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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 28, 1993                   TAG: 9307280142
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

LOTTERY WIZARD GETS OWN GAME

This time, instead of trying to beat the odds as a player, he's planning to head his own lottery based in the tiny British colony of Gibraltar.

For $100, players can try their luck at what Mandel, in a telephone interview from London, trumpets enthusiastically, though perhaps not accurately, as "the richest lottery in the world."

But federal and Virginia officials warned that sending purchase orders or tickets for Mandel's "Globalot Lottery" through the mail may be a violation of postal laws.

Federal law says anyone who "knowingly deposits in the mail . . . any lottery ticket" or a "check, draft, bill, money, postal note or money order [for a lottery ticket] . . . shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."

"There could be some significant problems that this company could have," said Frank Brennan, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service. "It certainly appears that any lottery conducted by a nongovernmental agency would violate postal laws in terms of mailing information or tickets through the mail."

Mandel said he is familiar with the laws, and insists that his venture, which will give 5 percent of its revenue to the Gibraltar government, is legal for all sides.

Mandel has come out victorious in clashes with skeptical government officials before. A year ago, he was the mastermind behind a group called the International Lotto Fund, which fell a little short of buying all the combinations, but managed to buy the winning ticket.

Mandel said his new venture will sell a maximum of 300,000 tickets, with one person winning a $10 million jackpot. Ticket-buyers will not pick number combinations, and because the winner will be determined in a drawing, this lottery actually is more like a raffle.

In total, more than $21 million of each drawing's $30 million take will be awarded in prizes. a percentage return that Mandel said justifies his claim of the world's richest lottery, even though other lotteries have much bigger jackpots.

After mastering Virginia's lottery last year, Mandel said he sees irony in his new role. "The poacher," he said, "has become the gamekeeper."