Texans buy up Mega Millions tickets

April Castro

Thursday, Dec. 4, 2003 | 9:31 a.m.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Texans lined up early Wednesday for their first chance at the Mega Millions multistate lottery game and a shot at the $44 million jackpot.

Texas lottery officials said tickets began selling at 6 a.m. CST at more than 16,000 retailers statewide.

Reagan E. Greer, executive director of the lottery commission, called it an exciting day for players and retailers and said the game "will allow us to increase our contribution to the Foundation School Fund for public education in Texas."

Tickets were selling sporadically at the Piggy Bank convenience store in Canutillo, about one mile from the New Mexico state line just north of El Paso, as players tried to figure out how the game works.

Richard Holland, of Canutillo, was among the first at the Piggy Bank to buy a Mega Millions ticket. "The reason I like Mega Millions is that it's like Powerball." Powerball, another multistate lottery game is played in New Mexico.

"But it's closer to home; I usually run over to Santa Teresa to buy one." He anticipated no longer driving to New Mexico to buy Powerball tickets.

The Mega Millions jackpot grew to an estimated $44 million Wednesday. None of the tickets sold for Tuesday night's $33 million drawing matched all five lotto numbers and the Mega Ball. That enables Texans to compete in an even greater jackpot Friday.

But Greer is concerned that Texans will be so excited by the new lavish jackpots that the 11-year-old Lotto Texas could suffer.

"For a lot of people, Lotto Texas is the Texas lottery," Greer said.

Initial estimates have predicted a 21 percent shift away from Lotto Texas and into Mega Millions. But Greer said he's committed to watching the numbers and maintaining the health of Lotto Texas.

"Mega Millions is going to kill (Lotto Texas)," said Dawn Nettles, publisher of the lottery watchdog Lottoreport.com. "It's already dying, this is going to absolutely kill it completely and totally. And it's going to hurt the other games."

Nettles said that lottery players in Texas just want a "reasonable chance to win" rather than huge jackpots.

"There is no reasonable chance to win in Lotto Texas now, nor is there a reasonable chance to win Mega Millions," Nettles said.

The odds of winning in Mega Millions are 1 in 43, with jackpot odds 1 in about 135 million.

Mega Millions jackpots start at $10 million and have averaged $42.3 million over the past year. Lottery officials in Texas and 10 other states that participate anticipate a much larger bank.

The Texas Lottery Commission estimates a five-year-average of $121.6 million in net revenue from Mega Millions.

Last year, $888 million from all lottery sales in Texas was transferred to the Texas Foundation School Fund. Lottery officials estimate that Mega Millions will generate an additional $92 million for the fund by the end of this fiscal year.

Texas joins Virginia, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Washington in Mega Millions drawings. Multistate lottery games such as Mega Millions and Powerball are designed to generate jackpots into the hundreds of millions of dollars, creating a frenzy of ticket purchases across the country. Participating states get a cut of the tickets sold within their borders.

In Texas, the lottery commission last week launched an advertising campaign, complete with 59 billboards, aimed at getting Texans excited about Mega Millions. Television and radio spots targeting holiday shoppers also have been airing.

John Eddik, owner of Joe's Quickstop in Harlingen said he expected to see all his regular lottery customers, this time buying more.

"It's a new game to these people; they'll get hooked," he said, adding that his store was the top seller of lottery tickets in Harlingen. He said big jackpots bring crowds.

Mega Million drawings are Tuesdays and Fridays, and tickets will cost $1. Second prize is $175,000, and there are seven additional prize categories.

Texans will be able to multiply their prizes, not including the jackpot, by purchasing a "megaplier" number for a dollar. The megaplier could double, triple or quadruple winnings.

Texas statisticians estimate the Mega Millions jackpot would reach $100 million four times a year. The jackpot could reach $400 million every two to three years.