Lottery Drawings Produce $10.3 Million in Winnings in July While Scratch-Off Winners Claim $16.8 Million
July’s draw-style game winnings included one Powerball match-4 + PB prize worth $50,000 and 36 Powerball match-4 prizes totaling $3,600. There were also 18 Mega Millions match-4 prizes totaling $9,000 and 48 Mega Millions match-3 + MB prizes totaling $9,600. One-hundred-fourteen players won Lotto match-5 prizes totaling $196,925, helping to bring Lotto’s monthly total winnings to $1,569,891. Pick 3 winning tickets totaled $4,315,070 and Pick 4 winning tickets totaled $3,062,000. One player won an Easy 5 jackpot prize worth $95,371, which brought the game’s monthly total winnings to $252,677, with an additional $137,393 won on ezmatch, an instant-win option available for an additional $1.
“More than 25,000 Power Play purchasers won an extra $328,184 in addition to their regular Powerball prizes for a total of $439,864 in winnings,” Lottery President Rose Hudson said. “Also, more than 17,000 Megaplier purchasers won a bonus total of $151,564 in addition to their regular Mega Millions prizes for $217,674 in total winnings.” The $1 Power Play option offers Powerball players the chance to increase any nonjackpot prizes. 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 July were $10,378,349. 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 $16,803,144 in scratch-off cash prizes paid during July, players also claimed $3,017,852 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.
In response to the COVID-19 health crisis, Lottery claims offices opened to the public by appointment only, beginning May 18. Player prize payment options currently available can be found on its website at www.louisianalottery.com/claim. Also, prizes that were set to expire during March 24 – May 17, 2020, have had their expiration extended to Aug. 17, 2020.
While actual game performance and the amount of prizes claimed will vary from month to month, the Lottery allocated nearly 53.7% of sales to fund prizes in fiscal year 2020. At least 35% of sales was transferred to the state treasury for the Minimum Foundation Program that funds K-12 public education in Louisiana. Retailers were paid 5.6% compensation, and the Lottery retained 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 problem, to call toll-free 1-877-770-7867 for help. Ticket purchasers must be at least 21 years of age.