Worth the gamble?

The old adage - "You have to spend money to make money" - might be the driving force behind the steady sales of North Carolina Education lottery tickets.

"So far, revenue from February 2009 is tracking F­­­ebruary 2008," Alice Garland, N.C. Education Lottery spokeswoman said. "It looks like the sales from the two months are going to be about the same."

Despite solid sales, there have been fluctuations in the type of tickets being sold.

During the fiscal year 2008, sales of instant scratch-off ticket climbed 3.6 percent from 2007, while Powerball sales dropped 8 percent.

"The scratch-off ticket sales are great," Jane Pate, assistant manger at K-Mart, said. "The Powerball sales have been down."

According to Garland, the swell in the amount of scratch-off tickets being sold can likely be attributed to increased prize payouts.

"I only buy scratch-offs because it's easy and the money is usually available instantly," Danny Hobgood of Kinston said Friday. "I feel like I'm wasting money if I buy a Powerball ticket since I'll probably never win."

Lottery officials have taken notice of the amount of demand for instant tickets.

"We introduce new scratch-off tickets every three weeks," Garland said. "There are anywhere from 35 to 40 instant games available at a time, with ticket prices of $1, $2, $3, $5 and $10."

The current economic climate has left some in limbo about whether to purchase lottery tickets at all.

"I used to buy tickets a couple of times a week," Mary Fuquay of Kinston said. "Right now I'm just not sure I can risk losing any money."

The effects of the ailing economy are slowly trickling into lottery revenue, but for the time-being, sales are remaining about the same.

"We think if the economy were not in the shape that it is in that the sales would be much higher, but sales are about the same," Garland said. 

Sarah Campbell can be reached at (252) 559-1076 or scampbell@freedomenc.com. Check out Sarah's blog at scampbell.encblogs.com.

Comparison of sales by game (perhaps a bar graph can be made with these stats)

2007

Instant         55.4 percent    

Raffle           1.1 percent     

Cash 5          4.1 percent     

Pick 3           10.1 percent

Powerball     29.3 percent

2008

Instant         59 percent

Raffle           0.7 percent

Cash 5          5.4 percent     

Pick 3           13.6 percent

Powerball     21.3 percent

What are the odds?

Powerball Jackpot

-1 in 195,249,054

Cash 5

-All 5 of the 5 winning numbers - 1 in 575,757

-Any 4 of the 5 winning numbers -1 in 3,387

-Any 3 of the 5 winning numbers - 1 in 103

-Any 2 of the 5 winning numbers - 1 in 9.6

-Overall odds of winning any prize - 1 in 8.8

Source: North Carolina Education Lottery Web site nc-educationlottery.org