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Powerball tickets go on sale Thursday in Pennsylvania
Sunday, June 23, 2002
By The Associated Press
HARRISBURG -- With the introduction of the Powerball lottery game in Pennsylvania this week, players will have twice as many big-jackpot drawings and even bigger jackpots to look forward to.
About 6,000 lottery vendors, including convenience and grocery stores, are to begin selling Powerball tickets at 5 a.m. Thursday in hopes of drawing the hordes of Pennsylvanians who previously traveled to Delaware and West Virginia to buy the tickets.
The state's first drawing is June 29, the Saturday after sales open. Odds of winning the multistate jackpot are about 80 million-to-1.
Lisa Piluso, who owns the Family Deli in North Philadelphia, said Powerball is likely to become more popular among the neighborhood's residents than the state's other jackpot game, Super 6 Lotto, because of its richer jackpot.
"I think it's going to do better," Piluso said. "I think they'll buy more."
The Powerball jackpot begins at $10 million and typically rolls over several million dollars at a time. The Super 6 Lotto jackpot starts at $3 million and rolls over $1 million at a time.
The record Powerball jackpot is $295.7 million; the record Super 6 Lotto jackpot is $86 million.
Several players interviewed Thursday said they would buy at least as many Powerball tickets as Super 6 Lotto, but would not stop buying the Super 6 Lotto tickets.
"I would buy both to take that chance," said Howard Baker, 59, after buying a Super 6 Lotto ticket from a Harrisburg lottery vendor.
Another Harrisburg lottery player, Francis Borreli, 49, said players not planning to buy Powerball tickets right away would probably do so eventually, "if only out of curiosity."
Tickets for both games cost $1.
So far, 21 states and Washington, D.C., participate in Powerball; Pennsylvania is to become the 23rd jurisdiction.
To accommodate Powerball drawings on Wednesday and Saturday nights, the Pennsylvania Lottery last week changed the 7 p.m. drawings for Super 6 Lotto to Tuesdays and Fridays.
Powerball drawings are scheduled for 11 p.m. EDT. The drawing takes place in Des Moines, Iowa, where the Multi-State Lottery Association is based.
"Players are on top of that," Pennsylvania Lottery spokeswoman Sally Danyluk said. "There seems to be no problem in anticipation for the first drawing of Powerball in Pennsylvania."
Lottery officials hope to gross $60 million to $100 million from Powerball ticket sales this year. Of that, about $35 million would go toward programs for senior citizens, Danyluk said.
"The jackpots are large and that's what we heard from players as far as what they want," Danyluk said. "Big jackpots drive sales."
Danyluk said lottery officials believed that Powerball will not draw revenue from the other games the lottery offers -- Super 6 Lotto, Cash 5, Big 4, Daily Number and Instant scratch tickets.
Most of the games increased in sales last year. In particular, scratch ticket purchases increased by 25 percent, and the state expects to duplicate or surpass that increase this year, Danyluk said.
Still, the state reported that it was running a projected deficit in the state Lottery Fund of $187 million by July 2003, and was entering the Powerball market in an effort to fill the gaps.
Tom Shaheen, spokesman for Pennsylvanians Against Gambling Expansion, a nonprofit group based in Harrisburg, predicted that Powerball would not solve the shortfall in the Lottery Fund, which helps subsidize programs and benefits for the elderly.
"I think the state is going the wrong direction, looking for funds in the wrong places," Shaheen said. "To take more money out of citizens' pockets, especially those who can least afford it, to then turn around and fund a social program is backwards."
Last year, the Pennsylvania Lottery grossed about $1.8 billion in ticket sales and interest, up 5.6 percent from the previous year.
Of that, $626.5 million, or 34.8 percent, went toward senior-citizen programs, such as a co-pay prescription drug program, discounted transit fares and rent rebates.
About $995.7 million, or 55.2 percent, went toward player prizes, and the remainder went toward operating expenses and vendor and retailer commissions.
The Pennsylvania Lottery is the only state lottery that exclusively earmarks its proceeds to benefit the elderly.
Sunday, June 23, 2002
By The Associated Press
HARRISBURG -- With the introduction of the Powerball lottery game in Pennsylvania this week, players will have twice as many big-jackpot drawings and even bigger jackpots to look forward to.
About 6,000 lottery vendors, including convenience and grocery stores, are to begin selling Powerball tickets at 5 a.m. Thursday in hopes of drawing the hordes of Pennsylvanians who previously traveled to Delaware and West Virginia to buy the tickets.
The state's first drawing is June 29, the Saturday after sales open. Odds of winning the multistate jackpot are about 80 million-to-1.
Lisa Piluso, who owns the Family Deli in North Philadelphia, said Powerball is likely to become more popular among the neighborhood's residents than the state's other jackpot game, Super 6 Lotto, because of its richer jackpot.
"I think it's going to do better," Piluso said. "I think they'll buy more."
The Powerball jackpot begins at $10 million and typically rolls over several million dollars at a time. The Super 6 Lotto jackpot starts at $3 million and rolls over $1 million at a time.
The record Powerball jackpot is $295.7 million; the record Super 6 Lotto jackpot is $86 million.
Several players interviewed Thursday said they would buy at least as many Powerball tickets as Super 6 Lotto, but would not stop buying the Super 6 Lotto tickets.
"I would buy both to take that chance," said Howard Baker, 59, after buying a Super 6 Lotto ticket from a Harrisburg lottery vendor.
Another Harrisburg lottery player, Francis Borreli, 49, said players not planning to buy Powerball tickets right away would probably do so eventually, "if only out of curiosity."
Tickets for both games cost $1.
So far, 21 states and Washington, D.C., participate in Powerball; Pennsylvania is to become the 23rd jurisdiction.
To accommodate Powerball drawings on Wednesday and Saturday nights, the Pennsylvania Lottery last week changed the 7 p.m. drawings for Super 6 Lotto to Tuesdays and Fridays.
Powerball drawings are scheduled for 11 p.m. EDT. The drawing takes place in Des Moines, Iowa, where the Multi-State Lottery Association is based.
"Players are on top of that," Pennsylvania Lottery spokeswoman Sally Danyluk said. "There seems to be no problem in anticipation for the first drawing of Powerball in Pennsylvania."
Lottery officials hope to gross $60 million to $100 million from Powerball ticket sales this year. Of that, about $35 million would go toward programs for senior citizens, Danyluk said.
"The jackpots are large and that's what we heard from players as far as what they want," Danyluk said. "Big jackpots drive sales."
Danyluk said lottery officials believed that Powerball will not draw revenue from the other games the lottery offers -- Super 6 Lotto, Cash 5, Big 4, Daily Number and Instant scratch tickets.
Most of the games increased in sales last year. In particular, scratch ticket purchases increased by 25 percent, and the state expects to duplicate or surpass that increase this year, Danyluk said.
Still, the state reported that it was running a projected deficit in the state Lottery Fund of $187 million by July 2003, and was entering the Powerball market in an effort to fill the gaps.
Tom Shaheen, spokesman for Pennsylvanians Against Gambling Expansion, a nonprofit group based in Harrisburg, predicted that Powerball would not solve the shortfall in the Lottery Fund, which helps subsidize programs and benefits for the elderly.
"I think the state is going the wrong direction, looking for funds in the wrong places," Shaheen said. "To take more money out of citizens' pockets, especially those who can least afford it, to then turn around and fund a social program is backwards."
Last year, the Pennsylvania Lottery grossed about $1.8 billion in ticket sales and interest, up 5.6 percent from the previous year.
Of that, $626.5 million, or 34.8 percent, went toward senior-citizen programs, such as a co-pay prescription drug program, discounted transit fares and rent rebates.
About $995.7 million, or 55.2 percent, went toward player prizes, and the remainder went toward operating expenses and vendor and retailer commissions.
The Pennsylvania Lottery is the only state lottery that exclusively earmarks its proceeds to benefit the elderly.
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