Lotto South

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Lotto South was a U.S. multi-state lottery game in Georgia, Kentucky, and Virginia. It resulted from the merger of the three states' main games (Lotto Georgia, Lotto Kentucky, and Lotto Virginia) in September 2001. This was done to increase the size of the advertised jackpot by pooling them. Interestingly, the 6/49 matrix (the largest of the three games it replaced) of Virginia's game was not expanded.

Like Lotto Virginia, drawings took place at the WTVR-TV studios in Richmond, Virginia. As with its predecessors, it was drawn each Wednesday and Saturday. The drawing time was 11:00PM eastern time (10:00PM central) with host Mikki Spencer. Jackpots started at $2 million and usually increased by $500,000 or $1 million if no one won. It was administered jointly by the three states.

Its record jackpot was US$27 million won on December 31, 2005.

In January 2006, it was announced that the game would be retired, and its final drawing took place on February 25. The jackpot of $4,500,000 was not won. As a result, the lower tier prizes only doubled, instead of rolling down the entire jackpot pool. The three states' lotteries kept the remainder of the jackpot money.

Unlike Lotto South, in which all jackpot winners could choose cash (the vast majority did), its replacement does not offer a cash option. That game, in, turn, may be coming to an end; Kentucky, a Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) member, is considering switching to Hot Lotto (a smaller version of Powerball) in its 2009 fiscal year.