Oklahoma Lottery to join `Powerball network

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The Oklahoma Lottery Commission votes to join the "Powerball" network, making Oklahomans eligible for mega lottery prizes beginning next year.<br/><br/>Powerball is operated by the

Tuesday, August 30th 2005, 5:44 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The Oklahoma Lottery Commission votes to join the "Powerball" network, making Oklahomans eligible for mega lottery prizes beginning next year.

Powerball is operated by the Multi-State Lottery Association, currently made up of 27 states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands.

It is one of two groups that operate games that offer huge, multi-million prizes to participating states. The other is Mega Millions.

Lottery director Jim Scroggins said yesterday that the Powerball group is "a better fit" for Oklahoma. He said Mega Millions mainly deals with larger states such as New York and recently voted not to take any new members for a year after accepting California as a member state.

Powerball is the oldest of the two associations and has the most members.

Officials hope to begin selling instant lottery tickets on October 12th, with online sales scheduled for November tenth. Scroggins said the goal is to have the state participating in Powerball in January.