State lottery's 1st day takes in $1.2 million

$702,000 in prizes includes 1 for $20,000

Delina (cq) Snow of Van Buren holds a check for $15,000 (the net amount) on Tuesday afternoon at the Arkansas Lottery Claims Center in downtown Little Rock.
Delina (cq) Snow of Van Buren holds a check for $15,000 (the net amount) on Tuesday afternoon at the Arkansas Lottery Claims Center in downtown Little Rock.

— The Arkansas lottery sold an estimated $1.2 million in tickets on the lottery's first day and paid about $702,000 in prizes, its top official said Tuesday.

Executive Director Ernie Passailaigue said lottery vendor Scientific Games International of Alpharetta, Ga., estimated first-day sales at $1.2 million to $1.3 million and that his $1.2 million estimate is conservative.

He said the prize payout figure was provided by the state's other major lottery services vendor, Greecebased Intralot.

Among prizes won was one for $20,000 and 140 at$1,000, said Julie Baldridge, the lottery's director of public affairs and legislative relations. She said retailers collected $60,000 in sales commissions, not counting prize-cashing commissions.

Delina Snow of Van Buren picked up that $20,000 prize, presenting a ticket that her husband had purchased at Doublebee's in Searcy. The check to Snow was for $15,000 after 25 percent of the prize was deducted for taxes, said Passailaigue.

The lottery began Monday, offering four types of scratch-off tickets with prices from $1 to $5 and prizes from $1 to $100,000. The odds of winning anything are aboutone in four. The odds of winning the $100,000 are one in 880,000, the tickets say.

The lottery doesn't plan to sell Powerball tickets until Oct. 31. It aims to offer its own draw games starting in December.

Passailaigue said the estimated first-day sales total "shows a healthy environment for the lottery in Arkansas. It certainly bodes well for us to meet our goals."

His goal for the first year is for the lottery to raise $100 million for college scholarships, to be financed from net proceeds, which is what's left after the lottery's expenses and prizes are paid.

"I think it's a realistic goal and achievable, and we are going to make every attempt to achieve it," Passailaigue said.

A crowd gathers at the Murphy USA at Chenal Parkway and Cantrell Road shortly before midnight Sunday in Little Rock in preparation for the first purchase of a Arkansas Scholarship Lottery ticket.

Arkansas Lottery Scholarship Kicks off

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To find out which retailers are selling lottery tickets, visit myarkansaslottery.com.

The state Department of Finance and Administration has estimated the net proceeds at $55 million a year.

When informed of Passailaigue's $100 million goal, department director Richard Weiss said, "Good, I hope he makes it."

It's possible there are many more people who want to buy lottery tickets than the department estimated a few years ago, he said.

Weiss said Passailaigue's goal is "very optimistic, but I hope the best for the program."

Lt. Gov. Bill Halter also has projected that the lottery will raise about $100 million a year for scholarships. He called his forecast conservative. He helped persuade voters to pass Amendment 87 last November to authorize the lotteries.

Estimates of how much the lottery will get annually from ticket sales range from $185 million to more than $400 million.

"Arkansas made history [Monday] by generating an estimated $300,000 in scholarship funding in 24 hours ... a terrific start," Halter said Tuesday.

The lottery must pay back whatever it taps of a $6 million loan that the state made to finance the lottery startup. Passailaigue said he's not sure how long it will take to pay back the loan.

That depends on ticket sales, he said.

Rep. Barry Hyde, co-chairman of the Arkansas Lottery Commission Legislative Oversight Committee, said he's "tickled pink" about the lottery's start.

Lottery officials "pulled off this really aggressive starting date," said Hyde, D-North Little Rock.

Second-day sales were looking substantial. As of 5:30 p.m., Passailaigue said, Scientific Games estimated Tuesday sales at $966,000. That might mean that sales Monday were higher than his $1.2 million estimate and that Tuesday sales were lowerthan estimated, he said. That's because the sales estimates are based on prize payouts,he said.

Several retailers in Little Rock reported that Tuesday sales didn't match Monday's brisk pace, although one indicated that sales were phenomenal both days.

"I think they all came [on Monday]. They all wanted to get it done the first day," said Sara Martineau of Little Rock, a customer service manager at the Kroger store at 1900 N. Polk St. in Little Rock.

"It will be busy again after they get their [paychecks] again," she said. "Friday, I anticipate it's going to be huge."

Passailaigue said he expects lottery ticket sales to slow before they pick up on paydays.

Anthony Smith of Little Rock, a 55-year-old lawn service worker, said he spent $6 on lottery tickets and won $1 Tuesday after spending $1 ona ticket Monday and winning $6.

"Tit for tat, you know how it goes," he said in Kroger's parking lot. "I kind of feel lucky."

Smith said he might purchase lottery tickets every other day.

At the Site Oil Co. Store No. 302 at 7320 Cantrell Road in Little Rock, manager Rahim Juma described Monday's lottery sales "as insane" compared with Tuesday's.

Rather than buying single tickets as many buyers did Monday, some Tuesday buyers purchased books of 150 $2 tickets and 300 $1 tickets, thinking this might give them a better chance of winning, he said.

At the lottery's claims center in Little Rock, Snow, 24, got the check for the prize won by the ticket that had been purchased by her 27-year-old husband, Joshua. It was a $2 ticket.

"It was the big $20,000," she said.

He called her to tell her.

"I thought he was pulling my leg," she said. "I guess it was legit. ... I'm still a little shocked."

Snow said she and her husband met in Atkins on Monday night so that she could get the ticket and drive to Little Rock to claim the prize.

The couple will pay off a few doctor and dentist bills and invest the rest, she said.

"Most of it will be invested," said the mother of two girls, ages 2 and 4. "I like to save. I am a big saver."

Why invest it?

"You never know," she said. "Hard times."

Front Section, Pages 1, 8 on 09/30/2009

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