Page 34 - Public Gaming International September/October 2017

VIRGINIA GRIDIRON STANDOUT LEADS Chuck Davis from University of Virginia (L)
THE TEAM OF WINNING MILLENNIALS Chuck Davis with grandmother Rebecca Thomas
and brother Damon Davis(R)
US LOTTERIES SEE A

SPATE OF YOUNGER

WINNERS…BUT

MORE NEEDED

Jim Acton, Lottery Industry Consultant
and PGRI Editorial Contributor

or four years at Broad Run High We were shouting together. It was a great Cashword ticket and
School in Loudoun County, Virginia, moment.” discovered that he had won a top
Chuck Davis was known for his hard For his fortuitous decision, Chuck won the prize of $1 million. Again, the NY press,
Fwork, strong play and smart decision- $100,000 top prize. including both television and newspaper,
making. His efforts resulted in many honors, covered this story extensively.
including first-team all-conference designa- A RUN OF MILLENNIAL LUCK
tion as a wide receiver and defensive back Mr. Davis’ good fortune actually took Fast forward to the end of July and the
his senior year. place during a period in June that featured a Massachusetts Lottery boasted its own lucky
Chuck’s good decisions continued last number of lottery winners who aren’t yet old millennial, this one with a terrific personal
year when he decided to take his talents enough to drink. In addition to the 20-year- story. Alexander LaVertue, a 21-year-old
close to home, enrolling at the University old Davis: resident of Boston, won $1 million in the
of Virginia where he is currently a red-shirt Lottery’s 200X $30 instant ticket. Alexander
freshman on the Cavaliers football team. - A California 19-year-old won twice is a member of the U.S. Army Reserves and
And he made another more good deci- on two different scratch tickets. Rosa is based out of New Hampshire, having
sion in June, this one involving the Virginia Dominguez first won $555,555 on the completed his basic training in the summer
Lottery. California Lottery’s $5 Power 5’s scratch of 2016
On Sunday, June 25, after a morning ticket in early June. A few days later, she
workout, Davis swung by the 7-Eleven in stopped at a local gas station and bought MILLENNIALS AREN’T ON BOARD - YET
Ashburn, VA, to buy coffee for his mother. a $5 Lucky Fortune Scratcher. This time These high-profile, youthful winners come
As he walked into the store, for a reason he she won the top prize of $100,000. One at a time of reflection within the industry as
can’t explain, the license plate on the car, week haul - $655,000. U.S. lotteries work to attract younger play-
which belongs to his grandmother Rebecca ers. Only a third of Americans aged 18 to
Thomas, caught his eye. - Twenty-year old college student Erin 29 said they played the lottery in the past
“I knew that my grandmother uses her Haggerty, a resident of Pine City, NY, year, compared with 61 percent for those
license plate number for her lottery tick- won $1 million scratching the “Win aged 50 to 64, according to a 2016 Gallup
ets,” Davis said. “So I decided to play those $1,000 A Week For Life” ticket. Erin’s survey. The rate for millennials fell from 39
numbers for the Cash 5 drawing, and went mother frequently sends her son and percent in surveys conducted in 2003 and
home.” daughter greeting cards with NY Lottery 2007, Gallup said. For all other age groups,
Later that day, his grandmother called scratch tickets. While at school at High the likelihood of playing went up over the
him to bemoan the fact that her number Point College in North Carolina, Erin past decade.
had been pulled in the midday draw and she scratched…and won! The story was A Reuters article in February provided
didn’t play. Chuck said that comment from covered extensively by the New York press. some thoughts from millennials on the
his grandmother resulted in an adrenaline Lottery.
pump like that when he’s streaking down the - Also in New York, 19-year-old “I feel like everything’s just too expensive
sidelines towards the end zone after making Anthony Lavarone stopped to fill his tires nowadays to just kind of throw away your
a catch. at a c-store in Ballston Spa, NY, and asked money on luck,” Melissa Mancilla, a 21-year-
“I grabbed the ticket and looked at the his friend to buy him his favorite tickets old hotel worker, said outside a downtown
numbers and yelled, ‘I won,’” he said. “Then while he worked on his car. Later that Los Angeles convenience store.
my grandmother started yelling and crying. night, Lavarone scratched his $1 Million
Continued on Page 50
34 // PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL // SEPTEMBER /OCTOBER 2017