You tweeted us your question, which is "Are the numbers rigged?" Integrity is something we take very seriously, so we enlisted our Draw Manager, Mary Neidert, to personally answer your question. Check it out: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSK8Y1CmZNY]

The first of our Marietta Road to Riches shows was broadcast this weekend, and I hope you caught it, because it looked fantastic! The set design was so well-done, and the place was packed with screaming fans.

  Was it you? Did you buy the $25-million winning Mega Millions ticket at Marc's in Broadview Heights? [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkCBOS7xpYQ]

We hope to see you Southern Ohioans in Marietta on Saturday at Marietta High School for our tapings of Cash Explosion. If you've been following our blog, you have been listening to Cash Explosion Executive Producer Barry Riley as he explains the various facets of the road show, the Facing Hunger effort, and what to look forward to on Cash Explosion. Here's one last installment of that conversation before we see you this weekend: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy_eiz14v98] The Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks has locations statewide and here is a list that corresponds to our Lottery regions. Region 1 (Cuyahoga County) – Cleveland Foodbank Inc. Region 2 (Toledo area) – Toledo Northwestern Ohio Foodbank Region 3 (Dayton area) – The Foodbank Inc. Region 4 – (Cincinnati area) - Freestore Foodbank Region 5 – (Columbus area) - MidOhio Foodbank Region 6 – (Athens area) - Second Harvest Foodbank of Southeastern Ohio Region 7 – (Akron-Canton area) - Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank Region 8 – (Youngstown area) - Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley Region 9 – (Lorain area) - Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio The Web site www.oashf.org has a complete listing with addresses of these locations. Please consider visiting a foodbank near you and helping those in our state who are facing hunger. Also, over the next six months, we encourage all those who join us for Cash Explosion tapings at Mills James Studios in Columbus to donate a can of food to help fellow Ohioans facing hunger.  Together, we can all make a difference.

The curtain is up on the new Ohio Lottery Holiday, The Musical. Early reviews say once you see this show, you’ll want to see it again and again. And you’ll want to give Lottery Holiday Games as gifts - again and again. The Ohio Lottery’s new Holiday Musical is a locally grown, hand-crafted show in four short acts written, scored, filmed and edited in Ohio and features an all-Ohio cast and crew. Those acts will appear on television and on the Ohio Lottery Holiday Web site. The onstage action starts with our two actors (who play eight different characters in the four vignettes) as a young couple in their home basking in the glow of an unexpected Holiday Surprise. The story then moves to a ski holiday recovery room with our characters scratching at some Winter Riches. Next is an insightful short piece about finding EZ Play Stocking Stuffers as relief for gift-finding anxiety. Finally, our players reach their finale as a fully matured couple familiar with each other’s wants and needs, happy with their Silver and Gold. Well, mostly happy.   I won’t give away the surprise plot twists. Each of the four holiday vignettes is impeccably staged and executed, featuring imaginative, quirky sets and costumes. All the action is performed in song and dance. The original tunes, penned by Cincinnati-area composer, Rob Fetters, are as sticky as a candy cane held tight in a warm hand. The original lyrics illuminate the action like a colorful string of holiday lights. Stars David Kabbes and Annie Kalahurka transport their respective local theater experience to the tv screen with ballet-like ease. From Columbus and Cincinnati areas, respectively, David and Annie shine in each of their four roles, playing off each other like wizened stage veterans.  The real stars, however, are the Ohio Lottery Holiday Games that come out just once a year. This year’s list includes two EZ Play Games - Jingle Bell Bucks and Stocking Stuffer - and instant tickets including Holiday Surprise, Winter Riches, Silver and Gold, Holiday Lucky Times Ten, It’s a Wonderful Life for Life and Cashing through the Snow. Don’t miss this show, the Ohio Lottery’s musical event of the season. Remember, there’s always a chance to win with Lottery Holiday Games. Our winners are everywhere, so give the gift of games this holiday season. You and yours will want to sing about it.

Some of you who also follow the Ohio Lottery Twitter stream have responded to our invitation for questions. We've taken your questions right to the person here who is most qualified to answer. We wanted to make sure you got the most accurate answer possible, but also, we want you to know that the Lottery is populated with real folks who have real personalities (as you will see.) First up, our Director of Product Development, Gwen Penn, takes on a question from BigMoe216, who wanted to know about "old-school" scratch off games: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLCxvFSVlLA] Thanks, Gwen, but don't go away. Here's another question for you, this one from PitBullJunkee, who just wants to win Mega Millions: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WV__qpQ6BE] Our last question (for now) comes from Txazzholdem, is about a specific Pick 3 betting strategy, and will be answered by Kassan Bahhur, also from Product Development: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCvgSYzBUp0] Thanks Guys, good job. And thanks BigMoe216, PitBullJunkee and Txazzholdem for your questions. Hope you've enjoyed the responses, and we also wish you good luck in all your Ohio Lottery games!

Another value of taking Cash Explosion on the road as part of the "Facing Hunger" effort is the economic benefit to the area. We'll tape the show at Marietta High School on Nov. 13, and we are pleased to employ local folks wherever possible to help with the show. Some of the ways we can do this are hiring local students as ushers, using local police officers, custodial staff and catering services. The economic benefit will also be felt in hotel room rentals for Cash Explosion and Ohio Lottery crew and the rental of the facility at Marietta High School. The Facing Hunger effort will benefit the entire state, though. Keep watching this space, because next week, Cash Explosion's executive producer, Barry Riley, will share more about the specifics of that. For now, though, here's Barry about the local economic impact we hope to have on the Southern Ohio area. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltTx3WXnMmc]

Hello again to all of you, our Ohio Lottery players, and a great big THANK YOU!! We're proud to announce that we achieved record sales again last month, which gives us record sales for three of the past four months. Net total sales of $211.568 million for October beat last October's sales of $200.566. For those of you who are a tiny bit math-challenged, that's more than an $11 million increase! Net instant ticket sales of $118.899 last month beat the previous best October (2007) by more than $6 million. Of course, it makes every employee of the Ohio Lottery proud when we achieve record sales. And as a member of the management team here at the Lottery, it makes me personally proud to see not only how hard our employees work at their various tasks, but also what it means to every one of them when we achieve these kinds of goals. We all keep in mind every day that our beneficiaries are Ohio's schoolchildren. We really are proud of our transfers to the Lottery Profits Education Fund; last year's was $728.6 million! That's every penny of our profit. It really is amazing when you think about it; that's a lot of money. Thanks for the part you played in creating that profit. I hope you are remembering to play responsibly, and also, I wish you good luck in all your Ohio Lottery experiences.