A Day for Dreaming of Rainbow’s End

Like Cinderella, Orange County residents waited for the clock to strike, well, 12:30.

And when it did, poor and rich alike dashed to their local lottery outlet for a chance to dream, perchance to win--big.

At Laguna Beach’s Ivy House restaurant, customers jammed the bar, glancing nervously at their watches while they mused out loud about the life of luxury that awaited them.

Emmitt Hogue, a well-to-do retiree, was first to whip out a crisp $20 bill when bartender Gary Watkins gave the nod.

“What a sucker’s game you fell for,” chided one of Hogue’s buddies, as he watched him scratch in vain. But it was just a matter of minutes before the first winner emerged.

“Oh, I have a winner,” shouted the only woman at the bar, Lucy Whitacre, waving the butter knife she used to scrape off the six gray rectangles. The instant rush of victory, however, faded as quickly as the applause from the men at the bar.

Looking at her $5 prize, the 52-year-old woman said, “I just wish it would have been $5,000.”

In Newport Beach, while Vicki Costa, 24, waited for her 1985 silver Le Baron to emerge from the Newport Center Auto Wash, the loan officer slapped her co-worker on the arm and said: “Don’t you just love it? I should win today because yesterday was my anniversary.”

But Lady Luck was not with her Thursday. Looking at the disappointing results from her five tickets, she said, ever hopeful, “I’ll probably try again tonight when I go to the grocery store. That’s if my husband hasn’t already won a million dollars.”

Low Expectations

“Do I expect to win?” asked George Lasky, 62, in response to a reporter’s question. “Of course not.” But that didn’t seem to bother the retired developer as he waited for the cashier at Rolf’s Wines, Spirits & Deli in Irvine to ring up his 10 tickets and a bottle of 1984 Chenin Blanc wine.

“People gamble regardless,” Lasky said. “The only thing you have to feel sorry for is that the poorer people will play harder than anybody else.

When the time came to sell tickets at Standard Check Cashing in Santa Ana, “We had a madhouse,” clerk Jeff Duffin said. Nevertheless, clerks at Standard’s two Santa Ana stores, as well as those at other check-cashing shops in low-income areas of Santa Ana, said there was no evidence Thursday that people were gambling beyond their means in the opening hours of lottery sales.

About 10% of Standard’s customers cash welfare and unemployment checks, Duffin said, and many others are illegal aliens or working people without checking accounts.

“A buck doesn’t hurt that much once a week or so,” said Gladys Alonzo, a clerk at Standard’s store at 1200 S. Standard Ave., Santa Ana.

$5 in Winnings

Alonzo excused herself briefly to pay out $5 in winnings to Adriana Mendez, 20, of Santa Ana, who had purchased tickets moments before and returned in a hurry with a winner.

“Could you give me five more tickets in place of the money?” Mendez asked. Alonzo obliged, and Mendez left again without scraping off the gray and green gunk that conceals ticket numbers.

Meanwhile, at a Westminster grocery store featuring Vietnamese staples, the lottery’s attraction cut across ethnic lines.

Trung Nghem of Westminster said he drove his father and mother, Tran and Loc Hong, ages 69 and 72 respectively, to Hoa Binh Supermarket on Bolsa Avenue, though he said they could only afford $5 in tickets. His mother won a $2 prize.

“After she won, she immediately gave me $1 to buy another ticket,” Nghem said.

Sales Brisk

Sales were brisk at the store, with about $150 worth of tickets sold in the first 45 minutes, including 30 tickets sold to one player.

Not everyone was caught up with lottery fever, however.

“It’s not worth it to me,” said Sarah Weyland, 21, a kennel worker who cashed her paycheck Thursday at M & M Check Cashing Service in Santa Ana.

Similarly, retired dentist Ed Hertford declined to buy a lottery ticket while he filled the gas tank of his gold Cadillac in Newport Beach. Hertford said he prefers playing the horses.

And according to Maura Eggan, marketing director for South Coast Plaza, none of the 200 stores in the upscale shopping center in Costa Mesa were interested in participating in the lottery.

“This isn’t the most appropriate place for it--aren’t they doing it at convenience stores?” she said. “We don’t need an added gimmick--our merchants are content with the number of people who come here for the merchandise.”

Times staff writers Mark Landsbaum and David Reyes contributed to this story.