Connecticut Lottery

The Connecticut Lottery Corporation, also called the CT Lottery, is the official lottery in Connecticut. It was created in 1971 by then-Gov. Thomas Meskill, who signed Public Act No. 865. The first tickets were sold on February 15, 1972.^[1] The Connecticut Lottery offers five regular in-house drawing games (not including the recurring game Super Draw.) Connecticut also participates in Mega Millions and Powerball; each are played in 44 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Regularly-drawn Connecticut-only games

Drawings are broadcast on WCCT-TV, channel 20, the CW affiliate in the Hartford/New Haven television market.

Play3

A three-digit numbers game-style game drawn twice daily, with day and night drawings. Tickets can be bought in 50-cent multiples. Bets include straight (all three digits in order), box (all three digits in any order) and pairs.^[2]

Play4

A four-digit numbers game similar to Play3.^[3]

Cash5

Cash5 is a nightly five-number game. The winning numbers are chosen from a field of 35. The basic Cash5 game costs $1; for an additional 50 cents, the Kicker option is activated. The Kicker option gives a player more opportunities to win.^[4]

Lotto!

Connecticut's in-house jackpot game, Lotto!, is drawn Tuesdays and Friday nights. Six numbers are drawn from a field of 44; the 6/44 matrix has been used continuously since 1989, when the game's name was its original name, Connecticut Lotto (without an exclamation point.)

The minimum jackpot is $1,000,000 (annuitized; payable in 21 equal yearly installments unless the cash option is chosen.) Unusually, the Lotto! jackpot does not automatically increase if not won, although when sales permit, the jackpot increases by at least $100,000 per drawing until won.^[5] Players win $2 by matching three of the six numbers drawn; a parimutuel prize is won with at least four numbers.

What is now Lotto! began in 1983 as Connecticut Lotto, a 6/36 game. The matrix was changed to 6/40 in 1986, and to the current 6/44 in 1989. (The original logos for the game were 36, 40, or 44 yellow squares forming a rectangle, reflecting the then-current game matrix.) The cash option was added in 1997. The game became Wild Card Lotto in 1998 (adding a seventh ball, which was used for additional lower-tier prizes, but not for the jackpot). Due to slumping sales, Wild Card Lotto was dropped and Classic Lotto introduced, during Memorial Day weekend in 1999.

The name Classic Lotto was retired on Saturday, March 9, 2013 (which did not coincide with it being drawn), as the game's name became Lotto! the next day, although the format was not changed. (Lotto! tickets, including Advance Action, purchased on or before March 9, 2013 have "Classic Lotto" printed on them, but were valid for draw(s) under the new name. As the 6/44 matrix was not changed, "Classic Lotto" bet slips can still be used.)

Other draw games

5 Card Cash

On May 4, 2014, the Connecticut Lottery began sales of its newest draw game, 5 Card Cash. This game, the first of its kind in Connecticut, combines an "instant" game with a more traditional (albeit with "playing cards" instead of numbers) drawing-style game. The first drawing was held on May 5, 2014, in keeping with the "five" theme.

Each play costs $2. There are no play slips, multi-game tickets, or advance play. A ticket (quick-pick only) wins instantly if it matches a poker hand (straight, flush, or "jacks-or-better." Prizes in the "instant" game range from $3 to $5,555. Additionally, while a "lower" pair does not win immediately, a pair of 5s wins a free 5 Card Cash ticket.

The draw-game portion requires a player to match at least three of the five cards drawn. Matching three cards wins $20; four cards, $555. Matching all five cards wins (or shares) $255,555.

Lucky Links

The state's newest draw game, Lucky Links, went on sale Sunday, April 26, 2015. It has elements of bingo and tic-tac-toe; each ticket contains eight numbers, with a "$" free space in the middle. Each play costs $2. The player must make at least two complete horizontal, vertical, or diagonal lines to win a cash prize. If the player completes the board (matching all eight printed numbers), they win $50,000. A doubler option, for an extra $1 (called "2X Power"), lets a player double their prize for matching three to six lines. Prizes are $5 (2 lines), $10 (3 lines), $50 (4 lines), $100 (5 lines), $1000 (6 lines), and $50,000 (all 8 lines). The chance of winning a prize is 1 in 8.4; the chance of winning the top prize is 1 in 319,770. Tickets can be replayed, and Advance Action is available (up to 26 drawings, starting with the next available drawing.) Drawings are held daily at 1:45 PM and 10:15 PM Eastern time. Only the Monday through Friday drawings are televised. No play slips are used; the game is sold as a Quick Pick only.

Multi-jurisdictional drawing games

Mega Millions

Connecticut began selling Mega Millions tickets January 31, 2010, following a 2009 agreement in which lotteries then offering either Mega Millions or Powerball were allowed to offer both games. Connecticut is among 46 lotteries selling Mega Millions tickets.^[6] Mega Millions plays are $1 each, or $2 with the Megaplier option.

On October 19, 2013, Mega Millions unveiled its newest format; players choose 5 of 75 white ball numbers, and a "Mega Ball", numbered 01 through 15. Jackpots begin at $15,000,000 with minimum rollovers of $5,000,000. Jackpot winners choose either 30 graduated annual payments (increasing 5% per annum) or the cash value option. Other prizes range from $1 to $1,000,000.

The Megaplier option, which doubles the cost of a ticket, multiplies non-jackpot winnings by 2, 3, 4, or 5; a second-prize (all five white balls but not also the "Mega Ball") wager can win $5,000,000 cash.

As of February 10, 2014, Connecticut has yet to produce a Mega Millions jackpot winner.

Lucky For Life

In 2009, Connecticut began a $2-per-play game called Lucky4Life. Three years later, the game became Lucky For Life (drawing five numbers from the first machine), expanding to include Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; its "nickname" became New England′s Game.

The last regional version began September 17, 2013. Players chose 5 of 43 "white ball" numbers, and a green "Lucky Ball" from a second set of 43. For the first time; winners of either lifetime annuity prize could choose cash in lieu of the periodic payments.

Lucky for Life became a "quasi-national" game on January 27, 2015. The game has added 10 lotteries, making it available in 15 states and the District of Columbia. Players choose 5 of 48 "white balls" and from 18 "Lucky Balls." Top prize is $1,000-per-day-for-life (with a $5,750,000 cash option); second prize is $1,000-per-week-for-life, with a $390,000 cash option. (A similar game, Cash4Life, began in June 2014 in New York and New Jersey; it added Pennsylvania and Virginia in 2015).

Powerball

Connecticut has been a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) since 1995.^[6] MUSL is the operator of Powerball, which is offered by 44 lotteries.^[7] A jackpot of $254.2 million was won in the November 2, 2011, drawing by one ticket, sold in Fairfield County. Three men claimed the ticket; it was the largest prize in Connecticut Lottery history.^[8]

On January 15, 2012, Powerball became a $2-per-play game; $3 with Power Play. (Mega Millions remains a $1 game; $2 with Megaplier.)

Replay feature

The two large data matrix barcodes on this ticket are used to activate the Replay feature on Connecticut Lottery terminals.

The Connecticut Lottery, in April 2011, began its "Replay" option; players can use old tickets, in lieu of betting cards, to repeat number selections played in the appropriate games.^[2] The replay feature makes use of either of the two large data matrix barcodes found on Connecticut Lottery tickets. They contain information such as the game played and the numbers selected..

Scratch games

The Connecticut Lottery offers numerous scratchcard games with price points of $1, $2, $3, $5, $10, $20, and $30, with differing themes and prize levels.

Beginning with the April 8, 2013 launch of its 19th version of Win for Life, all prizes in Connecticut Lottery scratch games can, or will, be paid in lump sum (some games' top prizes are annuitized with a cash option. None of the winners of previous versions of Connecticut "lifetime" scratch games could receive their prize in cash.) ^[9]

1998 shootings

On March 6, 1998, there was a fatal shooting at Connecticut Lottery headquarters, which then was in Newington. (Lottery headquarters currently are 777 Brook Street in Rocky Hill.) A Lottery employee, Matt Beck, armed with a 9mm Glock pistol with a 19-round magazine, killed four of his supervisors, and then himself.^[10]

References

External links

• Connecticut Lottery official site