National lottery rolls tomorrow

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 5, Issue 8, 21 July 1987, Page 3

National lottery rolls tomorrow

New Zealand Post staff at Ohakune have been practising pushing buttons on their new Lotto machine up until today, but will be doing it for real tomorrow. The Ohakune Post Office and Kia Ora Restaurant in Waiouru are the oniy outlets for the new lottery game in the Waimarino, and the Ohakune office is only one of twelve post offices acting as agents in the country. Cynthia Dowsett at the Ohakune Post Office has been trained to use the machine, which she said does not involve much. "It seems quite simple to operate, I think all the staff will use the terminal" said Mrs Dowsett. Customers mark their choice of six lucky numbers from each section of 40 on a card an.d the terminal automatically "reads" the selection when the operator inserts the card into the machine. There are a variety of prize divisions in the lottery, and the winning numbers for each week will be drawn on television on Saturday nights. Profits from Lotto will be distributed by the New Zealand Lottery Board to-

gether with those from the Golden Kiwi. Sixty percent of the revenue is returned in prizes to players, seven percent goes to franchise holders and the rest is distributed to charities and community groups. There is no fixed value for prizes in Lotto. The value of prizes will vary from week to week, depending on the amount spent by players that week, but organisers estimate that if there is one winner of the major prize (with six correct numbers) in a game, he or she is likely to win between $300,000 and $400,000.