South Australians gambled a record $552m on lotto in 2019/20: new Lotteries Commission of South Australia report

South Australians gambled a record amount of money on lotto tickets last financial year, a new report shows.

South Australians gambled a record $552 million on lotto tickets in 2019/20.

South Australians gambled a record $552 million on lotto tickets ¬ and won $331 million - over the past financial year, a new report shows.

Meanwhile, the search continues to find the lucky person who bought a ticket in the state’s south-east in July but is yet to claim their $1 million prize.

Despite many people being forced to tighten their belts in the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, the Lotteries Commission of South Australia’s 2019/20 Annual Report reveals people were still keen to try their luck at winning big.

By comparison, punters spent $539 million and won $322 million in 2018/19.

South Australian Council of Social Service chief executive director Ross Womersley said the rise could have been due to pokies being unavailable because of COVID-19 restrictions.

“I think the other thing (is that) that things have been very tense and difficult and so people are more tempted to...gamble in an effort to...get themselves set up,” he said.

But Mr Wormesley warned against this strategy.

“The odds are absolutely clear – Gambling is one of those activities which is loaded in favour of the gambling institution and it’s almost certain that most people will lose whatever they’re gambling, or lose a large proportion of whatever they’ve gambled, so it’s not actually a pathway...to riches,” he said.

The report showed Powerball was the most popular game last financial year, however Keno paid out the most prize money.

Powerball sales soared by 30 per cent, to $143 million, and the game paid out $80 million in winnings.

Keno sales increased by 21 per cent to $116 million, and paid out $85 million.

The Saturday Lotto was also a favoured game, with its sales increasing by 24 per cent to $134 million.

A total of $36 million was spent on instant scratchies and $21.8 million was won.

The least popular game was Super 66, which only made $1.5 million in sales. It paid out $800,000.

Meanwhile, almost $9.2 million in overall prize money remains unclaimed, including a $1.05 division one prize.

That ticket was bought at the NewsXpress Naracoorte in July.

The Lott spokeswoman Bronwyn Spencer said the organisation was “still waiting to hear the winning scream of delight from our mystery Naracoorte player”.

“We encourage all players who purchased an entry into that draw to check their tickets and if they believe they are holding a division one winning entry to give us a call on 131 868 to begin the process of claiming their prize,” she said.

In South Australia, winning ticket holders have 12 months from the date of the draw to claim their prize directly from SA Lotteries.

After this time, players can claim their prize from the Commission’s Unclaimed Prizes Reserve, however there are administration costs involved with this process.

The report stated the Commission contributed $92 million to the Hospitals Fund for the provision, maintenance, development and improvement of public hospitals and equipment, up from $90 million from the previous year.