This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(March 2018) |
Formation | November 15, 1982 [1] [2] |
---|---|
Type | Lottery System |
Headquarters | Olympia, Washington, U.S. |
Website | www |
Washington's Lottery is the lottery system for the U.S. state of Washington, run by the state government. Its games include Mega Millions, Powerball, Keno, Lotto, Hit 5, Match 4, Pick 3, and scratch games.
The bill (H.B. 1251) creating the lottery was passed by the state legislature in 1982 (House on June 30, 1982; Senate on July 1, 1982) [3] [4] and signed by governor John Spellman on July 16. [5] [6] Washington became the sixteenth state with a lottery and only the second in the Western U.S., joining Arizona. [5]
It was launched four months later with a one-dollar scratch ticket game titled "Pot O'Gold Instant Lottery," which began on November 15, 1982. [1] [2] [7] [8] What is now Pick 3 began in January 1984, [9] and Lotto six months later in July, with a weekly drawing on Saturday, [10] a second drawing on Wednesday was added on November 18, 1987, [11] and a third on Monday on February 14, 2005.
Washington's Lottery offers several draw games, plus scratch ticket games. The list of draw games:
Game | Matrice(s) | Prize range |
---|---|---|
Mega Millions | 5 of 70 + 1 of 25 [12] | $1†, $2†, $5†, $5†, $500†, $5,000†, $1,000,000†, or Jackpot(begins at $20 million) |
Powerball | 5 of 69 + 1 of 26 | $4♠, $7♠, $100♠, $50,000♠, $1,000,000♠, or Jackpot(begins at $20 million) |
Lotto | 6 of 49 | $3 through Jackpot(begins at $1 million) |
Hit 5 | 5 of 42 | Free ticket through Cashpot(begins at $100,000) |
Daily Keno | 10 of 80; 20 numbers drawn | Prizes vary by number of 'spots' picked and matched. |
Match 4 | 4 of 24 | $2, $20, or $10,000 |
Pick 3 (known as Triple Choice from 1984-87, then The Daily Game from 1987-2020) | 3 digits from 0-9 | Prizes vary by betting style. |
Cash Pop | 1 of 15 | prizes range from 5 to 250 times the wager amount from $1 to $10. |
Laws prohibit any game from being drawn more than once daily.
† These prizes are multiplied by 2, 3, 4, or 5 if the Megaplier option was activated (this option, initially used only in Texas, was introduced to Washington's Lottery in January 2011).
♠ In January 2012, the Power Play multiplier was retired; non-jackpot prizes have fixed values regardless of whether the option was activated. In the case of second prize, a Power Play wager wins $2,000,000 cash.
A list of scratch ticket games can be found *here
This is a partial list games that have been retired and when they were active.
Name | Dates | Rules |
---|---|---|
Quinto | 1990-March 2007 | 5 of 52 cards |
Lotto Plus | May 1, 2002 - October 4, 2003 | 5 of 43; + 1 of 23 |
Quinto, for a brief period, had an add-on game called Beat the State.
For its 25th anniversary in 2007, the Lottery held its first raffle, 375,000 tickets were sold, with three prizes of $1 million, four of $100,000, and 350 of $1,000. In the first drawing, all tickets were sold. In spring 2008, a second raffle was held, however, over 100,000 tickets were unsold. The cost of a ticket in both raffles was $20.
Many U.S. lotteries draw some games, such as pick-3, at least twice daily. However, local law prohibits Washington's Lottery from drawing any of its games more than once daily. This explains why its Keno is not drawn every few minutes, unlike a growing number of lotteries.
Washington was the tenth state lottery to join Mega Millions and sales began on September 6, 2002.[ citation needed ]
In April 2009, both houses of the state legislature passed a bill to allow Washington's Lottery to sell Powerball tickets, to take effect 90 days after the governor's signature, and sales began on February 3, 2010. Minimum age to purchase lottery tickets in Washington is 18.
The Georgia Lottery Corporation, known as the Georgia Lottery, is overseen by the government of Georgia, United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the lottery takes in over US$1 billion yearly. By law, half of the money goes to prizes, one-third to education, and the remainder to operating and marketing the lottery. The education money funds the HOPE Scholarship, and has become a successful model for other lotteries, including the South Carolina Education Lottery.
The Pennsylvania Lottery is operated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Lottery was created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly on August 26, 1971; two months later, Henry Kaplan was appointed as its first executive director. The Pennsylvania Lottery sold its first tickets on March 7, 1972 and drew its first numbers on March 15, 1972.
The California State Lottery began in October 1985 after voters authorized it in Proposition 37, the California State Lottery Act of 1984. It offers a range of games including number draws, scratchcards and a mock horse race. The earnings provide supplementary funding for public education.
Tri-State Lottery is the terminal-generated game series offered by the Maine, New Hampshire, and/or Vermont lotteries. It was the first multi-jurisdictional lottery. Its first multi-state game came in September 1985. The compact includes five games: Megabucks ; Pick 3 and Pick 4, Gimme 5, and Fast Play ; the latter are games that differ among the three states.
The Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) is an American non-profit, government-benefit association owned and operated by agreement of its 34-member lotteries. MUSL was created to facilitate the operation of multi-jurisdictional lottery games, most notably Powerball.
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The Maine Lottery is run by the government of Maine. It is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), whose flagship game is Powerball. It was founded in 1974 after being approved through a voter referendum.
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The Michigan Lottery was initiated under the authority of Public Act 239 in 1972, and collects funds to support Michigan’s public school system.
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A lottery is a form of gambling which involves selling numbered tickets and giving prizes to the holders of numbers drawn at random. Lotteries are outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing their own national (state) lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation by governments, like allowing or prohibiting online sales of tickets.