Ready, Set, Scratch! Gambling Lottery Begins In Arkansas

The list of states that are turning to gambling to help balance budgets increased by one on Monday. Arkansas entered the gambling market at 12:01 AM Monday when the state officially started to offer a lottery for their residents.

Thousands of people swarmed to stores across the state to get their first glimpse of the new scratch off tickets offered by the Arkansas Lottery. Residents were more than excited to finally have the opportunity to gamble legally on the lottery in the state.

"We have been waiting for so long," said Mary Perkins, "We always bought lottery tickets when we traveled through other states, and it is nice to now have the option of just going to the gas station and buying scratch off tickets."

There was some concern among lawmakers as to how the residents of Arkansas would handle the gambling expansion. Addiction has been known to occur to the lottery in other states, so Arkansas tried the best they could to prepare for possible problem gambling.

The state has a hot line set up and once funds start rolling in from the scratch off tickets, there will be funds allocated to problem gambling prevention and treatment. On Monday, however, it was all about winning money for Arkansas residents.

In the late afternoon, the state reported that sales were approaching the three quarters of a million dollar mark. The state also claimed that over $400,000 had been paid out to winners in the lottery's first day.

September 29, 2009
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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