Cleveland Has Been Named the Lottery Capital of Ohio

Known by many as the Rock 'n' Roll Capital of the world, Cleveland, Ohio has now been dubbed the Lottery Capital of Ohio by the online lottery information site LuckyLotto. This comes as no surprise to Jeff Geffert of Mentor. "I could see how this could be true," says Geffert, an avid lottery player. "Cleveland is a dying city with a ton of blue collar people that play the lottery everyday in hopes of striking it rich and improving their plight."

LuckyLotto, an online lottery website specializing in lottery news and information conducted a study of the lottery in Ohio that yielded some surprising results. LuckyLotto reported that Cleveland, in Northeastern Ohio, has more lottery terminals per capita than any other city in Ohio.

According to the official Ohio lottery website, Cleveland has 492 lottery terminals. That is 5.97 lottery terminals per square mile. And Cleveland residents are keeping these terminals busy. "It seems like we have been selling more tickets lately. Especially when gas goes down a couple cents, people seem to buy more lottery tickets," says Matt Jones, cashier at the local Cleveland Speedway station.

While it may seem more likely that Columbus, Ohio's capital, would have more lottery terminals, that is not the case. Columbus has only 2.45 lottery terminals per square mile. In fact, big cities Cincinnati, Dayton and Akron were all outperformed by Cleveland when it came to lottery terminals per capita.

With the current state of the national economy, many may be surprised to hear that the lottery is booming in Cleveland, a city that has long suffered from economic instability. Contrary to popular belief, a decline in the economy does not lead to a decline in lottery play. According to Ashley Martinez, a cashier at the Cleveland BP station, Cleveland ticket sales have been up lately. "I estimate that 1 in 3 customers buy a lottery ticket when they come into the store."

The truth about the lottery is that someone always wins and people always hope that it will be them. When the economy struggles, people seem to have more hope that they will win the jackpot. As a result, a decline in the economy seems to lead to an increase in lottery play. Cleveland lottery players say they would welcome the sale of online lottery tickets. Players in an unfamiliar neighborhood would not have to wonder where to buy lottery tickets-they could use their cell phone to make an online lottery purchase!

No matter what the reasons for the immense popularity of the lottery in Cleveland, LuckyLotto is pleased to name Cleveland the "Lottery Capital of Ohio."