The Nation - News from Sept. 4, 1988

Fortune hunters bought Lotto tickets at a rate of 850 a second, vying for a chance to win the nation’s largest-ever lottery jackpot--$52 million--in Florida. “We’ve gotten calls from London, Australia and Spain asking about the Lotto game,” said state Lottery Secretary Rebecca Paul. The previous record jackpot of $51.4 million was set in California in June; two winners split that one. The six winning numbers drawn in Florida Saturday night were 3, 27, 19, 35, 20, 5. Players had turned to psychics, gimmicks and other formulas to beat the 14-million-to-1 odds of picking the six winning digits. Lines up to 25 people deep stretched along the sidewalk in front of convenience stores, waiting to buy tickets.