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After a week of non-stop action in Las Vegas, a number of events have ended, with some household names claiming titles.

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The Pennsylvania Lottery says more than $181 million in Scratch-Off ticket prizes were claimed in May.

In fact, a press release distributed by Pennsylvania Lottery on Monday, June 4 claims an astounding $181,081,726 was picked up by scratch-offs winners in PA last month.

This includes a $3 million top prize and four separate $1 million top prizes.

The $3 million winning ticket was bought at a Butler Street Shop ‘n Save in Pittsburgh. It was a ticket for the $3,000,000 Pennsylvania Club game.

The $1 million winning tickets included:

• A My First Million ticket bought JR’s Mini Mart in Coal Township
• Another My First Million ticket bought at a Clearfield Sheetz
• A Big Money Millionaire ticket bought at a N. Huntingdon Sheetz
• A $1,000,000 Silver & Gold ticket bought at The Feed Store in Harrisburg

Of course, more than $181 million in Scratch-Off ticket prizes claimed means a number of other big prizes collected during the month. According to the PA Lottery, these prizes included:

• Seven $300,000 prizes
• Five $250,000 prizes
• 17 $100,000 prizes

Additionally, the PA Lottery posts a monthly winner’s list on its website with information about winners of $1,000 or more every month. It’s a big list for May 2018 and PA Lottery officials also claim many prizes below that amount were claimed throughout the month.

$2.58 billion in prizes

In its 2016-2017 fiscal year, the PA Lottery recorded a little over $2.7 billion in scratch-off ticket sales. Total PA Lottery ticket sales hit just over $4 billion. Close to 65 percent of that money, a total of $2.58 billion, was paid out in prizes.

The average amount of PA Lottery prizes claimed every month was a little over $215 million. However, that included payouts for scratch-off, Fast Play, and a dozen draw games offered by the PA Lottery. Numbers that clearly show the $181 million in Scratch-Off ticket prizes claimed in May was well above average.

However, that average is expected to climb with a number of new PA Lottery products debuting in May, and more to come.

More PA Lottery products = more ways to win

State lawmakers passed a gambling expansion bill in October 2017 that authorized the sale of online lottery products. The next day, Gov. Tom Wolf approved the rollout of Pennsylvania Lottery monitor games at participating retailers and various local bars and restaurants.

The first Keno monitor games launched on May 1 and ticket sales were hot from the start. Lottery officials reported the 9,400 lottery retailers and 600 bars and restaurants where Keno was available were selling close to 8,200 tickets an hour by noon on Day 1. Keno sales only got bigger from there.

In fact, the Pennsylvania Lottery reported Keno ticket sales went over the $2 million mark in the first 17 days. Over that same period, more than $1.3 million in Keno prizes were handed out.

It’s too early to tell what impact it will have on the numbers, but the PA Lottery also launched real-money PA iLottery games at the end of May.

A total of 11 PA iLottery instant win games are now available on the new PAilottery website. The games are essentially electronic scratch-offs with an online slot machine feel.

Another monitor game, Xpress Sports by the Pennsylvania Lottery, will launch with simulated football and auto racing players can wager on sometime in the summer of 2018.

Traditional scratch-oOffs available at PA lottery retailers across the state offer prizes ranging from a free ticket to $3 million. Rules and information regarding remaining and prizes and chances of winning are all available on the PA Lottery website.

The Pennsylvania Lottery directs all proceeds to programs that benefit older residents. In fact, it has contributed nearly $28 billion to such programs since ticket sales started in 1972.

The post PA Lottery Players Won How Much Playing Scratch-Offs Last Month?! appeared first on Play Pennsylvania.

Ocean Resort Casino in Atlantic City debuts a loyalty program that begins with a local casino rewards program match, not to mention a few offers and four levels of added benefits.

The post Ocean Resort Casino Introduces New Loyalty Program Ahead Of Grand Opening appeared first on .

The Las Vegas, Nevada summer festivities began as they usually do with the Super High Roller Bowl at the end of May. The four-day tournament is arguably the most prestigious tournament outside of the World Series of Poker Main Event.

The $300,000 buy-in tournament attracts one of the toughest fields in poker. It’s a lot of game theory optimal decision making. There isn’t a lot of table chatter. Few antics are on display.

Well, for the most part.

Doug Polk hunting for attention

It didn’t take long for the first feud of the summer to hit the Twitter stream, and it all began on Day 1 at the Super High Roller Bowl.

Doug Polk and Daniel Negreanu were both in the 48-person field that was formed by a combination of a lottery and Aria-awarded seats.

There is no love lost between the two players, and when the Day 1 seat draw placed the two players next to each other, the viewing audience was looking forward to fireworks.

Leave it to Polk to deliver. It took about 27 minutes into the broadcast before his shirt came off. Literally. Polk removed his dress shirt to reveal a t-shirt with the slogan “More Rake is Better” on a billboard.

Polk took the opportunity to needle Negreanu on a big stage for the now infamous “more rake is better” debate.

Well, it wasn’t quite fireworks. It was more like the hand-held sparklers from your neighborhood Fourth of July party. Enough to shed some light without the threat of blowing you up.

Negreanu’s usual table-side manner was more reserved compared to his typical chatty demeanor. While he looked slightly annoyed, he wasn’t about to forgo months of hard work to get into a war with Polk.

You might think Polk losing a substantial pot to Negreanu and busting on Day 1 would be the end of this saga.

Oh, but no. Cue the actual billboard.

.@DougPolkPoker takes it to the next level. pic.twitter.com/Uxi17tsOOY

— PokerNews (@PokerNews) June 1, 2018

You have got to give credit where credit is due. If you are out for attention, backing up a personal petty war with a billboard will do it. It is highly doubtful this is a +EV move, though.

How did the “more rake is better” drama begin?

Back in 2016, Negreanu discussing rake changes at PokerStars, shared situations where a higher rake might be good for the game. “For the game” is the key part of that statement.

When you look at the entirety of his comments, Negreanu clearly discusses that more rake will keep the pros away and give recreational players a better shot of winning. Polk would not let the controversial “more rake is better” mantra die.

Negreanu clarified his comments earlier this year on a podcast, saying, “I’m not pro-rake. That’s absurd.”

And again on his blog:

I do not believe that raising the rake is good for poker. Rake increases take more money out of the game and benefit whoever is collecting the rake. That is my position on rake. Period.

Negreanu may have been taking issue with Polk and his desire to “create drama, attack people and fight people” earlier this year, but he has put it behind him.

Honestly, Polk should do the same. The hand has been played. There is no reason to beat a dead horse.

Negreanu has been studying the game, and his focus is on his goals, which are always lofty. Polk might be needling Negreanu, but Negreanu is not having it.

Doug Polk apologizes for being mean but petty is still on the menu

Not long after Negreanu called Polk out on his podcast, Polk took to his YouTube channel to apologize for being … well, mean.

On the video, Polk said:

Now we have to try and do positive things for the community or move on. I’m sorry for the tone of my videos. I completely stand by things that I’ve said. But I also think there should be more of a direction of trying to create solutions and move forward rather than just hammer the negative aspects that I feel I got a little too focused on.

Apparently, changing the tone around the “more rake is better” debate is not part of the new direction Polk speaks about.

Polk seems to be more focused on his cryptocurrency channel lately. He just seems less committed to poker than in the past. Maybe dredging up an old debate is what he needs to drive more viewers to his poker channel.

According to his Instagram stories, Polk was in Chicago this past weekend. Why is that a big deal? Well, it was the opening weekend of the WSOP, and it included a high roller event. If poker were a priority, surely he would be in Las Vegas, especially for the first $100,000 buy-in tournament (Polk won the $111,111 One Drop event last year).

One thing is for sure: Polk may not be fully committed to poker, but Negreanu is. His second-place finish in the Super High Roller Bowl put an exclamation point on that fact.

Needless to say, Negreanu found both supporters and opponents on Twitter. While he remained focused on the Super High Roller Bowl, he did take to Twitter to share his opinion – again.

Ideally you want pros to play a little higher and leave the lowest levels to beginners and weak players to not feel demoralized. Casinos have used rake historically to maintain that balance.

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) May 28, 2018

At the end of the day, the only one partaking in this petty war is Polk.

Polk might be out for attention, but Negreanu is out for the win.

Lead image courtesy of WPT/Flickr

The post Doug Polk vs. Daniel Negreanu: The One-Sided Petty War Rages On appeared first on .