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Seven winners so far in NMASA scratch card lottery
All stores sold out of lottery cards, shipment in 2 to 3 weeks tops
So far, seven individuals have already become $1,000 richer, thanks to the Northern Marianas Sports Association’s scratch card lottery fundraiser that is available in 33 stores on Saipan and Rota.
Majority of winners have been advertised in local news media, while some want to remain anonymous, according to Pacific Lotteries Ltd. of Australia representative Steve Gibson. Five winners are from Saipan while Rota has two winners.
He said all stores that were given the scratch card lottery have sold them out. Gibson said a new shipment of tickets from Australia would be arriving in two to three weeks’ time.
Over 100,000 scratch cards—Hafa Adai, Lucky 7’s, Quick Cash, and Tropical Treasure—were initially distributed, according to Gibson.
“It is going really well and it is popular and everyone is getting into it. You have a 1 in 4.9 percent chance of winning if you buy five tickets. The stores sell these and the customers just has to identify three matching numbers and the storeowner will give them their prize,” Gibson said.
“Not only that, if you purchase the ticket and you leave the store where you purchased it at, if you haven’t any time to go back to the store, other selling agents will accept your scratch card,” he added.
The 33 selling agents on Saipan and Rota include Welcome Market, I-Mart, Zhen Yu, New Kagman Market, four Mobil gas stations (Kagman, San Jose, Chalan Kiya, and Susupe), Min Yang, Lucky De, Jin Li, LN Market, Twin’s Supermarket (Navy Hill and Dandan), Saipan Fresh Market, Shun Fu, New Garapan Market, New Chang Ming, Sunleader, Rising, New XO Market, Green Consume I and II, JJ Market, Hannam Market, Bluesky, Kevin’s, LZ Market, Happy Market, Friendly, San Antonio Market, and Dolphin Wholesale.
NMSA instant scratch card program manager Dorris Pangelinan said many other stores have requested for the scratch cards as well.
Gibson noted that they are looking at different games to be implemented in the scratch cards. Such games include a $3 scratch card lottery that will have multiple prizes of $5,000 and $5 scratch cards that will have multiple prizes of $10,000.
“The games will be kept fresh and we’re going to bring in new games every three months so we’ll work on the next tickets and game design,” he said.
“This not only cuts down spending on poker machines, because you have 53 percent more chances of winning than when you are playing on poker machines and it is also for a good cause to promote activities and healthier and active community, which NMSA targets,” he added.
NMSA president Michael White would also like to thank the Chinese community for becoming contributors to this fundraiser and allowing NMSA to use their stores as outlets for the scratch card lottery.
Since NMSA became an independent and private group for all sport entities in 2013, they were allowed to operate a public lottery system as per Public Law 18-49.
