Letter: Suggestion of state lottery should not be taken seriously

Tuesday, March 24, 1998 | 11:04 a.m.

First of all, the argument over convenience store/supermarket gaming has little to do with gaming or gaming access itself. The main problem in banning slots from these establishments is what will replace the lost revenue these merchants have become accustomed to? If a state lottery or even a national lottery such as Powerball is instituted in Nevada and all the proceeds go to education, how does this help the merchants who lose gaming revenue?

Regardless of that question, how many residents in this state are actually going to play a lottery which everyone knows is a "sucker bet" from the word go? The answer is very few. Maybe some tourists will spend $5 here and $5 there on lottery tickets, but what's the point? Any game you play in Las Vegas (and other parts of the state) has better odds than a lottery.

Nevada is not New Jersey. We have gaming throughout the state, not in just one city. I suspect the New Jersey State Lottery has its lowest play in and around Atlantic City.

Instituting a state lottery in Nevada is a ridiculous idea in and of itself. Passing it off as a "replacement" for convenience store/supermarket gaming would be an unmitigated disaster the elected officials in the this valley and this state shouldn't even consider.

James M. Giuffre