Lottery Drawings Produce $8.5 Million in Winnings in April While Scratch-Off Winners Claim $12.3 Million
April’s draw-style game winnings included 66 Powerball match-4 prizes totaling $6,600 and 115 match-3 + PB prizes totaling $11,500. There were also 19 Mega Millions match-4 prizes totaling $9,500 and 90 match-3 + MB prizes totaling $4,500. One player won a $1,499,022 Lotto jackpot prize and 134 players won Lotto match-5 prizes totaling $260,607, helping to bring Lotto’s monthly total winnings to $2,254,649. Pick 3 winning tickets totaled $2,012,940 and Pick 4 winning tickets totaled $2,839,900.
Three players won Easy 5 jackpot prizes totaling $224,228 and 231 players won match-4 prizes totaling $23,100, which brought the game’s monthly total winnings to $367,480 with an additional $132,112 won on ezmatch, an instant-win option available for an additional $1.
“More than 25,000 Power Play purchasers won a bonus total of $188,128 in addition to their regular Powerball prizes,” Lottery President Rose Hudson said. “Over 25,000 Megaplier purchasers won a bonus total of $135,347 in addition to their regular Mega Millions prizes.” 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 April were $8,526,704. 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 $12,346,898 in scratch-off cash prizes paid during April, players also claimed $1,899,786 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 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 at least 5 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.