Lotto lovers in Southwest Arkansas accounted for more than half-a-million dollars of the $19 million generated by the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery in its first two weeks of operations.
Gamers from the eight counties in Southwest Arkansas spent $513,000 on lottery tickets during that two week period, or roughly $36,000 per day, seven days a week.
1. Numbers
In descending order from highest to lowest, Southwest Arkansas lottery players, by county, spent:
Miller County - $122,100.
Hempstead County - $120,300.
Nevada County - $59,100.
Pike County - $53,700.
Howard County - $49,500.
Sevier County - $48,600.
Little River County - $39,600.
Lafayette County - $20,100.
2. How They Voted
In the 2008 general election, voters in Arkansas established the authority for the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery with passage of a constitutional amendment. Among the eight counties in the region, all eight passed the ballot question, generally by significant margins, as follows:
Hempstead County - 4,141 For; 2,806 Against.
Howard County - 2,399 For; 2,224 Against.
Lafayette County - 1,534 For; 1,195 Against.
Little River County - 2,843 For; 1,950 Against.
Miller County - 8,359 For; 5,631 Against.
Nevada County - 2,125 For; 1,305 Against.
Pike County - 2,047 For; 1,775 Against.
Sevier County - 2,353 For; 2,008 Against.
3. Participation
Measured against the population in each of the eight counties, as estimated for 2008 by the U.S. Census Bureau, the spending per person, from highest to lowest, for lottery tickets in the first two weeks of the games is as follows:
Nevada County - $6.45
Hempstead County - $5.25
Pike County - $5.05
Howard County - $3.49
Little River County - $3.09
Sevier County - $2.94
Miller County - $2.82
Lafayette County - $2.60
4. Affordability
Measured against the per person income in each county, as estimated for 1999 by the Census Bureau, the total spending for lottery tickets in each county represents the income of between 1.4 and 8.5 individuals as follows:
Hempstead County - 8.5
Howard County - 3.1
Lafayette County - 1.4
Little River County - 2.4
Miller County - 7.4
Nevada County - 4.1
Pike County - 3.4
Sevier County - 3.4
