Critics Call For A Lower New Zealand Lotto Pot

If the critics have it their way, New Zealand's lotto draws would be limited in the amount of their prizes. This came after the jackpot for the Big Wednesday draw hit more than $26 million.

Graeme Ramsey, chief executive of the Problem Gaming Foundation, said that larger prizes easily encourage players to gamble more on tickets. Ramsey said that it would be better if the current $30 million upper limit is lowered to only $12.5 million, which he adds is below the limit at which many people get too excited.

“Surely $12.5 million as a prize is already big enough for anybody in the country,” he said.

Ramsey calls the continuously increasing jackpots as a”fuel for a gambling environment in New Zealand, where only a few are winners.” He further adds that it creates problems that cost many people greatly.

According to Foundation analyst Graham Aitken, the jackpots increase by only $2 million a week during the first runs. However, he said, once the pots reach $15 million, the prizes also increases more quickly, growing by at least $5 to $6 million per week.

The jackpot cap has since risen from $15 million in 2004 to its current level.

However, not a few seemed ready to fix the prize cap to a lower limit. New Zealand's Lotteries Commission have expressed that they are even considering to the idea of increasing the pot cap for higher prizes.

The commission said in a paper given to then Internal Affairs minister Richard Worth, that it may be necessary to raise the limits as part of a move to join a proposed “world lottery” to be headed by the British National Lottery. “It is very likely that participation will entail lifting the $30 million prize limit set in our games,” the paper assessed. However, the commission said that the proposal is still being studied and it is not yet final.