Lottery Drawings Produce $11.8 Million in Winnings in May While Scratch-Off Winners Claim $12.2 Million
May’s draw-style game winnings included one Powerball with Power Play match-4 + PB prize of $150,000; two Powerball with Power Play match-4 + PB prizes of $100,000; three Powerball match-4 + PB prizes totaling $150,000 and 73 Powerball match-4 prizes totaling $7,300. There was also one Mega Millions with Megaplier match-4 + MB prize of $4 million; one Mega Millions with Megaplier match-4 + MB prize of $20,000; one Mega Millions match-4 + MB prize of $10,000 and 30 Mega Millions match-4 prizes totaling $15,000. One hundred sixty-four players won Lotto match-5 prizes totaling $318,934, helping to bring Lotto’s monthly total winnings to $931,230. Pick 3 winning tickets totaled $2,898,710 and Pick 4 winning tickets totaled $1,806,000.
Three players won Easy 5 jackpot prizes totaling $234,589, which brought the game’s monthly total winnings to $373,108 with an additional $128,319 won on ezmatch, an instant-win option available for an additional $1.
“Over 32,000 Power Play purchasers won a bonus total of $448,261 in addition to their regular Powerball prizes, including the three Powerball with Power Play match-4 + PB winners,” Lottery President Rose Hudson said. “Over 16,000 Megaplier purchasers won a bonus total of $3,143,306 in addition to their regular Mega Millions prizes, including the $4 million Mega Millions with Megaplier match-4 + MB winner.” The Power Play option offers Powerball players the chance to increase any nonjackpot winnings. The $1 Megaplier add-on multiplies nonjackpot Mega Millions prizes by a multiplier number selected during the drawing.
In total, draw-style game winnings from drawings held in May were $11,810,100. Lottery draw-style game players have 180 days from the date of the drawing to claim the winnings from those tickets.
“We encourage players to sign the back of their tickets immediately after purchasing and to check them promptly after the drawing. Even if a ticket does not win the jackpot, it could have won another prize,” Hudson added.
In addition to $12,222,658 in scratch-off cash prizes paid during May, players also claimed $2,030,154 worth of free-ticket prizes. According to Lottery policy, scratch-off games are closed when all top prizes are claimed, and scratch-off players have 90 days from the official game closure date to redeem a winning ticket. A list of current scratch-off games, prizes remaining and claim deadlines can be found on its website, www.louisianalottery.com/scratch-offs.
While actual game performance and the amount of prizes claimed will vary from month to month, the Lottery allocates nearly 53.4 percent of sales to fund prizes. At least 35 percent of sales is transferred to the state treasury for the Minimum Foundation Program that funds K-12 public education in Louisiana. Retailers are paid 5.6 percent compensation, and the Lottery retains approximately 6 percent of sales to operate.
Hudson reminded ticket purchasers to play responsibly, encouraging anyone who has a gambling problem, or friends and family of anyone with a gambling problem, to call toll-free 1-877-770-7867 for help. Ticket purchasers must be at least 21 years of age.
