Spurred by Big Late-Buying Rush, Lotto Jackpot Sets a U.S. Record

California added another superlative to its promotional vocabulary Saturday afternoon when its Lotto 6/49 jackpot became the largest ever offered by a state government.

A few minutes after 4 p.m., tickets sales swelled the big prize beyond the $46-million jackpot handed out by Pennsylvania last October, said California Lottery spokesman Robert Taylor. Before the six winning numbers were drawn, the prize was expected to reach $50 million, Taylor said.

“We’re handling a volume of about 2.5 million tickets an hour at this point,” Taylor said late Saturday afternoon. “But the system is really going to be tested between 5 p.m. and 7:45 p.m.”

Despite the widespread attack of Lotto fever, the nearly 6,900 Lotto ticket dispensers scattered throughout the state worked steadily and smoothly all day, Taylor said.

“We have no reports of slowing down of the system or any outages at this point,” the spokesman said. “We are very pleased so far.”

However, at least one ticket seller in Los Angeles said the lottery’s computer system appeared to be overloaded at times by the demand of voracious gamblers, with tickets punching out much slower than usual.

“It slows us down,” said Don Cannon, an employee at American Currency and Liquor on Pico Boulevard.

Ticket sales for Saturday had reached $23.8 million by 5 p.m., compared to sales of only $6.7 million for the same period a week ago, Lottery officials said.

Lines were long throughout the state. In some cases, Lottery spokeswoman Rendahl Kim said, people queued up outside ticket outlet shops before they opened in the morning.

At the Olympic Shop gift and candy store in Little Tokyo, about 15 people waited to buy Lotto tickets Saturday afternoon in a line that stretched onto the sidewalk.

Lifestyle Changes

Leonard Seagal, 30, an artist who lives in a downtown Los Angeles loft, put down $20 on 20 separate numbers, explaining that it would give him a much better chance.

If he won, Seagal said, “I would not change a thing but my underwear.”

A moment later, he recanted. “I take that back,” Seagal said. “I’d buy a home with a studio, I’d buy a new vehicle, probably a truck. I’d travel and I’d make art.”

Andre Mouchard, 27, a reporter for the Orange County Business First newspaper, said he doesn’t usually play the lottery. But on Saturday, the Long Beach resident said he put down $2 on Lotto numbers.

“It’s the bucks, it seems like a fun thing to do. And the Lakers just won so we’re all on a roll.”

Joe Schmecker, 66, of North Hollywood said he came back to buy two more tickets after losing the first two he purchased while buying apples and cucumbers at the Grand Central Market.

The retired Schmecker, who played numbers corresponding to his birthday, said he would try the same numbers again--if he could remember them.

As for the tickets he misplaced, Schmecker said, “I wish whoever found the tickets a lot of luck because they are good numbers.”

Elias Carrillo, 29, of Los Angeles said he was betting $10 because of the potential payoff.

“It has to be $40 million to gamble $10,” he said. “Five million isn’t much.”

Others, though, became impatient.

Patrick O’Guinn, a driver for Pacific Coast Sightseeing Tours, walked away without playing, explaining, “The line is too long.”

Saturday’s jackpot eclipsed the previous California record of $25.4 million. That prize was shared on Oct. 26, 1987, by a retired auto salesman from Carmichael and a Long Beach longshoreman. Before Saturday, the richest lottery jackpot awarded in the United States was a $46-million prize claimed by two people last Oct. 14 in the Pennsylvania Super 7 lottery.

No one correctly picked all six Lotto 6/49 numbers in Wednesday night’s midweek drawing, so the $26.1-million prize was automatically added to Saturday’s swelling jackpot.