Local News

Ill. Lottery Ticket Sales Soar In Sinking Economy

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Economic troubles may have a lot of folks singing the blues. But for some of us, hope springs eternal. Americans are cutting back on grocery expenses, not buying new cars like we used to and the holiday shopping season looks to be bleak. But in Illinois, we're not cutting back on lottery tickets.

CBS 2's Mike Parker reports people around Chicago are still willing to bet their cares will soon be over.

"With the current economy the way it is and the dollar amounts I've lost on the stock market, I figure $1 for an instant chance to be a millionaire is a good bet," said lottery customer James Amos.

"I feel like it only takes one number, so one number, you never know. You got to play to win," said another.

Despite the state's economic woes, Illinois residents bought $489 million worth of lottery tickets over the past three months. At this clip, we'll buy some $2 billion worth by the end of the fiscal year. That could be close to a record.

"The scratch-and-win, they're good tickets. We're selling them all the time, especially crosswords and bingos. They're good sellers," said lottery vendor Khaled Hasan.

Hasan says instant tickets are now selling more than other tickets. He says people don't want to wait for a drawing to get their money.

"With the economy being the way it is right now, people are just trying other sources to hopefully earn their winnings in another way," lottery customer Joanna Ward said.

Ironically, there's been a major 18 percent downturn in revenues from Illinois casinos in the past year. The state gaming industry argues that many are staying away because of the smoking ban.

But there's no such ban in Las Vegas, where gambling revenues are also going dramatically down and four big casinos have filed for bankruptcy.

It may be that many people figure a dollar or two plunked down at the 7 Eleven, won't get them into big-time gambling trouble.

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