Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 22, 1990 TAG: 9007220148
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DEBORAH EVANS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
More than 2,000 Lotto tickets were sold during the first shift at the 7-Eleven at 3602 Williamson Road, said cashier Patricia Wilson.
The only ones who didn't buy tickets "probably just didn't want to wait in line," said Wilson, who tripled her usual lottery purchase to three tickets this week.
Lottery officials have reported record-breaking sales totals for Virginia's largest jackpot ever.
Seven million tickets were sold through Friday, Lottery Department spokeswoman Paula Otto said Saturday. Another 6 million tickets were expected to be sold before Saturday night's drawing. Daily sales grew from just $95,000 last Sunday to almost $3 million Friday.
The 7-Eleven's parking lot was jammed Saturday. In fact, one woman kept other customers blocked in the parking lot for at least 15 minutes. She apparently didn't want to risk losing her place in the Lotto line while she moved her car.
Several customers interviewed during one half-hour period had either already bought tickets or were in the process.
Sandra Chapman was trying to decide what time to buy her tickets when she walked into the 7-Eleven Saturday afternoon. She and her husband have a "system" and usually only buy their tickets at night. So, even though that system has failed to turn the Chapmans into millionaires so far, she opted to postpone her ticket buying until nightfall.
H.L. Curry wandered into the store to pick up a couple of chocolate candy bars. The retired truck driver said he had already bought his tickets. Since the lottery started last January, he said he has won about $80 and lost between $100 and $200. "Twenty-one million. It will be worth a chance for anybody," he said.
Gene Witt, a cashier at Save-X on Williamson Road said he tried talking his credit union into lending him $7 million to play the Lotto. The odds of winning with any number are 1 in 7 million, so Witt figured if he bought one ticket for each possible Lotto combinations, he'd be a cinch to win the jackpot.
But the credit union wasn't interested, so now he'll settle for buying just a few tickets, he said.
Bruce Farrell of Salem was one of the few who have not bought a lottery ticket. He voted against starting it and won't participate in it - no matter how big the jackpot gets, he said.
"Some people will spend their last dollar on it," Farrell said. "I don't believe in it."
Nor does telemarketing operator Kari Hughes believe she can be a Lotto winner - anymore.
"I got aggravated with not winning," said Hughes, who has bought about 50 tickets in the last six months.
Although people employ a variety of systems for picking numbers, the Lottery Department's Otto said about 10,000 people will select the numbers 1-2-3-4-5-6. If that combination is drawn, each winner would get about $2,000.
Other popular combinations are 7-14-21-28-35-42 and 5-10-15-20-25-30.
"We are officially under Jackpot Alert measures," she said.
Associated Press contributed information to this story.
by CNB