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Texas Sets Date for Mega Millions

TEXAS – As reported by (Fort Worth, Texas) Star-Telegram: " Christmas could come early for a Texan lucky enough to defy the longest of odds and win a jackpot in the multistate Mega Millions game.

"Texas Lottery Commission officials announced Wednesday that the target date for the state's first drawing in Mega Millions -- a game with average jackpots of $42 million -- is Dec. 5. Ticket sales are expected to begin two days earlier.

"`It's a chance at a dream,' lottery director Reagan Greer said. `A higher, jackpot-driven chance is what brings people to buy tickets'

",,,Gambling opponents see it differently. They say joining a game with 10 other states multiplies the opportunities for Texans to get ripped off in a legal scam with even higher odds than Lotto Texas.

"…Texas' entry into the game was authorized this year by a Legislature faced with declining lotto sales and a burgeoning budget shortfall. Texas will join 10 other states participating in Mega Millions -- Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Virginia and Washington state.

"…The average Mega Millions jackpot over the past year has dwarfed the average Lotto Texas prize of about $14 million. But with the higher jackpots come worse odds of winning. Mega Millions players have about a one in 135 million chance of hitting a jackpot, compared with about one in 48 million for Lotto Texas. With those odds, you're more likely to get struck by lightning…"

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