Since the Texas Lottery began in 1992, it has made hundreds of Texans millionaires overnight. According to the Texas Lottery Commission, it has also generated $5 billion in revenues for the Foundation School Fund and $10 billion for the state of Texas.
Although the chances are slim, many college students are willing to scrounge up an extra dollar for their chance at becoming a millionaire the easy way.
Katie Othold, a junior history major, said her first experience with lottery tickets resulted in big dividends.
“When I turned 18, I bought five scratchoffs and won a hundred dollars,” she said. “I�treated some friends to Burger King and did some shopping with the rest of the money.”
Other students, such as Adam Scott, play the lottery only when their budget allows.
“I don’t usually play the lotto, but when I do have a little extra cash I’ll play the scratchoffs,” said Scott, a freshman general studies major.
Scott said he once bought three winning lottery tickets in a row, but lost his earnings on the next two tickets.
“Basically I play for the thrill of a dollar,” he said.
For some, the thought of becoming an instant millionaire is not enough to draw them into spending a buck for a ticket.
Julie Russel, a freshman biology major, said she refuses to buy lottery tickets because of the low odds of winning.
“I know I am never going to win, so why bother,” she said. “If I ever did win the lotto, I would go on a trip to Africa and do missionary work; but, even if I don’t win the lotto, I’m going there next summer anyway.”
Ashley Parsons, a freshman marketing major, said many lottery ticket buyers can become disillusioned by thinking that they have almost won.
“If you win a little or come close to winning, you’ll just buy more,” she said. “You end up wasting your money with nothing to show for it.”
Seth Fuller, an employee of Zip-In Shell Station, said he has picked up some pointers from frequent lotto players.
“Some of the regulars who play scratchoffs have told me that you should play the ones that are almost at the end of the roll,” said Fuller, a junior philosophy major. “The people who play Texas Lotto usually come in with the same sets of numbers and never buy Quick Picks.”
Fuller said he has noticed the patterns to madness that has overtaken customers he encounters.
“They’ll come in and buy a lot of tickets at a time, sometimes as many as two hundred tickets,” he said. “There is also this professor who comes in every day and buys the same scratchoff for the whole week.”
While Fuller has seen some customers walk away with winning tickets, it isn’t enough to convince him to participate.
“I don’t play very often because I see people who keep losing and spending more and more money,” he said.