PARKERSBURG - An increase in the cost of Powerball tickets has not been good for at least one local retailer even though state lottery officials have reported revenues have been up.
In January, the cost of Powerball tickets increased from $1 to $2.
Gary Traugh, owner of the local Kompak stores, said Powerball ticket sales have been down.
On Wednesday, which is a Powerball drawing night, Kompak had less than $100 in tickets sold where traditionally it would have $200-$300 worth for being the first of the month when ticket sales are usually higher.
''People have been complaining over the price,'' Traugh said. ''It was surprising the sales were that low for the first of the month.''
Usually through the month Powerball tickets sales are around $150-$200 on drawing nights, he said.
The state can still make the same amount of money if half the number of tickets are sold, Traugh said.
He said people do not buy just one ticket; many buy groups of tickets for $5 or so, making the amount spent manageable.
Dan Stephan, president of Valley News. which owns the local People's News locations, said people have seemed resistant to the higher ticket prices.
''Still there are a lot of people paying,'' he said.
Stephan did not have overall sales numbers immediately available to tell what kind of impact the price change has had.
He said many people have been switching over to the Megaball game where tickets are still $1.
''Overall, the lottery in general is pretty steady,'' Stephan said. ''It is not going up or down.''
People are still buying instant winner tickets as they have.
''There have been no major swings,'' Stephan said.
State officials reported revenues for the West Virginia Lottery are nearly $50 million above expectations halfway through the fiscal year.
Budget officials had warned that lottery revenues could dip as new casinos in Ohio go on line. However, construction delays have set back the opening of the Ohio casinos.
The Lottery brought in more than $706.4 million in instant ticket, online, racetrack, table game and video lottery revenue from July 1 to Dec. 31.
Racetrack revenue is beating estimates, the result of warm winter weather.
Traditionally, stores do not make a lot of money on lottery ticket sales.
''The state should allow us to make more money off of it,'' Traugh said. ''If they would make it more profitable for us, we could push it more and try to sell more tickets.''
