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03-29-2005, 08:29 PM
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$10M Hold'Em tourney starting from scratch
By Scott Van Voorhis
Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - Updated: 08:47 AM EST
Hold'Em Poker, meet the Massachusetts State Lottery.
State lottery officials today will unveil a new scratch ticket - one that aims to capitalize on the Texas-sized-and-styled poker craze sweeping the country.
This $10 scratch ticket comes with a big twist - a Hold'Em Poker tournament in which hundreds of players will take to the felt for the chance to win prizes ranging up to $10 million.
While other states have rolled out poker-themed scratch tickets, the Bay State is the first to offer a full-fledged card tournament as well.
Lottery officials will detail plans for the new game - and the card contest - at a press conference today at the Sports Depot in Allston. Howard Lederer, a champion poker player and New Hampshire native who is best known as the ``professor of poker,'' will offer his blessing of the new lottery ticket and contest.
The crown jewel of the new Hold'Em Poker game will be a $10 million prize - the largest instant ticket jackpot ever offered in the country, lottery officials said.
``When this game is finished, one lucky player will win $10 million, and make lottery history,'' said Joseph Sullivan, the state's lottery chief.
The move comes as lotteries across the country are forced to spruce up their offerings, said Clyde Barrow, a gaming industry expert and public policy professor at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.
``One of the things lotteries have (found) all over the country is that games do go stale,'' Barrow said. ``You have to start churning games,'' he said.
The new game will have two tracks.
Ticket buyers can win a range of prizes - from $1,000 to $4 million - by scratching off the poker hands on their card in hopes of beating the house (lottery) hand.
But the grand, $10 million prize is reserved for players who take part in a giant Hold'Em Poker tournament to be overseen by the lottery.
All told, more than 68,000 players who scratch a box on the bottom of the ticket and get a WPT symbol, qualifying them to collect a World Poker Tour merchandise package. Of those, 560 will be selected to take part in the grand prize tournament.
$10M Hold'Em tourney starting from scratch
By Scott Van Voorhis
Tuesday, March 29, 2005 - Updated: 08:47 AM EST
Hold'Em Poker, meet the Massachusetts State Lottery.
State lottery officials today will unveil a new scratch ticket - one that aims to capitalize on the Texas-sized-and-styled poker craze sweeping the country.
This $10 scratch ticket comes with a big twist - a Hold'Em Poker tournament in which hundreds of players will take to the felt for the chance to win prizes ranging up to $10 million.
While other states have rolled out poker-themed scratch tickets, the Bay State is the first to offer a full-fledged card tournament as well.
Lottery officials will detail plans for the new game - and the card contest - at a press conference today at the Sports Depot in Allston. Howard Lederer, a champion poker player and New Hampshire native who is best known as the ``professor of poker,'' will offer his blessing of the new lottery ticket and contest.
The crown jewel of the new Hold'Em Poker game will be a $10 million prize - the largest instant ticket jackpot ever offered in the country, lottery officials said.
``When this game is finished, one lucky player will win $10 million, and make lottery history,'' said Joseph Sullivan, the state's lottery chief.
The move comes as lotteries across the country are forced to spruce up their offerings, said Clyde Barrow, a gaming industry expert and public policy professor at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.
``One of the things lotteries have (found) all over the country is that games do go stale,'' Barrow said. ``You have to start churning games,'' he said.
The new game will have two tracks.
Ticket buyers can win a range of prizes - from $1,000 to $4 million - by scratching off the poker hands on their card in hopes of beating the house (lottery) hand.
But the grand, $10 million prize is reserved for players who take part in a giant Hold'Em Poker tournament to be overseen by the lottery.
All told, more than 68,000 players who scratch a box on the bottom of the ticket and get a WPT symbol, qualifying them to collect a World Poker Tour merchandise package. Of those, 560 will be selected to take part in the grand prize tournament.