Virginia State Lottery
The Virginia Lottery is an independent agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It was created when Virginians voted in 1987 in favor of a state lottery. The first ticket was sold on September 20, 1988. All profits from Virginia Lottery ticket sales go to K-12 public education in the Commonwealth. In Fiscal Year 2012, the Lottery's profits totaled $487 million, which accounted for approximately 8 percent of school funding in Virginia. That brought total Lottery profits in Virginia (from 1989 to June 2012) to $8.4 billion.
Daily draw games include Pick 3, Pick 4, and Cash 5; each of which is drawn twice daily. The Virginia Lottery also offers numerous scratchcards. It is one of 44 lotteries which sells Mega Millions tickets, and one of 44 offering Powerball (45 when California joins in April 2013.) Decades of Dollars is drawn Mondays and Thursdays; Mega Millions is drawn Tuesdays and Fridays, while Powerball is drawn Wednesdays and Saturdays. The Lottery maintains elaborate security procedures to protect the integrity of its games.
The Lottery's headquarters is located in downtown Richmond, Virginia. It maintains customer service centers in Abingdon, Farmville, Hampton, Harrisonburg, Henrico, Roanoke and Woodbridge.
Read more about Virginia State Lottery: History, Governance, Games, Security, Compulsive Gambling, See Also
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