives in the lottery room where the actual drawing takes place and another on the podium for the televised announcement. Representatives in the lottery room can observe the process but can’t the results. Everyone in the room has to turn over their cell phones and any other forms of communication when they enter.

    WHY DOESN’T THE WORST TEAM HAVE THE BEST ODDS TO WIN?

    The short answer is to avoid any incentive for a team to finish last.

    The worst team did have the best odds until a few years ago with a 25% chance of winning the No. 1 pick from 1994-2018. Now the teams with the three worst records all have a 14% chance.

    In the first years of the lottery from 1985-89, every team had the same odds. But the team with the worst record got the top pick only once and that led the league to implementing a weighted system. The current system also does not guarantee the worst teams get one of the top four picks.

    The Pistons, with the worst record, can have no worse than the No. 5 pick. Houston could end up sixth and San Antonio could fall as far as No. 7. Picks No. 5-14 go in the inverse order of the teams’ finish in the standings.

    WHY DO THE ROCKETS GET A BETTER SCENARIO THAN THE SPURS?

    The NBA held tiebreakers on April 17 to determine draft order for teams who finished with the same records. Houston won that tiebreaker against San Antonio for the No. 2 spot after both finished 22-60. Maybe it was a sign this is Houston’s year. The Rockets seem due for lottery luck. Houston finished with the NBA’s worst record the previous two seasons but fell to the No. 2 pick in 2021 and No. 3 in 2022.

    ___

    AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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  • US agency raises ‘serious concerns’ about tech visa lottery

    US agency raises ‘serious concerns’ about tech visa lottery

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    BERKELEY, Calif. — The number of applications for visas used in the technology industry soared for a second straight year, raising “serious concerns” that some are manipulating the system to gain an unfair advantage, authorities said Friday.

    There were 780,884 applications for H-1B visas in this year’s computer-generated lottery, up 61% from 483,927 last year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a message to “stakeholders.” Last year’s haul was up 57% from 308,613 applications the year before.

    Each year, up to 85,000 people are selected for H-1B visas, a mainstay for technology giants such as Amazon.com Inc., Google parent Alphabet Inc., Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. and International Business Machines Corp.

    Last year, the government began requiring workers who won the lottery to sign affidavits stating they didn’t try to game the system by working with others to file multiple bids under different company names, even if there was no underlying employment offer. By winning at least once, these companies could market their services to technology companies that wanted to fill positions but didn’t have visas, effectively becoming labor contractors.

    “The large number of eligible registrations for beneficiaries with multiple eligible registrations — much larger than in previous years — has raised serious concerns that some may have tried to gain an unfair advantage by working together to submit multiple registrations on behalf of the same beneficiary. This may have unfairly increased their chances of selection,” the agency wrote.

    The agency said it has “undertaken extensive fraud investigations” based on lottery submissions from the last two years, denied some petitions and is “in the process” of referring some cases to federal prosecutors for possible crimes.

    The number of registrations tied to people who applied more than once rose to 408,891 this year from 165,180 last year and 90,143 the year before.

    “We remain committed to deterring and preventing abuse of the registration process, and to ensuring only those who follow the law are eligible to file an H-1B cap petition,” the agency said.

    H-1B visas, which are used by software engineers and others in the tech industry, have been a lightning rod in the immigration debate, with critics saying they are used to undercut U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. They are issued for three years and can be extended another three years.

    Technology companies say H-1Bs are critical for hard-to-fill positions even as they have had to lay off workers in other areas. As the number of applications have soared in the last two years, major companies have seen winning lottery submissions dwindle.

    Andrew Greenfield, a partner at the law firm Fragomen, which represents major technology companies, said the increase in applications is “bizarre” given widespread layoffs in the industry. His clients had a roughly 15% success rate on lottery entries this year, down from about 30% last year.

    “It’s devastating,” Greenfield said. “Our clients are legitimate employers that are just unable to source enough talent in the United States to fill all their hiring needs.”

    Fraud, as outlined by U.S. authorities, may be driving up applications, with companies under different names but the same ownership submitting entries on behalf of the same person, Greenfield said, but there may be other reasons. Some applicants may convince different, independently-owned companies to sponsor them in the lottery, which is perfectly legal. Some companies may overestimate their labor demands when they enter the lottery in March.

    The computer-generated lottery in March selected 110,791 winners for the 85,000 slots. Companies have until June 30 to confirm they plan to go ahead with hiring. If confirmations fall short of 85,000, the government may hold another lottery to fill remaining slots.

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  • US agency raises ‘serious concerns’ about tech visa lottery

    US agency raises ‘serious concerns’ about tech visa lottery

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    BERKELEY, Calif. — The number of applications for visas used in the technology industry soared for a second straight year, raising “serious concerns” that some are manipulating the system to gain an unfair advantage, authorities said Friday.

    There were 780,884 applications for H-1B visas in this year’s computer-generated lottery, up 61% from 483,927 last year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a message to “stakeholders.” Last year’s haul was up 57% from 308,613 applications the year before.

    Each year, up to 85,000 people are selected for H-1B visas, a mainstay for technology giants such as Amazon.com Inc., Google parent Alphabet Inc., Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. and International Business Machines Corp.

    Last year, the government began requiring workers who won the lottery to sign affidavits stating they didn’t try to game the system by working with others to file multiple bids under different company names, even if there was no underlying employment offer. By winning at least once, these companies could market their services to technology companies that wanted to fill positions but didn’t have visas, effectively becoming labor contractors.

    “The large number of eligible registrations for beneficiaries with multiple eligible registrations — much larger than in previous years — has raised serious concerns that some may have tried to gain an unfair advantage by working together to submit multiple registrations on behalf of the same beneficiary. This may have unfairly increased their chances of selection,” the agency wrote.

    The agency said it has “undertaken extensive fraud investigations” based on lottery submissions from the last two years, denied some petitions and is “in the process” of referring some cases to federal prosecutors for possible crimes.

    The number of registrations tied to people who applied more than once rose to 408,891 this year from 165,180 last year and 90,143 the year before.

    “We remain committed to deterring and preventing abuse of the registration process, and to ensuring only those who follow the law are eligible to file an H-1B cap petition,” the agency said.

    H-1B visas, which are used by software engineers and others in the tech industry, have been a lightning rod in the immigration debate, with critics saying they are used to undercut U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. They are issued for three years and can be extended another three years.

    Technology companies say H-1Bs are critical for hard-to-fill positions even as they have had to lay off workers in other areas. As the number of applications have soared in the last two years, major companies have seen winning lottery submissions dwindle.

    Andrew Greenfield, a partner at the law firm Fragomen, which represents major technology companies, said the increase in applications is “bizarre” given widespread layoffs in the industry. His clients had a roughly 15% success rate on lottery entries this year, down from about 30% last year.

    “It’s devastating,” Greenfield said. “Our clients are legitimate employers that are just unable to source enough talent in the United States to fill all their hiring needs.”

    Fraud, as outlined by U.S. authorities, may be driving up applications, with companies under different names but the same ownership submitting entries on behalf of the same person, Greenfield said, but there may be other reasons. Some applicants may convince different, independently-owned companies to sponsor them in the lottery, which is perfectly legal. Some companies may overestimate their labor demands when they enter the lottery in March.

    The computer-generated lottery in March selected 110,791 winners for the 85,000 slots. Companies have until June 30 to confirm they plan to go ahead with hiring. If confirmations fall short of 85,000, the government may hold another lottery to fill remaining slots.

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  • US agency raises ‘serious concerns’ about tech visa lottery

    US agency raises ‘serious concerns’ about tech visa lottery

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    BERKELEY, Calif. — The number of applications for visas used in the technology industry soared for a second straight year, raising “serious concerns” that some are manipulating the system to gain an unfair advantage, authorities said Friday.

    There were 780,884 applications for H-1B visas in this year’s computer-generated lottery, up 61% from 483,927 last year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a message to “stakeholders.” Last year’s haul was up 57% from 308,613 applications the year before.

    Each year, up to 85,000 people are selected for H-1B visas, a mainstay for technology giants such as Amazon.com Inc., Google parent Alphabet Inc., Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. and International Business Machines Corp.

    Last year, the government began requiring workers who won the lottery to sign affidavits stating they didn’t try to game the system by working with others to file multiple bids under different company names, even if there was no underlying employment offer. By winning at least once, they could market their services to technology companies that wanted to fill positions but didn’t have visas, effectively becoming labor contractors.

    “The large number of eligible registrations for beneficiaries with multiple eligible registrations — much larger than in previous years — has raised serious concerns that some may have tried to gain an unfair advantage by working together to submit multiple registrations on behalf of the same beneficiary. This may have unfairly increased their chances of selection,” the agency wrote.

    The agency said it has “undertaken extensive fraud investigations” based on lottery submissions from the last two years, denied some petitions and is “in the process” of referring some cases to federal prosecutors for possible crimes.

    The number of registrations tied to people who applied more than once rose to 408,891 this year from 165,180 last year and 90,143 the year before.

    “We remain committed to deterring and preventing abuse of the registration process, and to ensuring only those who follow the law are eligible to file an H-1B cap petition,” the agency said.

    H-1B visas, which are used by software engineers and others in the tech industry, have been a lightning rod in the immigration debate, with critics saying they are used to undercut U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents.

    But technology companies say they are critical for hard-to-fill positions even as they have had to lay off workers in other areas. As the number of applications have soared in the last two years, major technology companies have seen winning lottery submissions dwindle.

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  • A Florida woman spent her life savings on her daughter’s cancer treatment — then she won millions in the lottery | CNN

    A Florida woman spent her life savings on her daughter’s cancer treatment — then she won millions in the lottery | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A Florida mother won $2 million in the lottery, just days after she finished paying off her daughter’s cancer treatment.

    Geraldine Gimblet, a resident of Lakeland, Florida, won $2 million from a $10 scratch-off lottery ticket, according to a news release from the Florida Lottery. She claimed her winnings as a one-time lump-sum payment of $1,645,000 last Friday, the April 7th news release says.

    Gimblet told the Florida Lottery she bought the last lottery ticket at her local gas station.

    “At first, the gas station clerk thought there were no tickets left,” she recalled, according to the news release. “But I asked him to double check because I like the crossword games the best. He found the last one!”

    Her daughter, who isn’t identified in the news release, spoke about the significance of her mother’s win through tears, the lottery said. Her mother paid for her treatment for breast cancer, she said.

    “The day before my mom bought this ticket, I rang the bell and walked out of the hospital after completing my last treatment for breast cancer,” said Gimblet’s daughter in the release. “My mom had taken out her life savings to take care of me when I was sick. I’m just so happy for her!”

    Gimblet purchased her lucky ticket at Pipkin Road Beverage Castle in Lakeland, according to the release. The retailer will also receive a $2,000 commission for selling the ticket.

    The chances of winning the $2 million prize in the “Bonus Cashword” game are just 1 in 3,921,270, according to the Florida Lottery’s website.

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  • Kempe’s hat trick sends 3rd-place Kings past NHL-worst Ducks

    Kempe’s hat trick sends 3rd-place Kings past NHL-worst Ducks

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    ANAHEIM, Calif. — Adrian Kempe had three goals and an assist and the Los Angeles Kings clinched third place in the Pacific Division on Thursday night with a 5-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks, who will have the best odds in the draft lottery after finishing with the NHL’s worst record.

    Captain Anze Kopitar scored a first-period goal that made him Los Angeles’ leading scorer for the 15th time in the last 16 seasons, while Kempe and Trevor Moore scored 49 seconds apart in the second period of the 159th regular-season edition of the Freeway Faceoff.

    Kempe completed his fourth career hat trick on an empty-net goal with 1:39 to play, and dozens of visiting Kings fans littered the ice in celebration. Roughly 40 minutes after leaving the ice, the Kings learned they’ll face Edmonton in the first round for the second consecutive season.

    Shaking off a 2-5-0 skid that scuttled their chances at the division title, the Kings won their final two games to finish with 104 points, the second-most in franchise history behind the 1974-75 squad (105).

    “It’s nice to have the feeling of positive morale, positive momentum going into (the playoffs),” Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson said. “We’ve found some ways to score goals and had a couple of physical games as well, so that’s all been good for us.”

    Troy Terry, Max Jones and Trevor Zegras scored for the Ducks, who wrapped up one of the worst NHL seasons of the 21st century on a 13-game winless streak. Coach Dallas Eakins’ contract is finished after his fourth consecutive losing season, but the rebuilding Ducks have made no announcement about his future.

    “There’s a number of things that we’re very proud of,” Eakins said. “I am proud that in a game like this where it’s our last game, we know it’s totally over, that they still had some rage in them. I thought they went out and battled hard and really kept the love of the rivalry between us and the Kings.”

    Anaheim’s silver lining on its NHL-low 58 points is the best chance in next month’s draft lottery to win the right to select Connor Bedard, the Regina Pats center considered the most tantalizing prospect in hockey since Connor McDavid.

    Anaheim will have only a 25.5% chance of securing its first-ever No. 1 pick in the NHL draft. But the Ducks can fall no lower than third in the lottery, which means they will get a premium prospect in a top-heavy field headlined by forwards Bedard, Adam Fantilli and Matvei Michkov.

    Joonas Korpisalo made 21 saves for the Kings, and John Gibson stopped 31 shots for Anaheim.

    “It’s never easy losing games like that,” Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler said. “We’re all competitive people and want to do well, but I think I’m proud of the way we stuck together. We never cracked as a team and continued to support one another.”

    Anaheim missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, extending the longest drought in history for a team that had never missed more than three straight postseasons. The Ducks had a pathetic season by nearly every measure, ranking last in the NHL in goal differential (minus-129) and goals allowed while ranking 31st in goals scored (209).

    Statistically, the Ducks were the worst defensive team of the past quarter-century. Their 338 goals allowed were the most by any NHL team in the past 26 seasons since the 1995-96 San Jose Sharks gave up 357, while their goal differential was the NHL’s worst since the 1999-2000 Atlanta Thrashers (minus-143).

    The Ducks’ players have been justifiably uninterested in their team’s draft lottery status as their season limped on, and Terry underlined that stance by scoring just 2:44 into the season finale.

    But Los Angeles evened it late in the first period when Kopitar knocked down a high puck from Kempe and scored his 28th goal of the season. In the second, Kempe got a delayed goal after video review, and Moore scored moments later on a 2-on-0 rush.

    Zegras scored his 23rd goal with 5:09 to play, trimming Los Angeles’ lead to 4-3. After a lengthy brawl, Kempe finished off the victory.

    Kevin Fiala missed his sixth consecutive game for the Kings with a lower-body injury. The playoff availability of Los Angeles’ high-scoring Swiss forward is unclear, but Kopitar used the final game to break his tie with Fiala atop the team’s scoring leaderboard.

    Defenseman Alexander Edler and forward Gabe Vilardi also remained out of the Los Angeles lineup with significant injuries.

    Mason McTavish sat out for Anaheim with an upper-body injury, finishing his rookie season with 43 points in 80 games.

    UP NEXT

    Kings: Vs. Edmonton in first-round of playoffs.

    Ducks: The draft lottery on May 8, when they’ll hope to land a franchise-altering talent.

    ___

    AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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  • Virginia man wins $100,000 after purchasing 20 winning lottery tickets with the same numbers | CNN

    Virginia man wins $100,000 after purchasing 20 winning lottery tickets with the same numbers | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Putting his eggs in one basket proved fruitful for one Virginia man who purchased not one, but 20 winning lottery tickets with the same numbers.

    Alexandria resident Fekru Hirpo purchased 20 identical tickets, all with the four-digit combination of 2-5-2-7, from a gas station in Arlington, according to a Wednesday news release from the Virginia Lottery.

    The lucky winner told lottery officials he made a spur-of-the-moment decision to go all in on the same ticket for the “Pick 4” game.

    Hirpo said “he doesn’t usually play with so many tickets containing identical numbers, but something just told him to do it,” according to the news release.

    Each ticket won him a prize of $5,000 for a total of $100,000, according to the release.

    Hirpo has “no immediate plans” for his winnings, says the lottery.

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  • North Carolina man wins $2 million lottery after winning $1 million years before | CNN

    North Carolina man wins $2 million lottery after winning $1 million years before | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    They say lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice, but a winning lottery ticket just might.

    A man in North Carolina got a sizeable return on his investment when he scratched off a $20 ticket for a $2 million prize, the North Carolina Education Lottery announced Tuesday. Less than two years ago, he collected a $1 million jackpot playing a different game in the same lottery.

    Pharris Frank told the lottery he was out of town for work when he bought the ticket.

    “It’s cool because the first time I won it was two miles from my house and this time I was four and a half hours away,” he said. “What are the chances of me being down there at that exact moment in time?”

    According to the lottery, the odds of winning the top prize on the $2,000,000 Diamond Dazzler game like Frank did are about one in 1.5 million.

    Despite those odds, Frank predicted the win. “It’s crazy because the day before I won, my buddy was asking me how it felt to win $1 million,” he said. “And I told him that I was going to double it.”

    He opted to collect a lump sum of $855,006 after federal tax withholdings rather than take an annual $100,000 over the next 20 years, the lottery said.

    After his first big win in July 2021, Frank said he spent his jackpot on a dream wedding. This time, he’s planning a vacation with his wife.

    The Diamond Dazzler game was launched last January. There are now two jackpot tickets remaining.

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  • NHL teams balance progress, draft lottery as Bedard in play

    NHL teams balance progress, draft lottery as Bedard in play

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    LOS ANGELES — Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen knows if the season ended today, his team would have the best odds to land who many consider the next generational talent in the NHL.

    He is also keenly aware that the odds remain higher not to win the NHL’s draft lottery — and the chance to select Connor Bedard on May 8.

    “Look, there’s a 25.5% chance for the team to finish last, but it’s still a 74.5% chance that you don’t get it. That’s much greater than 25.5,” Kekalainen said recently. “But we’ll see where it takes us. Wherever we end up in the standings, we get the odds the league gave, and then we hope for the best of luck.”

    While the race for the league’s top record was done by midseason thanks to the Boston Bruins’ potential record-setting run, the chase for the worst mark remains up for grabs in the final three weeks.

    Columbus is in “first” at 51 points, followed by San Jose (53), Chicago (54) and Anaheim (56).

    Even though half of the league’s 32 teams do not make the playoffs, only 11 are eligible for the lottery. The rules instituted in 2022 state a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots.

    For the last two years, the team with the worst record has won the lottery, but that often isn’t the case. In 2012, the Blue Jackets had the worst record and lost the top pick to Edmonton.

    The last thing any of the coaches at the bottom want to hear, though, is lottery odds — especially if you’re Dallas Eakins, who is in the final year of his contract with the Ducks.

    “We want to have development and progress every night,” said Eakins, who is in his fourth season with Anaheim. “We’re not the Boston Bruins right now. That’s why we have to play a perfect game to be in the game. I don’t understand the lottery, to be honest with you. Finishing at the very bottom guarantees you nothing. I’ve seen teams lose the lottery and end up with the best player in the draft.”

    San Jose coach David Quinn agreed with Eakins’ assessment. And he knows firsthand about the lottery as an NHL and college coach.

    Quinn was with the Rangers when they benefitted in 2020. He also coached Jack Eichel at Boston University when Eichel was the second choice in the 2015 draft by Buffalo — after Edmonton won the lottery and selected Connor McDavid.

    “When you’re in the situation that Edmonton and Buffalo were in back then and we are in right now, people are paying attention for various reasons,” he said. “Back then, it was Eichel and McDavid. It was pretty clear McDavid would be the No. 1 pick, but Jack Eichel was going to get a hell of a consolation prize.”

    No one expected the Blue Jackets to have the league’s worst record after they made one of the biggest splashes in free agency last year by signing Johnny Gaudreau. But having one of the highest injury rates has reduced them to using most of the season to assess their future.

    Columbus, which already has 454 man-games lost to injury, suffered another blow this week when forward Patrik Laine strained a triceps muscle in practice. The Blue Jackets are also missing goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, who is in Latvia to be with his family after his grandmother fell gravely ill.

    “If you have 13 guys on injured reserve as we did at one point, it’s hard to expect to win,” Kekalainen said.

    Besides measuring their performance during games, Kekalainen and his staff have kept a keen eye on practices to ensure everyone follows the right approach.

    “We’ve got some bright young kids here within our group, and they can see a good future in front of them,” he said. “But for the team here, it’s about being professional every day and going on just like you would if you were getting ready for the playoffs. Nobody’s going to take it easy on you.”

    While Columbus made some minor moves near the trade deadline, Chicago and San Jose went into liquidation mode to improve their lottery chances. The Blackhawks sent Patrick Kane to the Rangers, while the Sharks traded Timo Meier to New Jersey.

    “It’s unfortunate, but I understand it,” Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson said after the Meier trade. “I’ve been around the game long enough to understand what needs to be done from an organizational perspective. It just sucks that I happen to be where I’m at at this stage of my career.”

    Chicago coach Luke Richardson also hopes people realize that teams can build a foundation and be in the mix to draft a generational talent.

    “I trust the organization and scouting staff with how they approach things,” he said. “I love the energy of our team. What we’re trying to do is starting to show, but we have a long way to go.”

    Arizona was near the bottom three spots for most of the season, but a 6-1-3 run in the last 10 games has it at 66 points and tied for the sixth-fewest points in the league.

    Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong is OK with his franchise’s chances of landing a top-three pick taking a significant hit.

    “As a GM, you never want to take the fight from your team. And so you’ve got to continue that and enjoy what you’re going through and how hard your team is fighting,” he said. “I’ve been through so many drafts that you can’t control where you draft, but you can’t control who you pick, and that’s what you got to worry about. So at the end of the day, no matter where we lie, we’ve got to be good at picking.”

    ___

    AP Sports Writers Josh Dubow in San Jose, California, Jordan Cohen in Chicago and John Marshall in Phoenix contributed to this report.

    ___

    AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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  • Winner of $2B Powerball jackpot to be revealed in California

    Winner of $2B Powerball jackpot to be revealed in California

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    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The winner of November’s record-high $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot will be identified in California on Tuesday, the state lottery announced.

    The name of the person will be released during an 11 a.m. press conference held by California Lottery Director Alva Johnson and Deputy Director Carolyn Becker in Sacramento.

    The winner won’t be present but a statement from the person will be read.

    The jackpot ticket was sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, an unincorporated foothill community northeast of Los Angeles. For selling the winning ticket, business owner Joe Chahayed received a bonus of $1 million.

    The jackpot grew to the staggering amount of $2.04 billion after more than three months without anyone coming up with all the right numbers for the top prize.

    The winning numbers were selected Nov. 8 in Florida after a nearly 10-hour delay due to a problem processing sales data.

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  • Numbers drawn for $747 million Powerball jackpot

    Numbers drawn for $747 million Powerball jackpot

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    DES MOINES, Iowa — The numbers have been drawn for an estimated $747 million Powerball jackpot and players must now wait to learn whether there is a big winner.

    The numbers drawn late Monday night were 05, 11, 22, 23, 69 and the Powerball 07.

    No one has won the jackpot since Nov. 19, 2022, allowing the prize to grow larger with each of the game’s three weekly drawings. It now stands as the ninth-largest in U.S. history.

    Lottery officials normally take hours before announcing whether there has been a winning ticket sold.

    The $747 million jackpot is for winners who opt for an annuity paid over 29 years. Higher interest rates have allowed those annuity payments to increase compared with earlier jackpots, when rates were lower.

    Most winners prefer cash, which for Monday night’s drawing would be $403.1 million.

    The game’s abysmal odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to build big prizes drawing more players. That strategy certainly has worked recently, as someone in Maine won a $1.35 billion Mega Millions prize in January and a California player hit a record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot last November. No one has claimed either of those prizes.

    Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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  • $747M Powerball jackpot up to 9th-largest as drawing nears

    $747M Powerball jackpot up to 9th-largest as drawing nears

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    DES MOINES, Iowa — A $747 million Powerball jackpot will be up for grabs Monday night for players willing to risk $2 against the long, long odds of winning the big prize.

    No one has won the jackpot since Nov. 19, 2022, allowing the prize to grow larger with each of the game’s three weekly drawings. It now stands as the ninth-largest in U.S. history.

    The game’s abysmal odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to build big prizes that draw more players. That strategy certainly has worked recently, as someone won a $1.35 billion Mega Millions prize in January and a California player hit a record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot last November. No one has claimed either of those prizes.

    The $747 million jackpot is for winners who opt for an annuity, paid over 29 years. Higher interest rates have allowed those annuity payments to increased compared with earlier jackpots, when rates were lower.

    Most winners prefer cash, which for Monday night’s drawing would be $403.1 million.

    Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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  • Powerball jackpot grows to $747 million after no winner

    Powerball jackpot grows to $747 million after no winner

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    DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Powerball jackpot grew to an estimated $747 million after no one beat the odds and won the top prize in Saturday night’s drawing.

    The numbers drawn were: 2, 8, 15, 19, 58 and Powerball 10.

    The $747 million Powerball jackpot up for grabs Monday night is the ninth largest in U.S. lottery history and the latest in a string of huge lottery prizes. Someone in Maine won a $1.35 billion Mega Millions prize less than three weeks ago and a California player won a record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot last November.

    The jackpots grow so large because the tough odds offer just a miniscule chance of matching all six numbers and winning the top prize. That enables the jackpots like Saturday night’s $700 million top prize to roll over and increase for months.

    The last time someone overcame the odds of one in 292.2 million and won the Powerball jackpot was Nov. 19, 2022.

    The $747 million estimate is for a winner who is paid through an annuity over 29 years. Winners usually opt for cash, which for Monday night’s drawing would be $403.1 million.

    Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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  • Mega Millions draws numbers for $1.35 billion jackpot — the 2nd largest in history — on Friday | CNN

    Mega Millions draws numbers for $1.35 billion jackpot — the 2nd largest in history — on Friday | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Friday the 13th might end up being someone’s lucky day. The Mega Millions jackpot has reached an estimated $1.35 billion – the second-largest in the lottery’s history – for the drawing set on Friday.

    The jackpot soared from $1.1 billion after Tuesday night’s drawing when no winner snagged the big prize, the lottery said in a news release Wednesday.

    The estimated jackpot ($707.9 million in cash) is surpassed only by the lottery’s record of $1.537 billion won in South Carolina in 2018, the lottery said.

    “Now at $1.35 billion, the Mega Millions jackpot is moving up and making history as the second highest Mega Millions jackpot ever,” the lottery said. “Our member lotteries raise funds for many good causes, ranging from education to conservation programs. We’re proud to support these efforts.”

    The Mega Millions’ massive jackpot topped the billion-dollar mark after nearly three months without a winning ticket drawn.

    The last jackpot was won at $502 million on October 14, when there were two winning tickets from California and Florida, the Mega Millions said. Since then, more than 33 million winning tickets have been sold, including 68 players who took home $1 million or more, the lottery added.

    There have been six previous jackpots won on Friday the 13th – and four of them were in Michigan, the release said. Prizes have also been won on Friday the 13th in New York, Ohio and Rhode Island.

    Mona Rawal owns the 7-Eleven in Fort Myers, Florida, where in October 2022 one of the two winning Mega Millions tickets was sold with a jackpot of nearly half a billion dollars. The lucky ticket sale came less than a month after the area was hard hit by Hurricane Ian.

    She can’t say if her store is lucky or not but tells CNN that one of her customers won $50,000 a few weeks ago and another won $1,000 last week. She hopes that luck continues with the Mega Millions drawing Friday night. Lottery ticket sales have been steady this week at her store, she told CNN, and she expects lots of last-minute lottery customers to head to her store as the 11 p.m. drawing nears.

    Jim Frye, who plays the Powerball and Mega Millions every week but has never won “anything big,” said he played at Rawal’s 7-Eleven because he heard about the winning ticket in October.

    “I say you can’t win if you don’t play, that’s my motto, and I’ve been playing for a long time,” Frye told CNN. “Let’s wait to see if I win first and then I’ll decide what I’m going to do with it. It’ll help a lot of people that’s for sure.”

    Mega Millions is played in 45 states, along with the District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands.

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