Lottery fever strikes New Albany

Scratch-off lottery tickets went on sale Monday morning and by mid-afternoon people were still lined up at local retailers selling the tickets.

While not everyone was buying the tickets, most appeared to be purchasing at least one.

Clerks at Sky Blue estimated they had sold more than 1,000 tickets by mid-to-late afternoon.  Most people purchased multiple tickets and at least one person had at least $50 worth.

The store also had at least one winner who took home hundreds of dollars, they said.

The tickets are available in $1, $2 and $5 denominations and there are four different games to choose from. The probability of winning is listed as about one out of four according to the state lottery commission.

The four local vendors so far are gas stations and convenience stores but any retail business may qualify. More merchants are expected to qualify to sell the tickets.

Chances for the Powerball and other mega-lotteries will not go on sale here until the end of January.