California State Lottery

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The California State Lottery began on November 6, 1984 after California residents passed Proposition 37, the California Lottery Act, authorizing the creation of a state lottery.

The minimum age to purchase lottery tickets in California is 18.

Contents

[edit] Lottery Act

The lottery act was passed to provide extra money to schools without imposing additional taxes. Thus, the California State Lottery is mandated to provide at least 34% of its revenues to public education, supplementing, (not replacing), funds provided by the state.

A mandated minimum of 84% of all funds must be given back to the public in the form of money given towards education or prizes. Of the 84%, 50% must be given back in the form of prizes, the rest may be given towards education (making up part of the 34%) or more in prizes.

A maximum of 16% is to be spent on administration, such as running the games, wages, etc.

The Lottery Act mandates that a commission, appointed by the Governor, is to operate and administer the lottery.

California, by law, is a pari-mutuel state, meaning that prize values are not fixed, but are dependent on sales and number of winning tickets. However, the Lottery has recently set fixed prize levels for its Hot Spot game, and is clear that, for this game, the pari-mutuel rule will no longer be enforced.

[edit] History

The California State Lottery began on November 6, 1984 after California residents passed Proposition 37, the California Lottery Act, authorizing the creation of a state lottery with a majority (58%) supporting the act.

California joined Mega Millions on June 22, 2005 becoming the 12th state to join the multi-state lottery. A draw was held in Hollywood, CA to commemorate the event.

[edit] Games & game info

[edit] SuperLotto Plus

Further information: California Super Lotto

SuperLotto Plus allows you to pick 5 numbers, 1 through 47 and a final number, called a MEGA number, 1 through 27. The game costs $1 to play. You may pick up to 6 numbers per playslip. Drawn every Wednesday and Saturday at 7:57pm.

SuperLotto Plus began as "Lotto" in the mid-to-late 80s. One decade later, it went through the transformation to "SuperLotto," and was changed to its current format in the early 2000s.

[edit] MEGA Millions

MEGA Millions allows you to pick 5 numbers, 1 through 56, and a final number, called a MEGA number, 1 through 46. The game costs $1 to play. You may pick 2-8, 16, or 20 extra plays during your purchase. Drawn every Tuesday and Friday at 8pm US Pacific time, 11pm US Eastern Time.

[edit] Daily 3

Daily 3 allows you to pick a set of 3 numbers, zero through nine, and choose a playstyle: straight, box, or straight/box. The game costs $1 to play. You may choose up to 14 extra plays during your purchase. There are two draws every day which are televised at 6:59pm.

[edit] Scratchers

Scratchers are scratchcard lottery games that you scratch off a top layer to see if you won a prize. The prizes are smaller than other lottery games, but there are better odds (averaging 1:5). There are currently 37 types of scratchers, ranging in price from US$1 to US$5.

For example, in the 2006 Happy Holidays $1 scratchers series, the player scratches off to reveal the 6 prize numbers, ranging from $5.00 to $1000. If three of the six numbers are the same, the player wins that prize. There is also an "quick $10 spot". If there is a 10 under that spot, the player wins $10.

[edit] Daily Derby

Daily Derby is a mock horse racing betting system. You choose three horses, one to finish first, one to finish second and one to finish third. You then choose a time from 1:40:00 to 1:49:99 as your race time. You mark the last three digits of the race time on your playslip. You may choose from 7-14 extra plays during your purchase. The game costs $2 to play. Drawn every day at 6:35pm and televised at 6:59pm.

[edit] Hot Spot

Hot Spot works by choosing how many plays you want per ticket from 2,3,5, or 8. You then pick a number one through eighty to bet on. You finally choose how much money you would like to spend: US$1, US$2, US$3, US$4, US$5, US$10, US$20. You can choose up to 100 consecutive draws which occur every five minutes from 06:05 until 02:00 the next day. Many lottery retailers have monitors that display Hot Spot drawings and recent results from other lottery games.

[edit] Fantasy 5

Fantasy 5 allows you to pick five numbers 1 through 39. You can pick up to 5 plays per ticket, and up to 12 advance plays per ticket. Tickets cost $1 per play. Drawn every day at 6:35pm and televised at 6:59pm.

[edit] The Big Spin

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The Big Spin is a television Game show. The top prize is fixed at $3,000,000.00.

[edit] Payment Options

All prizes on scratchers, Fantasy 5, Daily Derby, Daily 3, and non-jackpot Super Lotto Plus and Mega Millions prizes, are paid out in one payment, less 25% Federal taxes if the prize is over $600. California recently stopped deducting State Tax on lottery winnings. For Super Lotto Plus and Mega Millions jackpots, the player may choose a single cash payout for 40%-50% of the jackpot, or a 26-year annuity. The Super Lotto Plus annuity payment schedule is on a graduated basis, (every year the payment is slightly more than the previous year, such that the 25th payment is twice as much as the first), whereas payments in the Mega Millions annuity are the same every year.

[edit] External links

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