8-8-8? It could be hot lottery pick
The number 8 might not be considered as lucky as the number 7, but that won't stop thousands of lottery players in Wisconsin from stringing their 8s together in two daily lotto games on Friday, Aug. 8, 2008 (8-8-08).
Wisconsin Lottery spokesman Andrew Bohage said there's a good chance the Pick Three game or the Pick Four game will have to suspend sales of the 8-8-8 or 8-8-8-8 combination because the lottery has a policy that when sales of specific combinations of numbers reaches the potential payout limit of $3 million, sales of the hot-selling combination will stop.
"People who really want to play 8s tomorrow (Friday) should try to buy their tickets as soon as possible, before the liability caps kick in," Bohage said.
Retailers who sell lottery tickets are informed through their lottery ticket terminal when the sale caps are reached, so buyers trying to buy those particular combinations would be notified at the time of purchase that no more wagers would be accepted for those combinations.
Last year, the Wisconsin Lottery sold a pile of tickets on July 7, 2007 (7-7-07), so Bohage expects the 8s combinations to generate big sales as well.
"Daily lotto game players really focus on number combinations," he said. "When combinations emerge in calendar dates or coincide with other events, interest really takes off."
Pick 3 pays out $500 for a $1 play while Pick 4 pays $5,000 for a $1 play. Players can also wager 50 cents and win half as much on either pick game. The top payouts are for "straight" combinations (numbers in the proper order) with smaller payouts for "boxed" wagers (numbers not in order).
Playing 8-8-8 in Pick 3 or 8-8-8-8 in Pick 4 would be a straight play.
Daily Pick 3 and Pick 4 sales end at 6:15 p.m. for that day's drawing.
For more information, go to wisconsinlottery.com.
