Tens of thousands of punters have swarmed public lotto offices to buy a ticket for today's Super 5 lottery, which carries a grand prize of Lm225,367.

A Public Lotto department spokesman estimated that around 900,000 tickets, one of the record highs, will be sold for today's draw - equivalent to more than two tickets per person.

An average 250,000 Super 5 tickets are usually sold every week, at the price of 50 cents each.

The winning combination has eluded punters in recent weeks, and the excitement reached fever pitch after no one won last Wednesday's jackpot.

The prize for three numbers has been doubled (to Lm20 minimum) this week, which should prove to be an added incentive, the department spokesman said.

Of the 755,000 tickets sold for last week's lottery, a total of 178 punters guessed four numbers, winning Lm286, while 6,044 won Lm10.

The department decided two years ago that the jackpot should be capped at around Lm200,000.

Before that, a record 1.3 million tickets had been sold for the all time high jackpot of Lm272,000 in June, 1999.

The spokesman said it was difficult to calculate the exact number of tickets sold for today's draw, as the public lotto offices will be open until noon today.

In spite of the poor one in 800,000 chance of guessing the five correct numbers, the Super 5 lottery remains the most popular draw on the island.

"The Super 5 lottery remains a favourite - especially with the middle-aged. But in a week like this, everybody will try his luck," the spokesman said.

Apart from the Super 5 lottery, the Public Lotto Department organises the Tiritombla, the VAT receipts lottery, the National Lottery, and the Scratch and Win.