Lotto fever hits as jackpot reaches $100,000
Thousands of Belizeans countrywide will be glued to their television sets tonight in anticipation of the lotto draw. The jackpot now stands at a hefty one hundred thousand dollars, only the second time since the current franchise holder, Tropical Gaming, took over the game three years ago. The last time the prize reached six figures was on September third of last year, when Ladyville resident Rudolph Reid’s sole quick pick ticket displayed the lucky numbers. Lotto Manager Carol Young says that for the last couple of draws, ticket sales have tripled and more of the same is expected until somebody carts home the cash.
Carol Young, Manager, Tropical Gaming Company
“Ever since we have reached seventy five, eighty thousand dollars, we have been seeing a steady growth in sales. So it’s been going well. For tonight’s draw, I want to tell all the players and all the people who are nervous to purchase lotto tickets, I personally would invest my two dollars to get a quick pick or to choose my own numbers because this game, this lotto game is the cleanest gambling game there could ever be. So my thing is play lotto and make your dreams come true.
However, what we want to do, because it’s the second time we have reached this hundred thousand mark, is the employees here at Tropical Gaming Company have decided that they want to give some of the money back to the community, because we know that we are responsible to give back to the community which we have been doing all along. We have been very active in cycling, so for the annual Cross Country Cycle Race, we will be giving second prize, so that will be our gift for reaching the hundred thousand mark.”
Young says that if there is no jackpot winner tonight, an additional two thousand five hundred dollars will be thrown into the pot for this weekend’s draw.
While business may be booming for ticket sales, lotto fever has also meant new found popularity for other games of chance that are being promoted by Tropical Gaming.
Carol Young
“It has increased our instant sales also. Coincidentally, Wednesday night we were in here selling lotto, there was a crowd, and while people are waiting they normally buy scratch ticket. I have one customer who spent one dollar and bought one of the Island Hopping tickets and scratched while waiting to buy lotto ticket, and won a thousand dollars. So as a result the instant tickets have also been going up. Right now we are running six different instant games. So both games are going well.”
Of course you can see the winning numbers as they are selected, right here on Channel Five, tonight at nine o’clock.
