SACRAMENTO – Interest in California Lottery games is soaring and so are ticket sales. Preliminary sales estimates for February 12 were higher than any other day so far in 2008 and the best single day since last August 31, 2007.
California Lottery officials attribute the high ticket sales to their recent advertising campaign, an increase in product awareness from electronic point-of-sale in retail locations and recent high jackpots. Two of the nation’s top jackpots are up for grabs in California right now! SuperLOTTO Plus offers a jackpot of $69 million for tonight’s draw just before 8 p.m. California players also have a shot at a top jackpot with Friday night’s MEGA Millions draw at $179 million.
More than 12.5 million tickets sold yesterday for California’s six draw games: SuperLOTTO Plus, Daily 3, Fantasy 5, Daily Derby, Hot Spot and MEGA Millions. Players can learn more about the games at www.calottery.com/Games.
As jackpots rise, the California Lottery would like to remind players that gambling should be fun. Borrowing money to play, spending above a person’s budget or using money intended for other purposes can ultimately lead to significant problems for players and their families. If a player recognizes that they have a gambling problem or if someone knows of someone who may have a problem, the California Lottery recommends calling the Problem Gambling Help Line at 1-800-GAMBLER.
More than 95 cents of every Lottery dollar is returned to the community in the form of contributions to education, prizes and retail commissions. The California Lottery contributes at least 34 cents of every dollar that players spend on Lottery products to public education and returns more than 50 percent of sales to players in the form of prizes. Since its inception in 1985, the Lottery has contributed more than $20 billion to California schools out of total sales of nearly $55 billion. Retailers benefit too, earning $3.5 billion in compensation since 1985.