DATE: Sunday, May 25, 1997                  TAG: 9705230003

SECTION: COMMENTARY              PAGE: J4   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial

                                            LENGTH:   45 lines

LOTTERY THOSE HORRIBLE ODDS

In an article titled ``Gaming the Poor: How state governments make big bucks by conning the most vulnerable,'' the May 19 issue of The New Republic quotes Virginia Lottery Director Penelope W. Kyle griping about Virginia's restrictions on lottery advertising at a recent industry convention.

Kyle says her quotes were taken out of context and she was merely explaining to her counterparts in other states how a lottery can operate successfully without using hard-sell techniques.

Virginia is one of a handful of states requiring a measure of truth in lottery advertising. Because lottery commissions are public entities, they are not subject to Federal Trade Commission regulations on truth in advertising, nor are they monitored by the Better Business Bureau. Combined, the state-run lotteries spent nearly half a billion dollars last year trying to entice their own citizens into buying tickets.

The New Republic reports that 38 states now have lotteries. The vast majority advertise only the top prize, which can be as high as $45 million in places like New York and California, and then deceptively give the odds of winning the lowest prize (usually a free ticket) in the game.

In past interviews with the media, Kyle has pointed to Virginia's squeaky-clean image as a plus, and boasted that its promotions don't instill unrealistic expectations, don't ever show winners dramatically changing their life circumstances and do urge responsible playing.

In a speech at the LeFleur Lottery Conference in Washington, D.C., in March, Kyle discussed advertising restrictions. According to The New Republic, Kyle complained that Virginia's advertising regulations ``tie you down,'' forcing the lottery to disclose ``horrible odds.''

Kyle says she did refer to ``horrible odds,'' but only to illustrate the difficulty of promoting that week's $56 million jackpot. The odds of winning the jackpot were about 53 million to one and those odds had to be included in every ad.

Few other states require such honesty from their lottery commissions. How much easier it is to lure the poor into blowing their dough on lottery tickets when advertisers aren't forced to reveal that the odds of winning the big payoff in the state-run numbers racket is somewhere between slim and none.

Fortunately, Virginia legislators required truth in advertising from the get-go. Kyle says she supports those restrictions. We do too.

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