Phillip Caple won't even have to think about which numbers he will play today when the Tennessee Lottery debuts its first pingpong ball drawing game, Cash 3.
His list goes back to the day he was born.
The retired Brentwood obstetrician plans to use combinations of his birthdate - Dec. 8, 1948 - along with those of his wife and three children for the first several tickets he buys.
"Hope springs eternal,'' Caple said last week after redeeming $23 in winning scratchoff tickets at a Mapco convenience store in Brentwood. "I like to pick my own. I'm superstitious that way.''
That's the draw of Cash 3, says lottery chief Rebecca Paul.
"The biggest difference is in the online games you get to pick your own numbers,'' Paul said. "If you've got a favorite number, you can play it.
"Your birthday, your kids' birthdays, your grade-point average, whatever.''
In Cash 3, a game common to other state lotteries, a player pays between 50 cents and $1 to pick three numbers from zero to nine in hopes of matching them with those drawn that evening by the lottery. Winners will receive prizes ranging from $40 to $500.
Monday's drawing is set for 6:28 p.m. and will air on television stations across the state. It will be the first of several number games introduced - and a prep course in online gaming before the start of the multistate Powerball, which Tennessee will join by early summer.
Editor's note: 'online gaming' is a lottery industry term meaning lottery games bought through a lottery machine in a store, not games played over the Internet.
At the Brentwood Mapco where Caple bought his scratchoff tickets, manager Debbie Anthony is looking forward to increased revenue from the new game.
"The more people in my store, the better. They might grab some gum or a drink (as well), so I love it,'' she said, adding that scratchoff sales alone have increased her daily customer base by 1,000 people.
"We're hoping for another 500 a day with Cash 3,'' she said.
While Cash 3 will be the only drawing game available until Powerball begins, Paul says, the lottery dventually could offer a range of choices similar to those sold in other states.
The Georgia Lottery, which Paul headed before leaving to start Tennessee's games, currently offers six online choices, including two that involve several states: Mega Millions and Lotto South. And in South Carolina, the most recent state before Tennessee to begin a lottery, players can choose between four, including Powerball.
But Paul said players here shouldn't expect Tennessee to have a comparable number of games too quickly.
"We need to get these two under our belts first, and then go from there,'' she said, adding that another state online game could begin as soon as late fall.
Cash 3 drawings will be aired nightly on the following television stations: WMC Channel 5 in Memphis, WBBJ Channel 7 in Jackson, WTVC Channel 9 in Chattanooga, WBIR Channel 10 in Knoxville, WKPT Channel 19 in Kingsport and WKRN Channel 2 in Nashville, which will produce, promote and host the show.
The lottery hopes to raise $88 million by July 1 to fund scholarships for an estimated 65,000 students expected to attend Tennessee colleges and universities next fall.
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