Lotto South
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lotto South was a multi-state lottery game in Georgia, Kentucky, and Virginia. It resulted form the merger of the three states' main games – Lotto Georgia, Lotto Kentucky, and Lotto Virginia – into one in September 2001. This was done to increase the size of the advertised jackpot by pooling them all into one.
Drawings took place at the WTVR studios in Richmond, Virginia. Like its predecessors, Lotto South was drawn each Wednesday and Saturday. The drawing time was at 11:00PM eastern time (10:00PM central in western Kentucky) with host Mikki Spencer. Jackpots started at two million dollars and usually increased by $500,000 or one million dollars for following drawings if no one won. It was administered jointly by the Georgia Lottery, Kentucky Lottery, and Virginia Lottery.
The record Lotto South jackpot was US$27 million won on December 31, 2005 to one winner in Rome, Georgia.
In January 2006, it was announced that Lotto South would be retired and replaced by a new game called Win For Life[1]. Lotto South's final drawing took place on February 25. The final jackpot of $4,500,000 was not won. As a result, the jackpot was rolled into the lower prizes.
[edit] Playing the game
To play the game, a player pays one dollar and picks six distinct numbers from 1 to 49. The player wins according to the following:
| Matches | Odds of winning |
|---|---|
| 3 of 6 numbers | 1: 57 |
| 4 of 6 numbers | 1: 1,032 |
| 5 of 6 numbers | 1: 54,201 |
| All 6 numbers | 1: 13,983,816 |
Overall odds of winning any prize are 1:54.
All prizes are parimutuel, meaning they are based upon the betting revenues for that particular drawing and will vary from drawing to drawing. Past results show that matching three numbers usually wins a prize of US$4-$5, four matching numbers has varied from the US$50's to the US$90's and sometimes reaching over US$100, and matching five numbers wins a prize of over US$600 to US$1,300, sometimes more or less.
Jackpot winners have the option of receiving an annuity prize or a single lump sum cash payment. The minimum jackpot prize is a US$2 million annuity disbursed in 30 annual payments. The lump sum payment is the present value of the annuity, which is typically approximately half the annuity value. If no one wins the jackpot, the money is added to the next drawing’s prize pool.
[edit] References
- "Three states replacing Lotto South game", Lottery Post, January 12, 2006, retrieved February 16, 2006
