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“Andrew Earl’s dream is to open a gym and restaurant named after his mother in his hometown of Birmingham, Ala. Outside the Cumberland Farms gas station in Wellfleet, Earl said that winning the Massachusetts lottery could finance that dream, which is why he buys scratch tickets here almost every day.
So far, Earl said, he’s won prizes of $1,000, $500, and $250. “That’s what keeps you going,” he said with a smile. “It’s addictive.”
Earl is one of many daily lottery players on the Outer Cape. In visits to five convenience stores here that sell tickets, every clerk reported that the state lottery was a top seller and that they knew their regular bettors’ habits, including their game preferences and play schedule….”
MassBudget Reference:
“State taxes on gambling — including levies on the lottery, casinos, and sports betting — are the fourth largest source of state revenue, bringing in $1.5 billion in fiscal 2025. The state lottery accounts for 68 percent of that, according to Phineas Baxandall, director of policy and research at the nonprofit Mass. Budget and Policy Center and the author of a recent report on the subject.
That report also points out that problem gambling disproportionally affects lower-income and nonwhite players.”
