The Iowa Lottery will be installing new electronic terminals in the 2,600 Iowa businesses that sell Lottery tickets.

“In July, a new sales and validation system is going to become operational in Iowa so the terminals that sell lottery tickets are going to get a new ‘face’,” says Iowa Lottery vice president Mary Neubauer. “Your tickets are going to look and feel a little bit different, but the games will stay the same.”

The new terminals will have a scanner, so players will be able to scan their Powerball tickets after a drawing to see if it’s a winner.

Lottery sales in the last half of 2010 were about 15 percent above the same period in 2009 and Lottery CEO Terry Rich says the Lottery’s performing better than other segments of the industry.

“Most of the gaming industry is maybe one percent (ahead), last year four to five percent behind,” according to Rich.

The Lottery’s biggest sellers are instant scratch tickets. Last year the Lottery sold about $143-million worth of scratch tickets. About $92-million worth of Powerball, MegaMillions and Hot Lotto tickets were sold last year.

“If gas prices go high, that’s probably the biggest negative to me on this business, if you’re looking at our business model,” Rich says. According to Lottery research, about half of adult Iowans pay the Lottery regularly and another 25 to 35 percent of the adults in Iowa play occasionally.