New high-tech way to play lottery eliminates long lines, scraping for change

ATLANTA — There’s a new way to take a chance on Tuesday's Mega Millions Jackpot and Wednesday night’s Powerball: Prepaid lottery gift cards.

Georgia State University students Mariah Washington and Kolbie Johnson said they simply don’t have the time when it comes to playing the lottery the old-fashioned way.

"Some of us are kind of impatient. We don't want to wait in line to get a lottery ticket. Our chances are very slim. We don't have time for that. We have other things to do in life,” Washington said.

"I just have so many other things going on, that going into a store to buy a ticket is so out of the way to do something like that,” Johnson said.

They’re not the only ones.

"If you're like me, when you see the higher jackpots, that's when you choose to play the lottery, and that's also when everyone else chooses to play the lottery. And it gets close to 10 o'clock and there's a line like a mile out the door," a lottery player told Channel 2 Action News.

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John Houseal of Buckhead tech company Linq3 said there’s another way.

The lottery gift cards are currently available at Kroger and Target stores across Georgia.

The prepaid card allows buyers to play, possibly win, and get paid through their smart phones. Houseal said the ‘cool factor’ appears to be a hit with millennials.

Washington and Johnson said it might work with their generation.

"It's more like they're coming to you. So you don't have to go online to check and make a point to do all that. So, I feel like it's a lot less work. I would definitely be more interested in getting a ticket because of it,” Johnson said.

Cox Media Group