Growing prize attracts increasing number of Lebanese to lottery.

Byline: Janay Boulos

Summary: As the lottery balls rolled, 17 people silently stood in the confines of a small shop in Jbeil watching the TV set, clutching their tickets and hoping that the numbers on the small, colored spheres would match those on their tickets. "You never know. Maybe this time it will be me," said Khalil while watching the lottery draw with his family.

BEIRUT: As the lottery balls rolled, 17 people silently stood in the confines of a small shop in Jbeil watching the TV set, clutching their tickets and hoping that the numbers on the small, colored spheres would match those on their tickets. "You never know. Maybe this time it will be me," said Khalil while watching the lottery draw with his family.

Khalil had bought seven out of what Carine Aramouni, marketing manager at La Libanaise des Jeux (LLDJ), which runs the Lebanese lottery, said were about 900,000 tickets sold for draw number 573.

Participation in the Lebanese lottery has been growing due to its having being scheduled twice a week (on Monday and Thursday) as well as to a growing pot, as the prize money rolls over to the next drawing if a winning ticket is not claimed, said Jamil Abboud, head of the computer department at the LLDJ.

"The last big prize won totaled LL1.44 million and was won on March 31 of this year," said Aramouni, who added that the longer it takes the jackpot to be won, the more people purchase tickets.

"The prize now adds up to LL3,025,060,309, this is the main factor increasing our sales," said lottery vendor Fadi Hachem, adding that people line up throughout the week to buy tickets.

Hachem said that most of the time a single person purchases more than one ticket. "People say that the more they buy, the more their chances of winning grow. For example, one man once bought 400 tickets," added Hachem.

"Lottery tickets cost very little and the expected reward is far bigger. It makes it worthwhile," said psychologist Loulwa Kaloyeros.

Also, said lottery vendor George Zgheib, the smallest win from the lottery quadruples what the person paid: "A ticket costs LL1,500 and the smallest win is LL6,000. This encourages people to buy more."

Another cause behind the increase in the appeal of the lottery is that someone always wins in the end. "This winning reinforces other people and makes them feel that it is real," said Kaloyeros, adding that people identify with the winner. "The person who takes a lotto ticket never perceives [themselves] as losing, but thinks that someone else is winning," she said.

"Every time someone wins, if not the big prize then the second prize, the third prize or even the fourth one," said Mary, who has won the LL30,000 fourth prize seven times.

Even after several losses, people continue to buy lottery tickets. "In their minds people do not see that they are losing. If they win once, then they consider the win and forget all the times they have lost," said Kaloyeros.

"I don't care when my numbers do not match because most of the time I'm winning. Even if it is just LL6,000, I'm winning," said Fadi Badr, who has a reminder set on his mobile phone for every Monday and Thursday so that he doesn't forget to buy tickets and watch the draw.

Even though the demand for the lottery is booming, many still doubt its authenticity.

"Personally, I think that the lotto is a fraud. It's just a way of getting money," said Rita, who then added that her perception of the lottery developed after participating in the drawing and not winning.

Andraous, who has stopped selling lottery tickets at his shop because of personal doubts, argued that no ordinary person could ever win the big prize just by paying LL1,500.

"They laugh at people and give them LL6,000 or maybe LL30,000," the shop owner said, adding that if someone does win, it would have been the result of a rigged draw.

As for Zgheib, he said that the lottery was fair and that winning depends on chance.

"The lottery is practiced in many different countries and several people have had their lives changed by winning in it," he told The Daily Star.

"Even in Lebanon, more than 30 people have won the big prize," he enthused.

"There is nothing that might cause doubt."

Another reason that leads people to suspect the authenticity of the lottery comes from their personal hesitation, Kaloyeros said:

"Many people are naturally doubtful," the psychologist said. "They tend not to believe in luck and that good things might happen to ordinary people."

Said Khalil, director of the program that films the drawings, has not doubts.

"The show is aired under the supervision of government representatives," he said, adding that the machines are not touched before or after the show and that no one can manipulate them.

Zgheib, the vendor, echoed the words of Khalil, saying that the lottery machines are the same ones used in other countries. He added that they are manufactured in a way which prevents them from being tampered with.

"Everything has a group of people who doubt it," explained Kaloyeros. "But in the end, the balls will keep on rolling twice a week -and who knows in whose field they might land?"

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