Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 27, 1991 TAG: 9103270387
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: BILL BYRD LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: FAIRFAX LENGTH: Medium
But don't look for them in Western Virginia anytime soon.
Lottery Director Kenneth W. Thorson said 2,000 vending machines - which will dispense instant, scratch-off tickets and not make change - will be placed in urban areas.
Up to 700 will appear in supermarkets, discount stores, drugstores, malls and airports in Northern Virginia within weeks.
Officials hope the vending machines will boost lottery interest in the Washington suburbs, where sales have lagged behind other areas of the state.
By mid-1992, the lottery will start placing the self-service machines in the Hampton Roads and Richmond areas, Thorson said.
Virginia Lottery spokeswoman Paula Otto said, however, that it will be years before Western Virginia gets the machines. In fact, she said, the area may not get machines at all because local retailers are so good at selling that they don't need machines to inspire more sales.
At a news conference Monday at the lottery's regional office in Fairfax, Thorson said Virginia would become the first state to install the instant-ticket terminals on a large scale. Others have tested a few machines, he said.
Research indicates that instant-ticket sales will jump 20 percent to 200 percent after the machines start dispensing the scratch-offs, the director said. The lottery sold $24.7 million in scratch-off tickets in February.
The machines will dispense tickets from four instant games at a time. Gamblers will insert $1, $5, $10 or $20 bills, then press buttons to indicate which tickets they wish to purchase. Because the machines will not make change, players must bet the entire amount fed into the machine.
Thorson said each machine will be within view of store employees, who will be responsible for preventing people under age 18 from buying tickets. The lottery may equip some of the machines with circuitry allowing clerks to shut them down by remote control, he said.
Parts of the devices also will be shielded by bullet-proof glass, Thorson said. "You always have to be concerned about potential vandalism."
Each device will cost about $4,000; the lottery has signed an $8.9 million contract with Lottery Enterprises Inc. of San Diego for the machines.
Staff writer Ben Beagle contributed information for this story.
by CNB