The Illinois Lottery is run by the government of Illinois. The Lottery was founded in 1974, when US lotteries were confined to parts of the Northeast and Midwest.
Televised drawings are based at the West Bradley Place studios of Chicago's CW affiliate WGN-TV (channel 9), and occur twice daily, with the midday drawing at 12:40 p.m. CT during that station's noon newscast Monday-Fridays and on weekend afternoons during syndicated programming; and the evening drawing at 9:20 p.m. CT during the 9 p.m. newscast seven nights a week. The drawings are supervised by the accounting firm of E.C. Ortiz & Co., LLP and verified by the auditing firm of Mayer Hoffman McCann, P.C. Illinois' is the only lottery to have their non multi-jurisdictional drawings televised nationwide (via WGN-TV's national superstation feed WGN America).
The Illinois Lottery is one of 44 members of Mega Millions and Powerball (whose drawings are also broadcast by WGN-TV in the Chicago area and nationally on WGN America); 43 lotteries offer both games. The Lottery also offers Illinois Lotto (players pick 6 of 52 numbers) with a smaller jackpot, on a Monday-Wednesday-Saturday night drawing schedule. Pick 3 and Pick 4 numbers are drawn twice daily; the same numbers apply to those playing the same games in neighboring Iowa. Little Lotto (5/39), with a minimum jackpot of $100,000, is drawn nightly.
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Pick 3 (originally known as The Daily Game) began on February 19, 1980. It started out as a one-drawing-a-day game Mondays through Saturdays. On March 20, 1983, Pick 3 added Sunday drawings. On December 20, 1993, it expanded to 13 draws weekly. Pick 3 draws 3 sets of balls numbered 0 through 9. Prices, options, and payouts vary.
Pick 4, similar to Pick 3, began on February 16, 1982, drawing Tuesdays and Fridays. On August 27, 1984, it expanded to Mondays through Saturdays. Sunday drawings were added on March 9, 1985. On December 20, 1993, Pick 4 expanded to 13 draws weekly. It draws 4 sets of 10 balls 0 through 9. Prices, options and payouts vary.
On February 19, 1983, Illinois Lotto began as a Saturday-only game, drawing 6 of 40 balls. On May 19, 1984, it became a 6/44 game. On December 1, 1985, advance play was introduced. On January 15, 1986, Wednesday drawings were added; the game was twice-weekly through April 15, 1987. On May 7, 1988, it became a 6/54 game. On April 7, 1990, new balls and a Beitel Criterion drawing machine debuted. On August 15, 1990, Wednesday drawings were re-introduced. On January 15, 1998, the 6/54 matrix was scaled down to 6/48, featuring an all-cash jackpot that began at $1 million (previously, the jackpot was annuitized, with no cash option). On April 14, 1999, the matrix changed again to 6/52, and added a fourth prize, $3, for matching three numbers.
The odds of winning a jackpot in the current Illinois Lotto are 1:10,179,260. The starting jackpot is $2 million; players get two games for each $1 played.
On June 1, 1988, Illinois created Cash 5, which began as a 5/35 game drawn Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. On May 15, 1989, the game's name was changed to its current name. On April 6, 1990, new balls were introduced, also drawn with a Beitel Criterion machine. On November 7, 1994, the matrix was changed to 5/30. On August 4, 1998, the game expanded to Mondays through Fridays. On February 25, 2004, the game changed again, to 5/39, with jackpots beginning at $100,000, drawing seven days a week.
On September 6, 1996, six lotteries, including Illinois's, began a jackpot game then called The Big Game. Jackpots begin at $12 million. Its Megaplier option became available in Illinois in January 2011. The price of a basic Mega Millions play is $1; with Megaplier, $2.
Initially, the game's drawings were to be held at the Illinois Lottery studios; however, to entice the Georgia Lottery to switch from Powerball (Georgia wanted to offer both games for several months; instead, it was booted from Powerball within days of The Big Game startup) the game's official venue was, and is, Atlanta. (Georgia rejoined Powerball on January 31, 2010; see below for the cross-sell expansion.
Powerball began in 1992. On October 13, 2009 the Mega Millions consortium and Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) reached an agreement to cross-sell Mega Millions and Powerball in US lottery jurisdictions. On January 31, 2010, Illinois began selling tickets for both games.
As with Mega Millions, games are $1 or $2 each. In January 2012, Powerball games will cost $2 each, or $3 with Power Play.
For just over a year, Illinois offered a second jackpot game, Lotto 7. It was drawn on Wednesdays. Jackpots were annuitized; there was never a cash option.
Multiple scratch games in varying amounts and themes are offered by the lottery, including games based on licensed properties such as the NBC game show Deal or No Deal. Chicago sports teams also have tie-ins with the Lottery.
Proceeds from the Illinois Lottery and unclaimed prizes are distributed to support education and schools in Illinois.
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