Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 22, 1995 TAG: 9511220091
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
When the Lotto jackpot reaches $10 million, Gordon Sox invests a little more money in lottery tickets.
It's not just for him, mind you; he plays the same numbers on four different tickets - one for himself, one for his wife, and one for each of his kids. That way, he said, if he wins, they all win.
If their numbers come up today, they'll split a projected $24 million, the largest Lotto jackpot since August 1993, when it hit $24.5 million. They would divide an annual income of $1.2 million before taxes - $816,000 after Uncle Sam's taken his share.
The 50-year-old North Carolina resident works in Roanoke and stays in a Southwest apartment during the week. He usually buys tickets for Saturday drawings before he goes home on weekends.
He doesn't think he has much of a chance at winning, so he looks at the money spent on Lotto tickets as ``my donation to the cause ... for whatever it goes for.''
Mark Carter manages the Uni-Mart on Colonial Avenue Southwest, where Sox bought his tickets Tuesday night. He said he's seen his business double as the jackpot has multiplied the past several weeks. ``They get gambling fever.''
Across town at Ninth Street Grocery, the lottery takes top billing on the store's sign, right next to the picnic supplies and beer. The advertising must work, because Virginia Lottery officials said the store is one of the top Lotto retailers in the Roanoke Valley.
Betty Anderson, who owns the grocery with her husband, Bill, said the lottery business has been brisk, with people who usually play $1 or $2 pooling money with friends and co-workers to buy 25 or 50 tickets.
Store manager Vernon Stover said he never plays Lotto, but he's sold the same customers tickets so many times that he can almost punch in their numbers before they open their mouths.
Debbie Sapp, also a manager at the grocery store, doesn't consider herself lucky, either, but she always plays at least $10 worth, and today she'll spend about $20 on tickets.
``I figure one day maybe the good Lord will let me hit it,'' she said.
by CNB