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

DATE: FRIDAY, March 13, 1992                   TAG: 9203130473
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

THINK LOTTO SALES SINKING? DON'T BET ON IT

When reports surfaced that an Australian syndicate tried to corner the Virginia Lotto game last month, lottery officials worried that regular players would give up on the game.

Another block-ticket buying spree could cripple Lotto by making players think they had no chance to win, even though it does not lower their chances, said Lottery Director Kenneth Thorson.

But the international publicity over the Australians' successful bid for the $27 million jackpot has had the opposite effect. Lotto sales have gone up since the Feb. 15 drawing won by the syndicate, which bought 5.5 million of the possible 7.1 million six-number Lotto combinations.

"The level of play since that time has been up about 15 percent. Some days it's been up 18, almost 20 percent," Thorson said Wednesday.

Thorson said he compared sales since mid-February to previous weeks when the jackpot has been low - between $1 million and $5 million. Usually sales drop off after a record-high jackpot has been won, he said.

He credits the worldwide publicity given the Virginia Lottery with boosting sales at home.

"The lottery's been in the news almost every day," he said.

The state Lottery Department kept the attention going by holding two special board meetings to tighten regulations on block sales and two news conferences on the winning ticket. Thorson announced last week that the Australians had won and this week said they would get the money even though questions had been raised about whether their ticket-buying method violated lottery regulations.

Thorson was interviewed by The New York Times, National Public Radio, "The CBS Evening News," "The NBC Nightly News," ABC's "Good Morning America" and Australia's "Today" show.

He even appeared on an Italian television station, much to the shock of his nephew who was visiting Rome.

"He was astonished to see his uncle. The only thing that seemed out of sorts was that I was talking in Italian because it was dubbed," Thorson said.

by CNB