Daily News

More than $6.5 million spent; critics deplore the day
J. Andrew Curliss and Jim Nesbitt, Staff Writers

North Carolinians snapped up scratch-off lottery tickets Thursday and set their thumbnails briskly to work as the state became the East Coast’s last to sponsor a lottery.

The games, which began with only minor glitches, arrived at gas stations and convenience stores in all 100 counties after years of debate and discussion in living rooms and church pews, on campaign trails and in the legislature.

With the state surrounded by lotteries, Gov. Mike Easley and other supporters last year narrowly persuaded enough lawmakers to allow the games. Profits will go to education.

Four scratch-off games were available Thursday at 5,000 outlets. More instant-ticket games will be added soon, and on May 30, the state will join Powerball, a national game with huge jackpots.

"We have a winner today, and it’s education in North Carolina," said Rep. Bill Owens of Elizabeth City, a Democrat who over the past decade filed 11 lottery bills.

Opponents said North Carolina abased itself. "We’re all sort of disappointed the state has reduced itself to this," said John Rustin, a lobbyist for the N.C. Family Policy Council.

Final sales numbers were not yet in, but players bought roughly $6.5 million in tickets and won about $1.3 million in prizes in the lottery’s first 10 hours, officials said. The sales were already triple what officials had predicted for the first day, and the numbers did not include the after-work rush.

Most players lost their money Thursday. (more…)

 Email This Post  Print This Post

This entry was posted on Friday, March 31st, 2006 at 5:35 am and is filed under Daily News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.