Lottery news from http://rdu.news14.com/
RALEIGH -- The North Carolina Education Lottery turns six months old in a week and South Carolina officials say it isn't hurting their business.
Retailers south of North Carolina say the addition of Powerball to the Tar Heel state in May did put a dent in their sales, but South Carolina retailers say they have their own advantages.
"Our sales have definitely dropped but nowhere near where we expected it to so we're pretty happy about that," South Carolina store owner Ken Shoultes said.
"Actually we're maintaining sales, we're steady," South Carolina Lottery Chief Operating Officer Tony Cooper said. "Sometimes the tide rises for everybody."
In North Carolina, sales started quickly but have tapered off and budget expectations were lowered, however lottery officials expect to make that up in the months ahead.
"Summer months are the down months but that's when this lottery started," North Carolina Education Lottery Executive Director Tom Shaheen said. "It started in the spring and the bulk of our sales is showing up in the summer months and people were on vacation and have other things on their minds other than lottery tickets."
While sales at retailers across the state are not as high as state officials had hoped, they hope two new games will change all of that. Carolina Pick 3 and Carolina Cash 5 are games like the Powerball but on the state level and are popular with players.
"Overall your chances of winning are a little greater," Shaheen said. "Powerball is the dream game. I would say Carolina Cash 5 is the reality game even though one in 575,000 is a big number. You'll be surprised how many times we'll get a winner on that."
South Carolina retailers say they still have advantages with lower gas and cigarette taxes. Lottery officials say there's room for both to make plenty of money.
"No, I think North Carolina and South Carolina will be truly good partners in this whole educational lottery experience," Cooper said.
North Carolina will launch its Carolina Pick 3 on October 6. Carolina Cash 5 will start on October 27.
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