BY TOM SOMACH

There’s no limit to the grief some poker-themed lottery tickets are causing in the State of Massachusetts.

According to a wire service report out of the Bay State, lottery players there have given up hope that they’ll ever cash in on the $10 million “Hold ‘em Poker” scratch-off lottery ticket game the state launched more than two years ago.

Massachusetts State Lottery officials acknowledge that a few finalists have died waiting, but explain that ticket sales have been slower than expected and it may be another year before the game sells out and prizes can be drawn in the championship round, the report said.

“I’m really disgusted,” said Nicholas Zeogas, of suburban Boston, who became the second “Hold ‘em Poker” lottery ticket player in Massachusetts to move to the championship round after buying his ticket in June of 2005. “I’m 73. What if I die?”

He added that he was told the grand-prize drawing would be held in mid-2006.

The grand prize drawing is triggered when the last of about 80.6 million tickets is sold, but only about 53.2 million tickets have been sold so far, and at that rate, the drawing could be held a little more than a year from now, the report said.

“The game is successful, but it’s not as successful as what the initial estimates were,” a lottery official said. “That drawing is going to be held. It’s fair to say the drawing is still a ways off.”

Only 358 of the 560 finalists needed to finish the game have qualified so far, the report said.

Lottery officials came up with the idea of a Texas hold ‘em-themed lottery game to capitalize on the rising popularity of poker throughout the nation, the report said.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)