It's the final countdown for people looking to buy tickets for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Applications for the first phase of the coveted ducats must be submitted by this Friday, Nov. 7, and, according to Burnaby ticket broker Kingsley Bailey, this is the best opportunity to secure tickets.

"If you want to catch the Olympic spirit," said the owner of Vancouver Tour and Tickets, "you'd better get your application in and hope you win the lottery."

The lottery Bailey is referring to is the one Vanoc officials will hold later this month to see who gets the right to purchase tickets to oversubscribed events such as the opening and closing ceremonies and the men's and women's gold-medal ice hockey games. And even winning the lottery will not be cheap, as the best tickets to the men's hockey final are $775, plus service charges, and the best tickets to the opening ceremonies have a face value of $1,100, plus service charges. In this case, winning the lottery doesn't mean you win any money, only the right to spend lots of money for highly desired tickets.

Bailey is no stranger to the Olympic spirit, having moved from Toronto to Calgary in 1988 to attend and work the Winter Olympics.

"I was just starting out in ticket reselling, and the Olympics were just a huge event," he said.