New lottery game faced with opposition

The new Bullseye Lottery has just been launched by New Zealand Lotteries but the new lottery game has been faced with opposition from lottery watchdogs in New Zealand who claim that New Zealand doesn’t need another lottery which takes money from the public in a time of recession.

The new Bullseye lottery game gives players the chance to guess a number from between 0 and 999,999 for the cost of $2. If your number is within a set range of numbers either side of the winning Bullseye number, you win and if you match the Bullseye number exactly you win the jackpot. The odds of one in a million for winning the jackpot are much better than New Zealand’s other two state lotteries with the chance of winning Powerball’s jackpot at 38 million to 1 and the chances of grabbing the Lotto jackpot standing at 3.8 million to 1 meaning that your chance of becoming one of New Zealand’s lottery winners are much greater.

But this new format of lottery game has been met with serious opposition from the Problem Gambling Foundation in New Zealand. Problem Gambling Foundation spokesperson Graeme Ramsey said “I think it’s interesting in a time of recession and at a time when lotteries are doing very well that we’re introducing a new game that can only be aimed at taking more money out of the pockets of New Zealanders.” He followed by saying “New Zealand did not need another gambling game. Mr Ramsay is worried that the majority of people who buy tickets for lotteries are from low-income households and it will be these people who will spend money which they don’t have playing this new lottery game.

The new Bullseye Lottery draw takes place daily at 7pm(NZ) and the lottery results can be found on New Zealand Lotteries’ online lottery website at www.mylotto.co.nz.