STORY:
States Consider $300 million Millennium Lottery

Several states are evaluating plans to join together for a limited-time mega-lottery with an unprecedented jackpot and largest jackpot in U.S. history. Sales for the Powerball-type lottery could start as soon as October.

The formats for what could be called The Century Game are varied. According to a story in New York Daily News, there's one idea originating from Texas that would require the winner to choose five numbers drawn from a field of 100 ~K one for each year in the century.

Under that setup, tickets would cost $3, and players would automatically qualify for smaller prizes in daily and weekly drawings, as well as the year-end bonanza. Part of the proceeds from each ticket would pump up the Y2K jackpot, which lottery directors hope would top the $295.7 million record Powerball prize won by 13 Ohio tool workers in July.

Of course, hitting a mega jackpot would take a century's worth of luck. The odds of correctly picking five numbers from a field of 100 could soar to an astronomical 1 in 225,862,560, assuming $1 from each ticket funds the jackpot.

States considering the lottery include New York, Texas, Georgia, Illinois, Virginia and Ohio. The drawing may be on December 30 or January 1st.

Source: New York Daily News

DATE: 6/03/99

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