SOUTHAVEN, Miss. (localmemphis.com) — The State of Mississippi now has a lottery.
People were waiting in line when the Mississippi Lottery went live statewide Monday morning at 5 a.m.
Until now, Mississippi was one of only six states without a lottery.
Last year, the state legislature approved bringing the lottery to Mississippi.
Only four versions ofscratch-off tickets are available to purchase for now. The tickets range from$1-$5.
James Houston was the first in line at 5 a.m. to buy tickets atthe Valero gas station in Southaven. Houston came from Memphis to buy the ticketsand walked out with $150 worth.
“I just hope I win. I pray to God that I win,” Houston said. He added that he was “feeling lucky” that morning.
Within the first two and a half hours of opening the store, the gas station sold $1,200 in scratch-offs. The location is one of 1,200 retailers now selling lottery tickets in the state.
“It’s been actuallyawesome. We’ve had more than I anticipated. I knew it was going to be good. Iknew they were going to be coming for it but they’ve been buying more than Ithought,” Rebbecca Cooley, the gas station’s manager, said.
Proceeds from the Mississippi Lottery will go towards improving roads and education. Annually, the first $80 million will go towards infrastructure and the money brought in after that will go the schools.
“I think it’s goodbecause it’s going to serve the community, schools with more money,”Herlinda Sonka said. “Hopefully it helps the schools mainly.”
The Mississippi Lottery will start selling Mega Millions and Powerball tickets January 30th.
The legal age to play in Mississippi is 21-years-old.
