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December 5, 2009

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Officials envision bigger, fewer jackpots with new plan

Friday, Jan. 31, 2003 | 9:47 a.m.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas Lottery officials today moved a step closer to making it harder to win a Lotto jackpot in an effort to increase prizes and ticket sales.

The state Lottery Commission gave preliminary approval to changing the rules for the Lotto jackpot, adding more balls to the mix to lengthen the odds of winning.

Under the new rules, players would select five numbers from 1 to 44. Then they would select a bonus number from another set of 44 numbers.

The current game has players draw six numbers from a pool of 54. The current odds of hitting the jackpot are estimated at 25.8-million-to-1.

The estimated odds of winning under the new rules is 47-million-to-1.

The commission scheduled a meeting to hear public comment on Feb. 26. The new rule can't be given final approval before March 16.

Lottery officials hope that if jackpots are won less frequently, prizes will increase and more tickets will be sold.

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