
DATE: Thursday, March 27, 1997              TAG: 9703270378

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MATTHEW DOLAN, STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 77 lines

LOTTO-LESS TAR HEELS MAKE RUN FOR BORDER

VIRGINIA'S BIG GAME TROPHY DRAWS NORTH CAROLINA'S FORTUNE HUNTERS TO

RETAILERS.

A dollar.

A dream.

And a run across the state line.

That's all a Tar Heel needs to play for the nation's largest lottery jackpot - 56 million big ones.

One of Virginia most lucrative lottery parlors just a mile from the state line, Athena's Qwik Stop on South Battlefield Boulevard, has become a mecca for lottery-challenged Tar Heels. North Carolina is still lotto-less, though several bills have been recently introduced in the state legislature to put the issue before voters.

Regardless of residence, anyone will need a lot of luck if they hope to cash in. Odds on winning the multi-state jackpot are 53 million-to-one.

Namesake and co-owner Athena Schall, who is celebrating her business's first anniversary today, raked in almost $900,000 in total sales last year with about a 5 percent profit.

``Ninety percent of our business is from Carolina,'' Schall said yesterday amid a lunchtime lottery crowd. ``We've only been here a year, but we had a $10,000 winner just a while back.''

One entire wall of Athena's deli/lotto palace is covered by a Kaleidoscope of instant scratch tickets, charts of winning numbers and promotions for the lottery's riches to come. It's one of the few stores in the state to install two on-line lottery computers for churning out lotto tickets, according to state officials.

On Wednesday, Virginia Lottery Director Penelope W. Kyle visited Athena's to promote The Big Game lottery contest, which includes Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Illinois.

In South Hampton Roads, lottery sales totaled some $142 million in the fiscal year 1996. Some 35 percent of all Virginia Lottery ticket sales are sent to the state's general fund and earmarked for education. This year, the lottery will print new 1-800 numbers on each ticket sold for those seeking help with a gambling addiction.

But Kyle said she did worry that North Carolinians, who spend about $90 million on lottery sales in Virginia, might soon create a state lottery of their own.

``Right now, we're in a very enviable position. We have a border with two, non-lottery states - Tennessee and North Carolina,'' Kyle said, adding that North Carolina appears closer than ever before to starting a lottery of its own.

This $53 million jackpot has been building since the end of January. If one person were to win Friday's loot, they would receive $1.9 million a year for 20 years, after taxes.

There have been grumblings for years that North Carolina, stung by the millions of dollars that their citizens spend in Virginia, would set up its own lottery system. This year, there are several bills before North Carolina's General Assembly, said Rep. W.C. ``Bill'' Owens, an Elizabeth City Democrat.

Genes Faye Beasley drove an hour from her North Carolina home to Athena's yesterday morning.

``I love to gamble, but this is all I can handle without it getting too addicting,'' said the 58-year-old Nags Head resident. She played both The Big Game and the Virginia Lotto yesterday.

So devoted to her game of chance that only Beasley's rear license plate is really from North Carolina: ``CRABLADY.''

Her front tag, a mock plate from Nevada, says it all: ``WINNER.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MORT FRYMAN/The Virginian-Pilot

Virginia Lottery Director Penelope W. Kyle, left, visits one of

Virginia's most lucrative lottery parlors, chatting with a customer

and a clerk at Athena's Qwik Stop. The store has become a mecca for

lottery-challenged Tar Heels.

Graphic

Top Area Lottery Retailers

For complete copy, see microfilm KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA LOTTERY NORTH CAROLINA LOTTERY