AUSTIN (December 21, 2010)—The numbers of Texans playing lottery games have fallen almost 10 percent in 2010, according to numbers published by the state’s lottery commission.

A report published Tuesday morning in the Austin American-Statesman says the decline is due to the struggling economy.

The percentage of Texans playing has slipped to about one-third to what the Texas Lottery Commission says that's the lowest level ever
measured by the agency.

Fiscal 2010 saw a decline from 41.7 percent of Texas residents taking their chances with lottery games, to 33.8 percent playing.

That's the second-largest year-to-year decrease since the Texas
Lottery started in 1993.

The rate of participation fell 9 percent between 2003 and 2004.

Lottery Commissioner J. Winston Krause blames the decline on the
poor economy.

The commission on Dec. 14 announced a new nine-year contract
with lottery operator GTECH Corp.