3rd Lottery With Bigger Jackpots Starts Monday

Operators of the California Lottery on Thursday announced an official Monday start-up for the third ticket scratch-off game with instant prizes of $25,000 and grand jackpots of more than $3 million.

The lottery director, M. Mark Michalko, said at a Capitol news conference that some tickets for the new game are already being sold, with the state’s permission, by merchants who have run out of tickets for previous games.

The start-up for the new game, “Three of a Kind,” was moved up from February or March because of heavier-than-expected sales for the first two games, he said.

Michalko said the game will have “instant” prizes as well as a jackpot of $3 million that will be progressively increased in $1-million increments each time 10 grand prize wheel spinners fail to win the top amount. Ten of every 6,250 $100 “instant” ticket winners will be drawn for a chance at the top jackpots.

Friday at midnight is the deadline for submitting $100 winning tickets from the first game, which began Oct. 3, to qualify for jackpot drawings. The second game officially ends at midnight Sunday and winning $100 tickets from that game will still qualify holders for future jackpot drawings.

Instead of matching three dollar amounts on the scratch-off tickets, as in previous games, the latest tickets contain concealed game-card symbols such as aces, kings and queens. Three matching aces will net the top instant prize of $25,000. Three kings will mean $1,000, three queens, $100 and three jacks, $5. Three “tens” will give the ticket-buyer the low prize of $2. Three “nines” will mean a free lottery ticket, a ploy being used for the first time.

Also at Thursday’s press conference, Michalko denied a statement by the president of the California Grocers Assn. that lottery sales were cutting into food sales at some California supermarket chains.

Don Beaver, president of the grocers’ trade group, had told the Associated Press on Wednesday that five chains--Vons, Hughes, Super A Markets, Ralphs and Raley’s--suffered sales declines of about 5% when lottery tickets first went on sale.

But Michalko said evidence from retailers here and in other states indicates “that the allegations raised by Mr. Beaver don’t really have any basis in fact.”