Lottery participation overall has been sliding generally downward for the past 15 years, but the decline in fiscal 2010 — from 41.7 percent of residents to 33.8 percent — represents the second-largest year-to-year decrease since the Texas Lottery started in 1993. The rate of participation fell 9 percentage points between 2003 and 2004.
Significant declines showed up in nearly every measurement of 2010 lottery participation, according to the annual study, which looks at who plays Lotto, Pick 3, instant scratch-off tickets and other state-sponsored games of chance. Every geographic region of the state saw a decline in the percentage of people playing, as did most every game managed by the Lottery Commission.
Overall, the percentage of Texans who reported playing the lottery has fallen by more than half since 1995, when more than 70 percent of Texans played the games that raise money for the state's public schools.
Lottery officials said the numbers were not necessarily a surprise, or even all bad news.US News Paper
