Posted on Mon, Oct. 19, 2009

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Lottery players line up for shot at raffle

BY BECCY TANNER

The Wichita Eagle

Amidst the cigarette smoke, pancakes and heaping plates of biscuits and gravy early Sunday morning, Charles Chapman of Haysville stood in line at Heritage Restaurant on South Broadway.

He clutched two tickets for the state's first Holiday Millionaire Raffle.

One ticket he bought after a friend's encouragement; the second, he bought for himself.

"The odds are better at winning," Chapman said.

And, if he wins and becomes a millionaire?

"I'll help my kids and grandkids," he said.

Tickets for the Kansas Lottery's first raffle went on sale at 5 a.m. Sunday, with the state predicting brisk sales.

By 8 a.m., 7,260 of the 150,000 tickets issued had been sold. By noon, the number had climbed to 15,731 and, by 8 p.m. about 23,500 had been sold.

"Honestly, because this is the first time in Kansas, we thought there might be a few more tickets sold," said Sally Lunsford, director of communications for the Kansas Lottery. "But we are off to great start. Not all our retail organizations are open on Sundays. We don't have all our advertising running yet, which will help promotion. We just want to thank our players who came out to support us."

Lunsford remained hopeful.

"Our hopes are that we sell out by Dec. 30," she said. The raffle drawing will be Dec. 31.

In west Wichita, Big's Bar & Grill on Central is normally closed on Sunday, but opened its doors at 7 a.m. Sunday with people standing in line waiting to buy tickets and a hot breakfast.

At $20 a ticket, Cindy Dick — who was buying on behalf of family and friends — bought five of them.

"I think this is fabulous," Dick said. "Especially in this economy it gives you more chances to win. And, it can make me happy at least until Dec. 31."

Frank Albert, owner of Big's, said he'd sold 80 tickets by 8 a.m. Sunday.

"People were lined up and ready to come in at 6," Albert said.

Across town at the Cenex service station at 13th and Woodlawn, Mohammad Sidiq sold 36 tickets by 9 a.m. Sunday.

Most of his customers, he said, were excited at the possibilities of winning.

At Heritage — the No. 1 lottery retailer in the state — ticket sales continued to be brisk throughout the morning, said Trudy Julius, manager of the restaurant.

The restaurant had sold 100 tickets by 9:15 Sunday morning.

At one point after the tickets went on sale, she had three registers going to keep up with sales, she said.

The Holiday Millionaire Raffle, the first raffle offered by the Kansas Lottery, is selling tickets at $20 each —pricey compared to usual lottery ticket. The Lottery has said it will sell only 150,000 tickets, giving players the best chance the lottery has ever offered of winning a million dollars, Lunsford said.

The Lottery also will award five $50,000 prizes and 500 of the $500 prizes.

"The odds are extremely good," she said.

The raffle drawing is December 31. Players must have their original raffle tickets to claim a prize.