Lottery Drawings Produce $11.6 Million in Winnings in August While Scratch-Off Winners Claim $12.8 Million
August’s draw-style game winnings included one Powerball match-5 + Power Play prize of $2 million, two Powerball match-4 + PB + Power Play prizes of $200,000, six Powerball match-4 + PB prizes totaling $300,000 and 207 Powerball match-4 prizes totaling $20,700. There were also six Mega Millions match-4 + MB prizes of $5,000 and 34 Mega Millions match-4 prizes totaling $17,000. One player won a Lotto jackpot worth $525,000 and 103 players won Lotto match-5 prizes totaling $222,300, helping to bring Lotto’s monthly total winnings to $1,174,698. Pick 3 winning tickets totaled $2,199,360 and Pick 4 winning tickets totaled $2,141,100.
One player won an Easy 5 jackpot worth $113,938 and 283 Easy 5 players won match-4 prizes totaling $28,300, which brought the game’s monthly total winnings to $276,445 with an additional $143,113 won on ezmatch, an instant-win option available for an additional $1.
“Over 70,000 Power Play purchasers won a bonus total of $2,035,104 in addition to their regular Powerball prizes, including the $2 million match-5 winner and the two $200,000 match-4 + PB winners,” Lottery President Rose Hudson said. “Over 48,000 Megaplier purchasers won a bonus total of $240,805 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 August were $11,632,902. 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 $12,831,513 in scratch-off cash prizes paid during August, players also claimed $1,852,965 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.