BANGALORE: Though the Government has banned the online lottery with which it was connected, unauthorised single-digit lotteries continue to delight habitual gamblers here. In the process, many low-income families lose a good portion of their earnings.

Many from the middle-income group are also fans of these lotteries, according to their agents.

Close to 100 stalls selling lottery tickets of the State Government and other States are also involved in dealing with single-digit lottery draws, according to sources in the police. Many of these lottery stalls are located in places such as Chamarajpet, Ulsoor, Gandhinagar, Rajajinagar, Hanumanthnagar and Shivajinagar, which have a mix of lower- and middle-income groups.

Those who have just crossed the income limit from the lower to the middle rung are the most interested in playing the single-digit lottery, according to an agent in Ulsoor. "Government employees and daily wage workers alike spend money on the single-digit lottery hoping for a big prize, and many can be seen making on-the-spot calculations to figure out a possible jackpot number," he said.

It is also attracting an increasing number of jobless young men crowding the city in search of employment.

Among the most popular is a lottery from Nagaland. These tickets sell for Rs. 12 each, and there are other tickets that sell for Rs. 10 each.

Draws are held almost every hour from 10 a.m. till 5 or 6 p.m. and conveyed over mobile phones to the agents. The agents get sizeable commissions of Rs. 1.10 to Rs. 1.25 on each ticket sold and are happy.

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