{"id":28919,"date":"2016-01-11T09:24:25","date_gmt":"2016-01-11T13:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=28919"},"modified":"2016-01-11T09:28:29","modified_gmt":"2016-01-11T13:28:29","slug":"powerball-scandal-is-the-game-rigged-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=28919","title":{"rendered":"Powerball Scandal: Is The Game Rigged? [Video]"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"story--header \">\n<div class=\"Framer headerVideoFrame\">\n<div class=\"Framered\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"Framed\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bg1yJa4wFWM\" width=\"940\" height=\"529\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"story--header--socials\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"story--header--content\">\n<h1 class=\"entry-title story--header--title\">POWERBALL SCANDAL: IS THE GAME RIGGED? [VIDEO]<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<p>TONI MATTHEWS<br \/>\nINQUISITR<\/p>\n<p>The Powerball jackpot <a href=\"http:\/\/www.inquisitr.com\/wp\/wp-admin\/edit.php?s=Powerball&amp;post_status=all&amp;post_type=post&amp;action=-1&amp;m=0&amp;cat=0&amp;paged=1&amp;action2=-1\" target=\"_blank\">just hit<\/a> $1.3 billion dollars. The previous jackpot was a record-breaker by itself, promising over 900 million to the lucky Powerball winner(s). But this? This new Powerball jackpot is in a league of its own.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time in history, this game could crown a <em>billionaire<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Needless to say, the excitement is at a fever pitch. Even people who otherwise dismiss the Powerball game as a \u201ctax on the poor\u201d are shrugging their shoulders, saying \u201cone ticket couldn\u2019t hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"ym_1240382767387490741\" class=\"ym\"><\/div>\n<p>But beneath all of the excitement and imagined plans for one\u2019s life if they miraculously buy a winning ticket is a major scandal that almost everyone seems to be ignoring: That is, that multiple individuals are tied up in a Powerball fixing scandal.<\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/twitter.com\/rjfoley\/status\/679757091171647488\/photo\/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/p>\n<p>Consider the following information as carefully as you\u2019ll be considering your Powerball numbers: The <a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/post-nation\/wp\/2016\/01\/09\/the-company-that-runs-powerball-had-a-16-5-million-jackpot-rigged-by-a-former-employee\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Washington Post<\/em><\/a> published a story yesterday that mentioned a five-year investigation into Powerball rigging that saw a security expert (irony, much?) sent to jail for a decade for fraud.<\/p>\n<p>Even more interesting, the <a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/bigstory.ap.org\/article\/63f14f1932164832a7f571d0c1b4e967\/apnewsbreak-key-lottery-leader-out-amid-jackpot-fixing-case\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Associated Press<\/em><\/a> reports that Charles Strutt, the \u201cexecutive director of the association since its 1987 founding,\u201d was stripped of his duties in October and placed on \u201cindefinite leave\u201d for his perceived failure to prevent the lottery-fixing shenanigans.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s incredible when you think about it. You have a multi-year investigation into Powerball jackpot fixing that resulted in at least one man going to jail and a top man associated with the lottery game being booted out of his position\u2026.and yet no one seems to be waving any red flags.<\/p>\n<p>This news hardly garnered any attention outside of the <em>Washington Post<\/em>. Knowing that people are capable of fixing the Powerball game and that there\u2019s quite possibly a method in place to keep it from being fair should make everyone save their money \u2013 or, at least, invest in a scratch-off ticket.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Powerball director is sacked in wake of lottery jackpot-fixing scandal <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xmUASfRu6g\">https:\/\/t.co\/xmUASfRu6g<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DailyMail\/status\/681582923871596544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 28, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Why is it that despite the astronomical odds <em>and<\/em> a Powerball jackpot fixing scandal that we can count on tens of millions of tickets to be sold this week? You could probably blame it on the fact that the hundreds of millions of dollars available to a Powerball winner brings out something almost whimsical in Americans. Hardly anyone really buys a Powerball ticket expecting to hit it big.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, they buy a Powerball ticket or two and dream about what they\u2019d do if by some miracle they had the winning ticket. Then they return to their ordinary lives when someone else wins.<\/p>\n<p>For those thrown by the scandal, they may choose to feel comforted by the repeated assurances of top lottery officials that Powerball drawings are \u201chighly regulated.\u201d Pennsylvania Lottery spokesman Alan Zieglar <a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/triblive.com\/aande\/gambling\/9679844-74\/lottery-games-million#ixzz3wpY86amM\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a>, \u201cThe Pennsylvania Lottery has developed high-standard protocols, which are modeled by lotteries across the United States and around the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pullquote\"><p>\u201cBy aggressively protecting the integrity of drawings, players are assured the fair outcome they expect and deserve.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>That\u2019s quite the statement despite the Powerball fixing scandal, one which implicated lottery outcomes across multiple states. The situation could represent one of many that Powerball officials aren\u2019t even aware of.<\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/twitter.com\/CBCNews\/status\/685868689267257345\/photo\/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/p>\n<p>We can only hope that the Powerball scandal will encourage lottery officials to more carefully monitor these drawings in the future and the individuals that step forward to claim a chunk of the big prize. Of course, a more sensible alternative is to by-pass deceit and disappointment altogether by refusing to participate in the Powerball game. That\u2019s only logical. Well, as already explained, playing the lottery is more or less an emotional impulse than a logical one.<\/p>\n<p>Did you know about the Powerball jackpot-fixing scandal? If so, will it interfere with your desire to try and win the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot? Share your thoughts below!<\/p>\n<p>[Image via <a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/meanderingwa\/8227653273\/in\/photolist-dx3SEV-42jZT-2bAuf-9RyitG-7ZGuSn-3eWbJ8-5DPvUu-brAbzT-5pcFnE-aC912J-bsNqaM-8aZ5wF-4JehnD-5s3e4V-jyFv1Y-3eWaD2-9dPnEt-5DLZ9Y-5DPHKo-mrQV5-5DGCCB-5DM2xj-5X4jXi-q2dy7-8Pp6i7-6sTSLa-jFA27D-5HzNoy-8J1CG4-4DB4yG-9RvqhB-3f2t15-5DKu5K-5EhXAU-3eX62V-5NjHLU-65EZA9-6UwQY2-f54NzP-7HCUBH-5ycHcv-5obk7F-d6YHd-bHniKM-tKxgtu-3kUvZU-eJ9jAL-e3QKNZ-dSzePd-buPijm\" target=\"_blank\">Upupa4me<\/a> via Flickr | Cropped and Resized | CC BY-<a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0\/\" target=\"_blank\">SA 2.0<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.inquisitr.com\/2695280\/powerball-scandal-is-the-game-rigged-video\/\">http:\/\/www.inquisitr.com\/2695280\/powerball-scandal-is-the-game-rigged-video\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>POWERBALL SCANDAL: IS THE GAME RIGGED? [VIDEO] TONI MATTHEWS INQUISITR The Powerball jackpot just hit $1.3 billion dollars. The previous jackpot was a record-breaker by itself, promising over 900 million to the lucky Powerball winner(s). But this? This new Powerball &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=28919\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28919\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}