Gamblers stop betting against the odds in failing economy

By Janina Todesca

The Massachusetts State Lottery is losing money now that gamblers are playing it safe.

“This is the first scratch ticket I’ve bought in months,” said Matthew Donahue from Westwood Mass., “I used to play at least once a week, but with this economy, I don’t have that extra five bucks anymore.”

In the past, when the economy has slumped; more people have turned to the lottery for a chance to hit the jackpot and be set for life. But as this recession has deepened, more and more people are keeping their money and not spending it on lottery tickets.

“We don’t sell many scratch tickets either. At most we sell $200 per day,” said Brockton Hess employee, H eraido Gonsalez “Two years ago, when I worked at Hess, the minimum was $2,000 per day.”

Over the past three decades, the Massachusetts Lottery has returned over $15.3 billion to the Commonwealth for cities and towns throughout the state, according to the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission.

This year, the amount given to the state will be significantly smaller

“We are down approximately 5 percent, from our record year in 2008 with 4.7 billion,” said Dan Rosenfeld, Communications Director of the Massachusetts State Lottery, “We are estimating between 4.4 and 4.5 billion this year which will make our profit lower, at 853 million.”

The million dollar revenue is used to help Massachusetts cities and towns. But in times like these, the lottery sales do not seem to be helping everyone.

“I’ve been at this convenient store for 2 ½ years,” said Sunshine Convenience store owner Dharmistha Patel of Brockton “There’s been a big decrease in my lottery sales. When I first started selling lottery it was $7,000 per day but now its only $2,000.”

By offering Lottery products, merchants boost their customer base and overall sales, helping to create and/or retain jobs locally. Lottery agents in Massachusetts earn a five (5) percent commission on sales and one (1) percent bonus on prizes claimed, according to the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission.

The revenues generated at locations which sell lottery tickets greatly benefit the state’s economy and store owners, but not in a recession like this one.

“How can we make a profit if no one i s buying tickets?”asked Patel, “It must be the economy.”

With the economy this low gamblers do not want to spare any extra cash.

“Once I hit $30,000 on a slot machine,” said Cheryl Fawkes from Westwood “and I used to buy two dollar scratch tickets every week. But since that big win a year ago and the problems with the economy, I don’t gamble; I want to keep my winnings.”

The facts show that Fawkes is not alone in changing her gambling habits.

“The computerized records go back to 1985; they show that with every recession the lottery goes down. Some people think that our sales don’t go down but they do, just like everyone else’s,” explained Rosenfeld.

Even Casinos across the country have been reporting losses for several months, according to a November report by Trump Entertainment Resorts. Consumers are avoiding risks as they’ve seen their retirement savings dwindle through investments that have been deflated by the current economy.

“We never sold many (tickets) to begin with,” said Jeff Tod, manager of Canton Village Wine & Spirits, in Canton MA, “and there hasn’t been many more.”

In this economy, everybody is struggling but that doesn’t stop some people from still having hope.“Even though I don’t have much money to spare right now, I like to spend my extra two dollars on a scratch ticket,” said Faye Temporal of Walpole I can’t help but hope that maybe I’ll be the next big winner.”