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CNN Live Saturday

Business Offers Improved Chances at Lottery Jackpots

Aired August 25, 2001 - 15:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Dreams of instant fortune have thousands of people flocking to buy Powerball tickets today. Tonight's jackpot stands at an estimated $280 million. Now, the odds of winning the jackpot: a mere 80 million to one.

Reporter Bud Gindhart (ph) from CNN affiliate KPHO explains how some people are trying to improve their chances.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUDY AMANDA, POWER PICK: Good morning, Power Pick. This is Judy, may I help you?

ANDREW AMANDA, POWER PICK: People call us the office pool without the office.

BUD GINDHART, KPHO REPORTER (voice-over): The brainchild of Andy Amanda and his wife Judy six years ago, Power Pick offers players 256 chances a month to win something from various prize pools split among 50 people. That's for $22. For $36, the chances go up to 512 a month, with prizes divvied up among 25 people. A lot of chances, but in the past six years, Power Pick has never won a big jackpot.

A. AMANDA: Powerball, we've missed the jackpot five times now by one number. Twice we've won $100,000. Three times we've won $5,000.

GINDHART: Still, the allure of a big pot of gold at the end of the paper ticket remains irresistible to many.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What drew me, actually, was I think my chances of winning are better this way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, the numbers are just too gruesome.

GINDHART: For mathematician Dr. Anne Hodgkins, the idea of better luck in numbers makes sense, but not much -- especially at 80 million-to-one odds.

DR. ANNE HODGKINS, PHOENIX COLLEGE: Has it improved mathematically? A tiny, tiny bit. But the tiny bit that improves is so small, it's meaningless.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NELSON: That was Bud Gindhart reporting from CNN affiliate KPHO.

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