Lottery

The June 2 Powerball jackpot sounds staggering - $260 million - but just how big is that all-time? According to Powerball.com, it's No. 9 for a Powerball annuity, and the 20th biggest ever for any U.S. lottery. Here's a list that includes the Top 10 for both Powerball and Mega Millions, the other major multistate lottery. Unless specified, the jackpot was won by a single ticket. In parentheses is the rank for that particular lottery. The Big Game was the precursor to Mega Millions.

I'M baffled that philly.com treats the city's homicide outbreak like a "lottery" of who got shot or stabbed - tune in and find out "What lucky soul will be bagged as No. 173 for 2007. " There is NEVER any follow-up story or information on how or maybe why this person was murdered, or a name and face to give context, value and or meaning to the life lost. Michael Inspire, Philadelphia

ORGANIZERS OF the Blue Cross Broad Street Run have outlined details on registration for the 2013 race, which is moving to a lottery system for the first time. The lottery for the May 5 race will open at 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 4 and close on Feb. 15 at 11:59 p.m., according to a letter from race director Jim Marino posted on the Broad Street Run website. The race is moving to a lottery system after the first-come, first-served registration method filled up in 5 hours last year. Your chance of getting one of the 40,000 slots is the same, regardless of when you enter the lottery.

My father is almost 80 years old now, and he loves to play the lottery - those state-run games that promise at least a million bucks if you're lucky enough to pick the numbers printed on six Ping-Pong balls. In the winter, when he's in Tampa, he plays the Florida lottery. The rest of the year, he makes a weekly contribution to the Pennsylvania lottery games. He also subscribes to several lottery newsletters - those idiotic tip sheets that supposedly indicate past numerical patterns.

The 76ers lost a random draw with the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets yesterday, decreasing their already slim chances to win the top pick in the 2006 NBA draft. The Sixers have six chances out of 1,000, or the 13th-best chance, to win the top pick in the draft lottery on May 23. There were six other random draws yesterday between teams that finished with identical records. Charlotte defeated Atlanta; Minnesota topped Boston; Houston topped Golden State; Chicago beat Indiana; Sacramento beat Denver; and New Jersey won over Memphis.

I think it necessary to caution Pennsylvania lottery players about using The Inquirer's new computer analysis. One simply cannot predict the outcome of a future drawing by examining previous results. For example, in flipping a coin 10 times, one should expect to get about five heads. To get six heads and four tails is not so unlikely, and, most important, it would not mean that heads is more likely on the 11th flip. Likewise, in the Lotto each number has a 7 in 40 (17.5 percent)

A convenience store worker was arrested yesterday after telling police he was addicted to the lottery and stole money from his employer to buy about 50 tickets a day, police said. Robert Kempton, 20, of Tamarac, is accused of faking three robberies at the Farm Store where he worked and stealing a total of $4,000, police spokeswoman Linda Zohman said. Kempton filed police reports in October, September and May, saying the store had been robbed and that he once was knocked unconscious, Zohman said.

The Springfield School District might start a lottery this summer. No, it's not a creative new way to finance the skyrocketing cost of education. This lottery would distribute precious spots in the district's morning kindergarten sessions to the lucky winners. The concept of a lottery was brought up at Tuesday night's school board meeting after a resident complained that the administration's recent decision to eliminate morning kindergarten would put an unfair burden on many families.

Kathy Stoutenburgh never dreamed she could be a homeowner. Now, through a federal Housing and Urban Development program, she'll get a chance to buy one of 20 houses available to low-income Abington residents for $30,000. Stoutenburgh's was the sixth name picked in a lottery Thursday night for the modular homes, valued at $70,000. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed when her name was read. She hugged her son and brushed away tears as she mouthed a "Thank you" to Abington Housing Authority officials.

Tyreke Evans ended weeks of speculation by signing with uber-agent Arn Tellem this weekend in Los Angeles. Tellem, who represents Phillies second baseman Chase Utley and is originally from Lower Merion, has also corralled Episcopal Academy's Gerald Henderson and Wayne Ellington. Evans, the 6-5 Memphis shooting guard from American Christian, is projected to be a lottery pick, possibly among the top five selected in the NBA draft, which is set for Thursday, June 25. "We're very happy with every decision that we've made, and we've made it with Tyreke's best interest," said Julius "Doc" Evans, one of Tyreke's older brothers.

NEW YORK - 76ers majority owner Joshua Harris, a guy well-acquainted with numbers and probability, knew the odds of moving up Tuesday night in the NBA draft lottery were long. He was right. The Sixers stayed put at No. 11 after the drawing. The Cleveland Cavaliers, who had the second-worst record in the league, beat the odds and will have the first selection in the June 27 draft. "I came here with a small probability of being super happy and a small probability of being super sad," said Harris, a hedge-fund billionaire.

IT'S STATUS QUO, at least as far as this year's draft is concerned, for the 76ers. The draft lottery last night yielded no surprises for the Sixers, who retained the 11th pick for June 27. "We came in with a small probability to move way up and a small probability to move down," majority owner Josh Harris told reporters in New York. "Neither thing happened and we're going to pick at 11, so we'll make the best out of that selection. " The question now is: Who is "we?" New president of basketball operations and general manager Sam Hinkie is in place, but there is still a coaching vacancy that needs to be addressed.

If history holds in the NBA draft lottery, the 76ers have already experienced the most significant jump in terms of positioning for the June draft. Tied with Toronto for the 11th-worst record in the league at 34-48, the Sixers won a coin flip last month that relegated the Raptors to 12th. Unless they are extremely lucky and move up, the Sixers will have the 11th selection in the June 27 draft. They will be represented at the draft lottery by majority owner Joshua Harris and CEO Adam Aron on Tuesday night in New York.

D EAR ABBY: I'm responding to your request for comments about the letter from "Happily Single" and whether a divorce would be the first course of action upon winning the lottery. In a community-property state, a divorce after winning wouldn't legally protect you from having to share the spoils with your soon-to-be (and probably now bitter) ex-spouse. My husband and I have talked at length about what we'd do if either of us won the Powerball jackpots. We'd start by consulting a lawyer/financial planner to find a way to protect our privacy before claiming the money.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane said Wednesday that she expected to receive the Corbett administration's revised contract to privatize the Pennsylvania Lottery any day now - but signaled that she likely will not approve the proposal unless the legislature gets to sign off. "They would have to vote on it just like any other privatization deal, and also, they would have to change the gaming rules," Kane said. She added that she had seen no sign that the legislature would be given such a role.

THE COLORADO Avalanche won the NHL draft lottery last night. The Florida Panthers own the second pick for the June 30 draft, while the Tampa Bay Lightning has the third selection. The Flyers will get the 11th pick. Colorado had an 18.8 percent chance of winning the lottery after finishing the regular season with a 16-25-7 record, worst in the Western Conference. The Panthers, who finished last in the NHL with a 15-27-6 mark, had the best odds of winning the lottery at 25 percent but had to settle for the No. 2 pick.

TRENTON - Democrats finally had an opportunity Thursday to question - and criticize - Republican Gov. Christie's treasurer about the partial privatization of the state lottery. But it appears there is little Democrats can do to stop it. Barring the plan being struck down by a judge or deemed illegal by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, a private consortium known as Northstar New Jersey will take over marketing and sales of the $2.8 billion lottery. The lottery, which provided $950 million last year to state programs, would still be overseen by the state.

Floods threaten near St. Louis ST. LOUIS - The Mississippi River overwhelmed a few farm levees and challenged towns north of St. Louis on Monday as it neared crest from last week's downpours, and more rain was forecast. Officials said the river topped smaller levees north of Louisiana, Mo., and near Elsberry, Mo. In Clarksville, 50 miles north of St. Louis, crews installed a row of metal barriers behind an eight-foot sandbag wall in case weak spots fail. "If the crest numbers we're hearing don't go any higher, we believe we will be OK," Clarksville Mayor Jo Anne Smiley said.

HARRISBURG, Pa. - A third state agency is pointing to potential legal problems in Gov. Tom Corbett's stalled plan to hire a British company to manage the $3.5 billion Pennsylvania Lottery. The chief counsel of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board wrote in a letter last month that the proposed contract documents are ambiguous and do not say clearly what kinds of new gambling Camelot Global Services would be allowed to operate. As a result, it is impossible to say whether it infringes on state casino gambling laws, the gaming board's top lawyer, Douglas Sherman, wrote in his seven-page letter.

TRENTON - Gov. Christie is privatizing much of the $2.8 billion New Jersey Lottery, outsourcing marketing and sales to a joint venture in a 15-year deal that immediately puts $120 million into state coffers. Unlike in Pennsylvania, where fellow Republican Gov. Corbett's plan to privatize the lottery was blocked by Democratic Attorney General Kathleen Kane, New Jersey's governor can act unilaterally despite opposition from the Democrats who control the Legislature. They passed a bill that would require legislative approval to award such a contract, but Christie ignored it. The Treasury Department said the contract guarantees that the company - a conglomerate called Northstar New Jersey Lottery Group - would bring in between $1.42 billion and $6.88 billion more than the state would have over the next 15 years.