Lottery Drawings Produce $7.3 Million in Winnings in September While Scratch-Off Winners Claim $10.8 Million

BATON ROUGE – From purchasing a new truck to paying a hunting lease, Louisiana Lottery players had exciting plans for some of the more than $10.8 million in scratch-off prizes claimed in September. The Lottery also reported more than $7.3 million won during drawings held in September.

September’s draw-style game winnings included five Powerball match-4 + Powerball prizes for a total of $250,000 and 53 match-4 prizes totaling $5,300. There were also two Mega Millions match-4 + Mega Ball prizes of $5,000 and 48 match-4 prizes totaling $24,000. One-hundred-three players won Lotto match-5 prizes totaling $178,296, helping to bring Lotto’s monthly total winnings to $521,883. Pick 3 winning tickets totaled $1,749,290 and Pick 4 winning tickets totaled $3,423,300.

Two players won Easy 5 jackpot prizes for a total of $161,369, which brought the game’s monthly total winnings to $280,812 with an additional $111,053 won on ezmatch, an instant-win option available for an additional $1.  

“More than 23,000 Power Play purchasers won a bonus total of $181,525 in addition to their regular Powerball prizes,” Lottery President Rose Hudson said. “Over 30,000 Megaplier purchasers won a bonus total of $148,920, 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 September were $7,345,006. 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 $10,885,905 in scratch-off cash prizes paid during September, players also claimed $1,697,183 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.