Lottery Selects 4,500 Outlets for Lotto Game
More than 4,500 retailers throughout the state have received provisional authorization to sell tickets for the California’s Lottery’s upcoming multimillion-dollar lotto games, it was announced Tuesday.
The computerized “numbers games” will be added--probably sometime next month--to the scratch-off “instant games” currently marketed at 20,000 retail outlets throughout California.
Each retailer selected for inclusion in the lotto system is required to pay a non-refundable $500 fee for installation of a counter-top terminal. The terminals will be used to print lotto receipts for each player and to forward a record of each lotto transaction to the lottery’s computer data centers in Whittier and Sacramento.
Based on Population
Placement of the terminals is being based on population density, with Los Angeles County receiving 1,555, more than a third of those allotted for the state. In second place is Orange County, with 391, followed by San Diego County, with 374; Santa Clara County, 258; Alameda County, 218; San Bernardino County, 210; Sacramento County, 202, and Riverside County, 153.
Lottery officials said they expect to add 2,600 more terminals to the system early next year, with a network of nearly 12,000 on line by 1990. The system will be capable of handling up to 420,000 transactions per minute.
With players able for the first time to select number combinations of their own choosing, and with potential payoffs in the multimillion-dollar range, lotto is expected to surpass the instant games in popularity within a few months.
Lotto retailers were selected from among the present list of instant-game retailers--a list that includes convenience stores, supermarkets, drugstores, service stations and even an occasional flower shop, bowling alley, hamburger stand, movie theater or ice cream parlor.
“We analyzed each retailer from the standpoint of geographic location, merchandising capabilities, instant ticket sales experience and financial stability before recommending approval,” said Michael Marmarelli, the lottery’s assistant director for retail support.
