Deal between state lottery, pueblo casino scratched

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Thursday, June 23, 2005 | 9:21 a.m.

SANTA FE -- Gov. Bill Richardson has ordered the New Mexico Lottery to discontinue a just-released game that paired the lottery with Santa Ana Pueblo's Star Casino via a new scratch ticket.

"I am very concerned the new game sends the message that the state is promoting casino-style gambling," Richardson said Tuesday in a prepared statement.

The "LottoSino" game, which began June 14, will die when the four-month contract for tickets ends.

It was a first-of-its-kind scratch-off scratch game with prizes from both the lottery and the casino near Bernalillo, north of Albuquerque.

The executive director of the New Mexico Coalition Against Gambling, Guy Clark, had criticized it, saying the tickets amounted to a state endorsement for casino gambling.