Lotto Fever Eases In Hernando

Frankie Dee of Spring Hill plays his lucky Lotto numbers religiously, twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

It's a $10-a-week ritual the owner of the Frankie Dee New York Orchestra has practiced for years, and one that hasn't stopped because of higher prices at the gas pump or grocery store checkout line.

He's won a few free tickets but never any money.

"You never know," Dee said as he pumped gas into his Chevy SUV at the Hess station at State Road 50 and the truck bypass in Brooksville. "You got to be in it to win it, as they say."

Judging from sales figures, many people in the state of Florida and in other parts of the country are taking the same attitude.

Some of Dee's fellow Hernando County residents, though, might be cutting back some.

The statewide sales totals for 2008 fiscal year that ended June 30 hit nearly $4.23 billion. That's nearly $32 million more than last fiscal year and a new record.

In Hernando County, however, total lottery sales in the 2008 fiscal year came in at $40.7 million, a difference of about $590,000 less than in 2007.

Sales tend to be seasonal and also fluctuate with limited-time promotions, new games and with the regular Lotto jackpot amounts, said Jackie Barreiros, spokeswoman for the Florida Lottery.

But the trend in Florida is also happening in other states. Lotteries in Pennsylvania and Connecticut set records this past fiscal year. Sales figures for the Illinois Lottery were up nearly 3 percent.

Illinois Lottery Superintendent Jodie Winnett said last month the state is planning to start a study on trends of lottery play during tough economic times.

Psychologist Nancy M. Petry, a professor at the University of Connecticut Health Center and the director of its Gambling Treatment and Research Center, told the Hartford Courant last month hard economic times are often a trigger to gamble.

"Financial uncertainty plays a large role in the whole gambling mentality," Petry said. "We actually hear a lot of our patients say, 'This dollar isn't going to buy much gas or food anyway, so why not throw my money at the lottery in the hopes of getting something more?'"

Back in Florida, some behaviors have changed, Barreiros said.

"When players come in to redeem a winning ticket instead of putting it toward or exchanging it for another ticket, they are more frequently asking for the cash back or putting the cash toward their gas bill," she said.

Scott Houts, a 50-year-old Crystal River resident and a metal worker who works in Brooksville, said he stopped playing because "money's tight."

"Everything's going up," said Houts before putting gas in his Ford Tempo at the Brooksville Hess station.

Now, he said, the extra few dollars a week that went to lottery tickets are "going in the tank."

Harry Schryver of Brooksville has been playing his lucky numbers and scratch off tickets for years. The semi-retired maintenance worker said he used to play for the money, but now it's about entertainment.

"If I spend $10 and get $5 back, I'm happy," he said before walking into the Hess station to cash in $16 worth of scratch off tickets.