Details about this story

• Source: San Antonio Express-News
• Date: June 11, 2007
• URL: Read the story
• Bylines: Julie Domel , Lisa Sandberg
• Topics: Lottery
• Data Types: State Data
• Description/Excerpt: Several months ago, when the Texas Lottery Commission announced it would introduce a $50 scratch-off game, agency officials expressed confidence it would draw affluent customers. But they had little to base that assumption on. As it turns out, they were right - for the first 10 days of sales, at least. But had they mapped ticket sales of their pricier tickets for the past 12 months - the $10, $20, $25 and $30 games and the new $50 game - they might have discovered retailers in the state's 10 poorest ZIP codes sold $2.4 million of them, some 50 percent more than retailers in the state's 10 wealthiest ZIP codes. Per capita spending on the high-dollar tickets was $25 in the 10 poorest ZIP codes versus $18 in the 10 wealthiest. That's counting the early sales data from the new $50 game, which went on sale May 7, and not including ZIP codes with a population of less than 100. By itself, the new $50 ticket sold faster in more affluent ZIP codes. In the state's poorest ZIP code, which the 2000 census identifies as 79901 in El Paso, retailers sold nearly $483,000 in all pricey scratch-offs combined, more than retailers did in 11 of the state's 12 wealthiest ZIP codes.