New lottery angers watchdog

A new lottery in which punters have a one in a million chance of winning is just another way for NZ Lotteries to fleece vulnerable people of their money, a gambling watchgroup says.

Bullseye is a daily game that invites people to guess a number from between 0 and 999,999 for a minimum bet of $2.

Tickets go on sale today, but the first draw will be next Monday.

The lottery was a "low cost fun lottery game option", acting chief executive Warren Salisbury said.

"Bullseye is very simple to play - you simply pick any number between 0 and 999,999 and if your number is within a set range either side of the winning Bullseye number, you win - hit the Bullseye exactly and you win the top prize," Mr Salisbury said.

First division would start at $100,000 and would jackpot if it was not struck, with a maximum top prize of $400,000.

Odds of one in a million for winning the top prize were greater than the country's other two lotteries, with Powerball's 1 in 38 million and Lotto's 1 in 3.8 million, Mr Salisbury said.

But Problem Gambling Foundation chief executive Graeme Ramsey told NZPA New Zealand did not need another gambling game.

"I think it's interesting in a time of recession and at a time when lotteries are doing very well that we're introducing a new game that can only be aimed at taking more money out of the pockets of New Zealanders."

Most people who played lottery games were on low incomes, so the introduction of this game was about taking money out of the same pockets, Mr Ramsey said.

As part of the information pack released about the game, NZ Lotteries said the reason the lottery was introduced was "to grow our sales in the future..."

"This would indicate that Lotteries is all about growing bigger and bigger and getting more and more spend," Mr Ramsey said.

"That's an interesting KPI (key performance indicator) for someone who says our biggest winner is the community."

Bullseye's results will be available after 7pm on-line at www.mylotto.co.nz or from Lotto stores.

- NZPA