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Once you know what winning numbers were drawn or have finished scratching your scratch-off, there are several different ways to find out whether your ticket is a winner and if so, how much you have won.

The Lottery recommends that players familiarize themselves with all of the winning combinations of the particular game that they are playing. These can be found on all the game pages of this website. Also, "How to Play" brochures, located in the Lottery's play centers at Lottery retailers describe how each drawing game is won.

Finally, your Lottery retailer can scan your ticket to determine whether it is a winner. Watch the Customer Display Unit when having your ticket checked. It will tell you whether or not your ticket is a winner and if so, the winning amount. For tickets that win more than $600 (the maximum amount a retailer can cash), the display will direct you to a Lottery office to claim your prize.

You can also ask your retailer to provide you with a Validation Receipt confirming the value of your ticket. Even if you are unsure if your ticket is a winner, it is a good idea to sign it.

It depends on the amount won:

Prize	How to Claim
$600 or less	Participating Lottery Retailer, any Lottery Office/Headquarters or By Mail.
More than $600	Any Lottery Office/Headquarters or By Mail. (Social Security card and Photo ID required.)
Powerball, Mega Millions and Lotto Jackpots and Prizes Over $510,000	Lottery Headquarters ONLY. Call 1-800-735-5825 for information first. If out of state, call 225-297-2003.

For more detailed information about what is required to process your claim, click here.

Winning scratch-off tickets can be claimed up to 90 days following the closure of the game. Click here for a list of closed games and end-of-redemption dates. Winning draw-style game tickets can be claimed up to 180 days following the drawing.

According to the Lottery's statute, unclaimed prize money is returned to players in the form of prizes and promotions, such as increased payouts on scratch-offs and additional second-chance promotions.

As soon as all of the top prizes in a game have been claimed, the Lottery immediately begins the process of pulling the game from retailer shelves and closing the game. Games may also be closed when all of the tickets have been substantially sold or at the discretion of the Lottery's president.

Both the federal and state government consider winnings from all forms of gaming to be income for tax purposes. By law, the Louisiana Lottery must report winnings from each single ticket with a prize value over $600 to the Internal Revenue Service and the Louisiana Department of Revenue and Taxation.

Income tax regulations require the Louisiana Lottery to withhold 25 percent federal taxes from each prize over $5,000 and 5 percent state taxes from prizes of $5,000 or more.

A gambling income statement, W2-G, is attached to all prize payment checks of $600 or more and should be retained by winners for income tax purposes.

Players should sign the back of their ticket for security purposes, secure their ticket and treat it as cash. We also recommend that players who believe they hold a jackpot-winning ticket contact the Lottery's headquarters immediately at 800-735-5825 to schedule a time to claim their prize and so that we can answer any questions they may have. This facilitates a smooth payment of a winning jackpot ticket. Players who believe they hold a jackpot-winning ticket must bring the ticket to the Lottery's corporate headquarters in Baton Rouge for verification and any prize payment. The Lottery recommends that before coming to claim a jackpot prize, winners get financial advice so they fully understand the tax or other legal implications involved.

Winners have 60 days after they claim their prize to elect either the annuity or cash payment option.

If you win more than $600 and are therefore required to claim your prize at a Lottery office, you will be required to complete a claim form for tax purposes. Under the Lottery's statue, all prize payment records are open records, meaning that the public has a right to request the information. Depending upon the amount won and public or media interest in the win, winners may NOT be able to remain anonymous. The statute also allows the Lottery to use winners' names and city of residence for publicity purposes such as news releases. The Lottery's regular practice is not to use winner information in paid advertising or product promotion without the winner's willingness to participate.

Published game odds apply to the entire game overall. They do not mean, in this case, that every fourth ticket is a winner. Lottery games are games of chance, so winning scratch-off tickets are randomly distributed throughout the game. Just imagine what would happen to the integrity of Lottery games if it was known which tickets were winners prior to their sale.

All of the Lottery's games are games of chance. Drawing games are conducted using random number generation. This means that every number combination has an EQUAL chance of being selected, REGARDLESS of whether or not it was drawn in the past. If number combinations that had been drawn in the past were removed from play, the game would be unfair.

Even assuming that number combinations could be eliminated, it would take 1,000 drawings, or 2.8 years, for every possible Pick 3 combination to be drawn. For Pick 4, it would take 10,000 drawings or 28 years.

On rare occasions, certain popular Pick 3 and Pick 4 numbers may "sell out" and cannot be purchased. Unlike other draw-style Lottery games, Pick 3 and Pick 4 pay out an established prize regardless of how many tickets are winners. In order to adequately fund these fixed prizes, the Lottery establishes a prize liability limit on these games and restricts sales of tickets for such drawings if the liability limit would be exceeded by the drawing of any particular numbers. Liability limits usually take effect when a large number of people have chosen a certain number, such as 9-1-1 after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack or 2-0-0-0 when the millennium ended. There is no need for sales restrictions on Easy 5, Lotto and Powerball numbers, since jackpots are pari-mutuel, meaning the jackpot is divided equally among all its winners.

Since joining the multistate game in March 1995, Louisiana has had a total of 14 winners. Here they are:

2/14/1996
$35,000,000
Mascaro, Et Al, A Louisiana Partnership
New Orleans, LA

2/28/1996
$21,000,000
JPHL, L.L.C.
Metairie, LA

7/17/1996
$24,000,000
Glawson Family Partnership
Lafayette, LA

8/30/1997
$25,000,000
Lemuel R. Boyer, Jr.
Ridgeland, MS

8/18/1999
$32,000,000
James M. Hambrick
Lufkin, TX

12/27/2000
$16,500,000
Tommy Lee Adams
Jacksonville, NC

3/27/2002
$48,100,000
Jerry Berggren and Cathy DeMuynck
Kenner, LA

2/22/2003
$21,000,000
Cello Investments, LLC
Belle Chase, LA

2/12/2005
$40,600,000
The Duchess Trust
Baton Rouge, LA

9/30/2006
$15,000,000
Jane Jabert
Cut Off, LA

9/29/2007
$15,000,000
William Heid Jr.
Chauvin, LA

1/16/2008
$97,000,000
Carl Hunter
Metairie, LA

5/31/2008
$34,100,000
Emilia M. Delgado
Kenner, LA

7/31/2010
$85,700,000
H & N Family Partnership
Baton Rouge, LA

The largest jackpot won in Louisiana was $97 million, claimed by Carl Hunter of Metairie in January of 2008. The largest Powerball jackpot ever won was $365 million, claimed by a group of 8 coworkers in Nebraska on February 18, 2006.

The Robert H. LeBas Family Partnership of Church Point won $21.2 million, which was the largest jackpot won on a single ticket. The largest multi-winner jackpot was $31 million and was split between Kimberly D. Hall of Bon Wier, Texas, and Roland and Marion LeBeouf Family Partnership of Houma, with each receiving $15.5 million. These jackpots were paid as annuities. The largest single-payment winner was Timothy M. Smith of Marrero, who won $15.6 million.

When a prize is claimed it becomes the property of that individual, even if the prize is paid out as an annuity. Hence, all winnings become a part of the estate of the deceased.

No. Each state participating in Powerball or Mega Millions contributes a percentage to funding the jackpot based on its sales. As in all other games, the Louisiana Lottery Corporation transfers to the state treasury 35 percent of all sales of Powerball and Mega Millions tickets at Louisiana Lottery retailer outlets no matter where the top prize is won.

Lottery tickets can be purchased 24 hours a day, seven days a week, subject to the retailer's business hours of operation. On the night of a drawing, the system takes a draw break for the games that will be drawn that evening. During a game draw break, tickets for those games cannot be purchased. For Powerball and Mega Millions, the draw break lasts from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the date of the drawing. For all other draw-style games, such as Pick 3, Pick 4, Easy 5 and Lotto, the draw break starts at 9:30 and last only a few minutes. Again, draw breaks only occur on the night of the drawing. Any tickets purchased after the draw break are good for the next regularly scheduled drawing.

Currently, 44 lotteries participate in Powerball, including Louisiana. The others are Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington D.C., West Virginia, Wisconsin and the Virgin Islands.

Winning tickets may be claimed as soon as the drawing has taken place and winning numbers and prize data from that drawing have been verified and loaded onto the retailer terminal system. For games with drawings that take place in Louisiana (Lotto, Easy 5, Pick 3 and Pick 4), this usually occurs between 9:45 p.m. and 10 p.m. For Powerball, the Lottery must have clearance from the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which oversees the game, before enabling prize payment. This typically occurs between midnight and 1 a.m. Remember, only winning tickets worth up to $600 can be paid at retailer locations.