The pull-tab parlor running what's billed as the largest lottery in Alaska history does not currently have a valid gaming license for this year and, until it does, the lottery cannot go on, state gaming officials said Monday.

Lucky Times Pull Tabs and Standing Together Against Rape paired up to conduct the lottery offering a $500,000 jackpot under an Alaska law that permits lotteries and raffles that benefit charity. The nonprofit will get at least 10 percent of what's left after the prize is awarded.

However, by Monday neither Lucky Times nor STAR had received the required 2009 license and permit to operate the lotto, although both have applied for them, said Jeff Prather, gaming supervisor with the state tax division. The state had received a complaint about unauthorized sales taking place at Lucky Times and planned to investigate, he said.

"Abe (Spicola) will not be able to conduct the raffle without a permit," Prather said of the Lucky Times owner. "It's STAR's raffle, and Abe is an agent for STAR and conducts a raffle on their behalf. But he can't do that until STAR has a permit and he has an operator's license."

Also, "It's not legal for other operators to sell raffle tickets for Abe Spicola" until he has the license, he said.

However, Lucky Times on Spenard Road was abuzz with people buying tickets Monday afternoon. Spicola said four locations in Anchorage and one in Wasilla were continuing their sales since the scheduled drawing last week was postponed. In addition, Spicola planned to be in Juneau selling tickets this afternoon; organizers had been unable to find a distributor in the capital city.

According to state records, the venture was properly licensed in 2008 for the drawing that was supposed to take place New Year's Eve. That was delayed, however, because of problems getting ticket stubs in from the Bush, organizers said.

Organizers applied for the 2009 license and permit too late to get them on time but expected them today, Spicola said. He did not expect the lapse to delay the new drawing date, set for this Friday at 7 p.m. at Rumrunners Old Towne Bar downtown. Prather also said the paperwork should be finished in the coming days, in time to hold the drawing as scheduled.

Last week Spicola said tickets were selling out in the nearly 30 communities where they were offered and that sales were approaching 130,000 stubs. He declined to provide a sales count on the $5 tickets Monday, only saying that the lotto has already reached the minimum $500,000 needed to pay the prize.

All licenses and permits expire at the end of the calendar year, and operators need to reapply by Dec. 15 to get either the full or a temporary permit while the paperwork is processed; the division gets applications from some 1,200 organizations a year, Prather said.

Lucky Times and STAR, however, missed the deadline, Prather said. Operators gaming without a license will receive a notice letting them know it is illegal and, though they won't be fined, they could wind up with their licenses suspended or revoked, he said.

Asked whether Spicola, a former state gaming investigator, thought he should be operating without a license, Spicola said, "I'll tell you what happened. Basically, on the 31st, we were talking to the state about getting a temporary permit. They said as long as we had a check down in the Anchorage office by five o'clock, by close of business, that everything would be fine."

He got the check in but he hasn't received the license, he said.

Joseph Koss, a state tax auditor for the gaming industry, said operators are required to wait until the license is in hand; paying the fees is not enough. Though not aware of unlicensed sales taking place, Koss, when told Lucky Times was still selling tickets, said he didn't anticipate problems for people who bought tickets beginning Jan. 1.

"That's a problem, but that's something other than whether or not the tickets that are in the hands of buyers are valid," Koss said. "I don't think we could possibly say that they're not valid. If there's anything done it would involve the operator, not the ticket buyer."