Florida: Why Lotto Can Be a Loser

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Since Florida joined 27 other states and plunged into the lottery business last January, gamblers have plunked down more than $1 billion for lotto or scratch-off tickets, and the state has tucked away $350 million for its schools. Not everyone enjoys the boom, however. Merchants find the growing lines of ticket buyers a headache. Their annoyance was dramatized last week, following Florida's record $55.1 million payoff, when President James Kufeldt of Winn-Dixie Stores gave the state a month's notice that his 471 supermarkets are pulling out of the games. Swarms of ticket buyers were sometimes "impairing the check-out services," he said, and Winn-Dixie just wants to stick to selling groceries.