Count on Excitement

"Count on Excitement" - that's the slogan printed on the little mini-golf pencils all across the state in its many Keno outlets. As commentary to this Boston Herald article, a scathing demonization of the Massachusetts State Lottery and calls for its abolishment would be perhaps a tad hypocritical on my part. I have been known to purchase the occasional ticket for some of the higher jackpot games, and to play a few games of Keno over a cheeseburger and a beer in some of the local dives.

(State Treasurer, Tim) Cahill, who says he's never purchased a lottery ticket in Massachusetts, said lottery revenues could reach $925 million by the end of the fiscal year. Last year, the lottery generated $889 million for the state on a total of $4.2 billion in sales.

Seems even our State Treasurer understands that the success of these games is contingent on the targeted players' inability to calculate the odds of winning and to compare those odds to the payoffs dished out by the state. For example, the lottery would have you believe that for the $1 instant games, the chances of "winning" are approximately 1 in 4. They conveniently omit the fact up front that about half of those "winning" tickets merely give you your dollar back. In my book, that's not winning, it's a waste of time.

The introduction of a second $10 lottery ticket last month and longer Keno hours have also spurred the surge in sales, Cahill said in an interview Monday with The Associated Press.

Another reason for the revenue increase were changes to Keno - shortening the length of each game from five minutes to four minutes and adding another 22 hours of play each week.

ANOTHER reason? Let's look at those Keno numbers (from the Mass Lottery website). The game went from one game every five minutes to a game every four minutes, and from 81 hours a week up to 103. So a year ago, there were 972 Keno games drawn each week, compared to the current 1,545 games a week - an increase of nearly 59%. Over the course of a year, this means there will be an additional 29,796 Keno games played. The towns of New Bedford and Fall River have a combined 82 Keno outlets. This means there will be an increase of over 2.4 million in the number of opportunities to play Keno in those towns alone. Eight years ago those towns had 54 Keno outlets between the two of them. But the lottery doesn't target low-income people who can least afford to play, right?

To credit the jump in lottery revenues to this new advertising campaign is foolish. It's like throwing a rock off the roof and crediting its descent to earth to the fact that the rock is gray.

Cahill wants lawmakers to double the advertising budget next year.

Cahill said the $10 million would be money well spent, because he would expect a five-to-one return on the investment based on the numbers he's seen with the latest ad campaign.

Five million dollars from the state coffers flushed down the proverbial toilet not enough for ya, Tim? Are you sure there's NOTHING else we could be spending that money on in these times of alleged financial hardship.

But because the ads are relatively new, he's worried lawmakers faced with making tough budget choices won't be convinced.

"We may not be able to prove that by the time the budget's done," he said.

Excuse me, but you'd be hard-pressed to prove that by the time the 22nd century rolls around.

Lawmakers had observed a ban on lottery advertising for years, worried the state might look like it was promoting gambling.

Yeah, can't have that. Oops...too late.

Better lottery revenues will also discourage talk of casinos, something Cahill said will undermine the lottery.

"If we don't bring the revenue in, the state will turn to casinos and slot machines," he said.

Oh the horror - people gambling their hard-earned dollars elsewhere, for a higher payoff, and the state lottery operating budget slashed as more and more people turn to alternative gambling venues! Can't have that! The Massachusetts State Lottery, the most profitable in the nation, is just one more example of the " ________ for me, but not for thee" attitude shared by so many of our elected leaders. Now THAT mindset is something you can count on.