Lottery Drawings Produce $8 Million in Winnings in October While Scratch-Off Winners Claim $11.5 Million
October’s draw-style game winnings included one Powerball with Power Play match-5 prize worth $2 million, three Powerball match-4 + PB prizes totaling $150,000 and 35 Powerball match-4 prizes totaling $3,500. There was also one Mega Millions with Megaplier match-4 + MB prize worth $30,000 and 24 Mega Millions match-4 prizes totaling $12,000. One hundred players won Lotto match-5 prizes totaling $207,604, helping to bring Lotto’s monthly total winnings to $598,800. Pick 3 winning tickets totaled $2,247,280 and Pick 4 winning tickets totaled $1,804,000.
There were 370 Easy 5 match-4 prizes totaling $37,000, which brought the game’s monthly total winnings to $243,594 with an additional $148,185 won on ezmatch, an instant-win option available for an additional $1.
“More than 25,000 Power Play purchasers won an extra $1,141,215 in addition to their regular Powerball prizes,” Lottery President Rose Hudson said. “More than 16,000 Megaplier purchasers won a bonus total of $124,112 in addition to their regular Mega Millions prizes.” The $1 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 October were $8,046,822. 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 $11,556,961 in scratch-off cash prizes paid during October, players also claimed $1,954,267 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 53.7% of sales to fund prizes. At least 35% 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% compensation, and the Lottery retains less than 6% 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