I’ll be the first to admit that I am completely green to the lottery playing process. The entire ordeal including choosing the game, selecting numbers and whatnot, just seems incredibly confusing. But in all fairness, the phrase Mega Millions does something to the brain. And in light of the fact that the Georgia lottery recently announced the winner of $49 million, I decided to dig a little deeper into an urban legend I’d heard. According to my cynical colleague, people who lived in certain parts of Georgia always won. Was there anything to this tale? I observed the following…
Urban residents seem to have lottery playing down to a science.
If you have frequently visited Atlanta’s inner-city neighborhoods, you have probably found yourself in line behind several people with fistfuls of cash, divvying up their resources in hopes of quadrupling their “investment.” I’ve spent a great deal of time waiting to purchase snacks, while my fellow citizens were at the counter assembling a diverse collection of scratch-off tickets. There is a rhythm to their request that, even in indecision, indicates an intimate knowledge of all the options.
Does anybody ever win these things?
With so many customers scooping up tickets and hoping their lucky numbers match, I wondered if, when, and how many people actually win anythingplaying these games. Ducking into a convenience store I’ve frequented in Southwest Atlanta, I asked Percy, the clerk a few questions:
Did the store attract more lottery players, in light of the big Mega Millions jackpot? “No,” Percy said. In fact, he said that his flow of customers did not change, even as the jackpot grew. When asked if anyone had won big, he admitted that no one’s ever won anything at his store. Checking out a few other gas stations and mini-marts revealed a hit-and-miss spotting of scratch off ticket winnings, but still no big winners.
I was once told that unless I bought a ticket in the extreme northern or southern part of the state, I would never win the lottery. Logically, no one can predict where the winning ticket will turn up. To amuse myself, I perused the GA Lottery website and took a peek at the long list of winners. Out of 19, four winning tickets came from Dalton, GA -the extreme northern part of the state. Five more were from northwestern counties. Three winners were from the very bottom of the state, including that very lucky $49 million Mega Millions ticket purchased in Thomasville. Maybe there’s something to urban legends after all.
Ayanna Guyhto has lived in various parts of Metro Atlanta for over 20 years. As a member of the city’s underground entertainment community, she offers a unique inside view of oft-overlooked pop culture.
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