Hotline for "immature" lottery addicts

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has set up its first help center for lottery addicts that offers counseling and legal assistance, the Beijing Morning Post said Friday.

Lotteries have become hugely popular among the poor and newly rich in China, where many forms of gambling are banned.

The service will be run by the lottery research center at Peking University and will include a hotline for "problem ticket holders" to call.

"Problem buyers are those whose lottery ticket buying has a negative or destructive impact on themselves, their families or their careers," Wang Xuehong, director of the center, was quoted as saying.

"Most people who buy lottery tickets in China are not mentally mature, and they still hold the belief that they can be rich overnight."

Earlier this month, a lottery ticket seller was jailed for life for taking advantage of a system flaw to cash 28 million yuan ($3.76 million) in winning tickets.

(Reporting by Beijing newsroom, editing by Nick Macfie)