Chanceros Opposed To New Electronic Lottery
Official lottery vendors "Los Chanceros" are opposed to a plan by the Junta de Protección Social (JPS) - the official lottery operator - to sell lottery tickets in supermarkets, gasoline stations and other retail locations.

Chanceros are on every corner of downtown San José, malls and parks. Most have set up permanent stands, while others move around crowds, barking numbers for the upcoming lotteries.

The move by JPS is to expand the electronic lottery  would make it available at any merchant location that can accept credit cards and including in automated teller machines.

The new electronic lottery game is called "Pega 6 y Pega 1", that can be purchased with a debit or credit card, the amount the ticket charged to and prize paid to the card.

Chanceros  feel that they should be the ones to sell the new game.

Juan Bosco Hernández Aguilar, manager of the Fondo Mutual y de Beneficio Social (Fomubel), said "it has been proven that the sale of lottery tickets is not efficient if sold by a person".

For Hernández, the electronic lottery would hurt the Chanceros, whose activity is the main source of their income, and should have the opportunity to offer it as well to increase their income.

"It is doesn't seem suitable for a supermarket to sell lottery when they are not experts. The cannot promote an electronic product without knowing how it is played and have the time necessary to instruct their customers", said Hernández.

Luis Polinaris, manager of the JPS, said the 2.400 authorized lottery vendors who retial the "Lotera", "Chances", "Tiempos" and the "Raspaditas", are a channel to selling the electronic lotery which the JPS is firm will be offered only in retail locations.

The electronic lottery currently is being offered only in supermarkets and has sales of ¢10 million colones per month. The minimum wager is of ¢200 colones and the win could be 100 times the bet, depending on the number of players.

Sergio Ramírez, president of the board of directors of the JPS, considers the low sales of the current electronic game due to the small number of outlets for players. Ramírez said they are looking to have at least 500 locations to make the game more accessible.

With the added retail outlets, Ramírez feels the game will be more attractive to more people who will play the game like they play the paper lottery.