PUBLIC INVITED TO HEARING ON LOTTERY

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 23, 1992                   TAG: 9202230203
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short
PUBLIC INVITED TO HEARING ON LOTTERY
Virginia Lottery officials have scheduled a public hearing Monday for Lotto players to give their opinions to the Lottery Board on multimillion-dollar block purchases of tickets.
Several large purchases have been confirmed in the Hampton Roads area before the Feb. 15 drawing for a $27 million Lotto jackpot.
The holder of the one winning ticket - sold at a Chesapeake grocery store that handled large-scale ticket purchases - has not come forward. Lottery officials say they have no way of knowing if the ticket was part of the block sale.
The block sales caught lottery officials by surprise.
"We never anticipated a group trying to make such a large purchase," said Kenneth Thorson, lottery director. "To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time anything like this has happened in the country."
Thorson said he will ask the Lottery Board to consider limiting the number of tickets an individual can purchase. - Associated Press

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB