The state Lottery Commission this morning agreed to a deal that would pave the way for vending machines that would sell instant games as well as Powerball tickets.

Currently, the lottery uses vending machines to sell instant tickets. The deal would allow the lottery to set up machines that would allow players to buy Powerball tickets as well as the games that draw three, four or five digits.

The machines are intended to help extend the lottery's presence into chain stores that have been reluctant to sell tickets. Stores such as CVS, Dollar General and Wal-Mart do not currently sell lottery tickets.

"They're asking to see a more convenient business model," said Lottery executive director Tom Shaheen.

Players who use the machines would have to insert a drivers license to prove they are 18. Shaheen said the machines dispense the same tickets that would otherwise be purchased behind a counter.

"These are not video machines. They're not interactive by any means," Shaheen told the commission Tuesday morning.

Buying the machines would have cost the state as much as $20 million. Instead the lottery will have them provided at no charge in exchange for extending by four years its contract with GTECH, the company that handles ticket printing and logistics for the state lottery.

More after the jump.

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Some notes from this morning's sentencing hearing on Kevin Geddings:

* Defense attorney Jonathan Edelstein argued that Geddings' crime was not as serious as that of former Rep. Michael Decker, who switched parties to keep then Speaker Jim Black in power. That, the attorney argued, was "a coup" of one branch of government.

* Prosecutors argued that Geddings' actions prevented North Carolina from getting a competitive bid. Once his ethical problems were known, they said, the state had no choice but to go with rival GTECH Corp., rather than Scientific Games.

* Defense attorneys also argued that Geddings was not a "high-level official" worthy of additional punishment, since he was one of nine lottery commissioners. "He was not even a figurehead," argued Edelstein. "He was one-ninth of a figurehead."