Punters welcome Lotto booth reopening

PEOPLE making bets and paying bills at Lotto booths keenly welcomed the reopening of these outlets on Monday, they told Newsday.

They had been closed since May 17 to curb the spread of covid19.

Most Lotto operators said things were picking up but had not reached their usual levels of business.

But operator Charlotte Mc Knight at the corner of Frederick and Park Streets in Port of Spain said business had rebounded to pre-closure levels.

Newsday spoke to eight members of the public at her outlet, plus four Lotto operators including her.

Mc Knight said the first day's turnout had been great.

"I didn't lose any customers and everybody is out there gambling. I didn't lose anything."

At the In the Mood snackette at the corner of Charlotte and Duke Streets, Port of Spain, Newsday met Alicia Phillip and her colleague Laurel Kelly running a Lotto outlet.

Phillip said, "It will take time. This morning you'll find it was a little slow. We didn't see as much.

"But it's only one day and we can't judge everything on one day.

Kelly said, "Then people probably don't have the money. Remember, people were home for a while. Some don't have money even to pay their bills.

"At the end of the week you'll have to come back and see how it was."

Richard Lau, who runs a Lotto outlet inside Royal Castle on Charlotte Street, said things were slow but it was too soon to judge.

He had found the closure perplexing.

"They had just locked down and everything...We don't know what is happening."

Shenice Smith, in an outlet on lower Charlotte Street, said the turnout of punters had been a bit less than before but otherwise everything was normal.

Newsday spoke to several of Mc Knight's customers.

Knolly Manswell said, "It's just the first day. I feel good. I'm here to make a little bet, with the Cashpot and Lotto."

Asked how the closure of Lotto had affected him, he replied, "It didn't affect me at all."

Had he missed it?

"No, no. I managed."

Pressed as to how he felt about the reopening, Manswell replied, "It not bothering me. It doesn't matter. I could do with it, I could do without it."

Lila Patrick, when asked how she felt about Lotto reopening, said, "I feel proud, because it is after too long. I feel good about it. We watching to see what going on now."

Asked if the closure had affected her, she replied, "Not really. But just a little. It come like a little amusement."

She said her games were Play Whe and Fast Cash. Asked if she used Lotto outlets to pay utility bills, she said no. "I just play, when I get a little money, and that's it."

Jason Davidson said, "I welcome it. I'm here to pay bills and place a little bet."

Asked how the closure had affected him, he said he had to visit T&TEC to pay his electricity bill rather than pay at the Lotto outlet.

Sarah Benny said, "I just came to get a phone card." Without the Lotto outlet, she said during the closure she had to walk a bit further down Frederick Street to buy them.

Nathaniel Regis said he was having a problem paying his electricity bill at the outlet and had to cross the street to T&TEC to pay it.

Theresa York lamented the previous closure and had come out to play a mark, number 23. She said she pays her T&TEC bills at Lotto booths.

Asked how she had coped in the Lotto closure period, she said she used to give money to a neighbour with a car to go somewhere and place a bet for her, under some alternative arrangement.

Onika McIntosh welcomed the reopening as a chance for people to earn some income, especially the unemployed.

Patrick Nelson wanted to know what happens for payouts due on winning tickets bought before the period of Lotto closure.

"They should know there are a lot of people with uncashed tickets, so they have to put something in place."

He said Lotto operators had been unable to answer that question.

"The lady is saying she is calling NLCB all day but cannot get an answer."

He said Play Whe gives people hope.

"Other than that, the booths are open and at least some people may find a way to make some money if they are lucky. When the booths were not open, some people had no income, no hope.

"It's not my thing. I don't believe this is a way to increase your finances by the Play Whe – I play a Lotto every so often – but it is still an avenue for people who don't have any money."