Playing The Lottery

Dozens of Oklahomans have hit the jackpot playing the lottery, but the lottery itself has yet to hit it big. Participation could be a big player in that. <br/><br/>The News On 6 teamed with the Tulsa

Wednesday, February 7th 2007, 10:53 am

By: News On 6

Dozens of Oklahomans have hit the jackpot playing the lottery, but the lottery itself has yet to hit it big. Participation could be a big player in that.

The News On 6 teamed with the Tulsa World for an "Oklahoma Poll". We wanted to know how many Oklahomans are buying tickets.

1-in-9 say they buy lottery tickets once a week. 1-out-of-11 only play once a month. 22 percent say they buy a ticket once in a blue moon. But the vast majority say they've never played. Of those who buy tickets, 90 percent don't spend more than $5. Most of the rest say they spend less than $10. Only two people told us they spend more than $25 every week on the lottery.

Last year, the Oklahoma Lottery Commission had to lower its revenue estimates. The News On 6 talked to a budget analyst for the state and she says the lottery is banking on making 84 percent more this year than last. She says that bump is from a mix of new lottery players and current players spending more.

The Oklahoma Lottery Commission recently relaunched its advertising campaign. Older commercials were flashy and showed lottery winners encouraging others to try their luck. The newest spot is calmer and features Oklahoma students. The commercial also touts the $101 million the lottery has contributed to the state education trust fund. It's too early to tell if the new commercials will sell more lottery tickets.

According to the poll, more people play the lottery in the Tulsa metro area than anywhere else in the state.