Lotto frenzy grips state
LOTTO frenzy has well and truly hit Queensland, with $110 million in first division lotto prizes up for grabs during the coming week.
In Gympie, punters were busy yesterday buying up entries in tonight's mammoth $70 million Oz Lotto jackpot, after there were no Division 1 winners in last week's Tuesday draw.
Gympie News' owner operator Karen Keeffe said yesterday the rush for Tuesday night Oz Lotto entries had started a week ago and was picking up pace as tonight's big draw got closer.
Twenty-three-year-old Jason Rodger was one of the many making the trip into the newsagency yesterday and order "the winning ticket" for tonight's draw.
When asked what he would do with the money if he won, Jason said simply "spend it".
"On a trip to Scotland to see his brother," his mum offered.
"Yeah, I would," Jason agreed.
Tonight's draw will by followed by Powerball's $20 million jackpot on Thursday and on Saturday a $20 million lotto Superdraw.
Golden Casket spokesperson Zoe Knobel said more than 7.5 million tickets are expected to be sold in tonight's draw.
"We anticipate approximately half of all tickets in the Oz Lotto $70 million draw will be sold on Tuesday," Ms Knobel said.
"We predict that approximately 43% the Australian adult population will have a ticket in Oz Lotto's $70 million draw. More than half of this figure will purchase their ticket on Tuesday with the final hours leading up to the draw being the busiest.
"Hopefully we'll be making a few phone calls to excited new millionaires or multimillionaires over the coming week."
Players can purchase their lotto entries from outlets around the region until 7.30 tonight.
Ms Knobel also offered some advice to lottery players.
"When purchasing lottery tickets our advice is to always register them to a Winners Circle," she said.
"It is an important step that will protect players from missing out on prizes and also should they win one of the big prizes on offer this week, we will contact them personally to advise them of their good fortune."
Many Gympie residents will be pooling money with friends or family members to form a syndicate so they can share in a larger entry to increase their chances.
