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Texas Lottery Commission Hints At Lower Lotto PayoffBy John MoritzStar-Telegram Austin BureauAUSTIN -- The Texas Lottery Commission might be forced to lower the initial jackpots on the twice-weekly Lotto Texas games from $4 million to $3 million unless players accept a controversial proposal to drastically reduce the odds of winning, a lottery spokesman said yesterday. A prolonged slump in ticket sales has prompted the lottery to consider increasing the number of balls in lotto from 50 to 54. Under such a scenario, the chances of winning the jackpot would jump to 1 in 25.8 million, rather than the 1 in 15.8 million under the current system, officials said. Because there would be fewer winners, jackpots would escalate. "Players want bigger jackpots. That's been proven over and over again," lottery spokesman Keith Elkins said. "But you can't get higher jackpots unless you change the matrix of the games. "The way it is now, without an increase in ticket sales, it's questionable about whether we can keep the initial jackpot at $4 million. We might have to lower it to $3 million." Lottery officials said that if they add four numbers to the mix, average jackpots would rise from about $9.5 million to about $15.5 million. They also said the payoff for matching three lotto numbers would rise from $3 to $5 and the payoffs would also rise for matching four and five numbers. (Under the Proposed Changes, 4 of 6 and 5 of 6 payouts have been lowered to $25 for having 4 of 6 numbers and $1000 for having 5 of 6 numbers.) Officials are conducting a series of public hearings around the state to determine whether there is support for the proposal to add four numbers to the lotto mix. A North Texas hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Oct. 19 at the Holiday Inn- Market Center in Dallas. (Correction - Hearing is set for Oct. 20 at 3 p.m.) Early indications are that loyal players do not like the proposed changes. Dawn Nettles, a Garland resident who publishes the Lotto Report, has posted dozens of letters on her Web site, www.lottoreport.com, from players who despise the plan. Nettles, who said she has played every lotto drawing since the game's inception, shares their view. "They want to make it so it's impossible to win," Nettles said of the proposed change. "What they're saying to Texans is, `You keep playing even though you can't win. And then when the jackpot reaches $100 million, we'll get people bringing us money from all over the world.' " She also downplayed the significance of higher prizes for matching three, four and five numbers. "When you buy a lotto ticket, you don't buy it thinking you're going to win $5 or $25," she said. "The people who play Lotto, they're hoping to win millions." Elkins said the higher odds against winning lotto would be offset by the fun of playing for bigger jackpots. Still, he said, officials realize that any changes in the game would be a tough sell. "Since we rolled out lotto [ in 1992], we've never really changed it, except for adding the quick pick [which allows a computer to generate a player's numbers]," said Elkins, who estimated that 90 percent of the letters to the lottery on the subject have opposed adding four numbers. "Basically, the game has become as comfortable as an old shoe, and what we're hearing is, `Don't mess with lotto.' " That leaves officials facing a Catch-22 situation. Lottery ticket sales were down 17.5 percent in 1998, and another decline is expected this year. Officials must make it more difficult to win or reduce the amount of prize money if they hope to continue to generate $1.15 billion a year for the state's treasury. When the Legislature forced the lottery to cut the prize payout on its scratch-off games in 1997, ostensibly to raise more money for the state, it sparked the first financial decline since the games were introduced five years before. Loyal lotto players like Nettles and Arlington resident Gerry Eubank said they would rather have a lower initial jackpot than longer odds for winning. "They're insulting our intelligence," Eubank said. "Think about how much money they make; it's in the billions. If they need more money, let them cut overhead like any other business." John Moritz, (512) 476-4294 Send comments to jmoritz@star-telegram.com More links on this site ...Subject - 50 vs 54 BallsThe Introduction |