Wild Card (lottery)
Wild Card is a lottery game that is available in Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. It is administered by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which is best known for Powerball. Wild Card is drawn Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The original version of the game began in 1998; it was known as Wild Card, and lasted 15 months. The game's format was changed, with a "2" added to the name, in May 1999; Nebraska dropped out upon the format change. North Dakota joined when that state's lottery began in 2004. In late 2015, the "2" was dropped from the name, although the game itself was not altered.
Format
Under the current format, whose first drawing was on January 16, 2013, players get two games for each $1 wagered; games must be played in pairs. Each game is played in the same manner as Mega Millions or Powerball (the four lotteries each offer both games); five numbers from 1 through 33 are selected. The sixth "number" is actually 1 of 16 representations of playing cards: a Jack, Queen, King, or the Ace of any of the four suits: clubs, hearts, diamonds, or spades. (The previous version drew from 31 numbers, but from the same number of "Wild Cards.")
All prizes, including the jackpot, are paid in cash. The minimum jackpot is $200,000; it was $100,000 in the previous version.
In addition to the jackpot, the other prizes are:
- All 5 numbers without Wild Card (5+0): $6,000
- 4 numbers plus Wild Card (4+1): $500
- 4+0: wins $30
- 3+1: wins $6
- 3+0: wins $2
- 2+1: wins $2
- 1+1: wins $1
- 0+1: wins $1
Among the reasons for the January 2013 changes to Wild Card was to attract more American lotteries to the game, although none joined since North Dakota in 2004.
The final drawing for Wild Card will be on February 24, 2016.[1]
References
- ↑ "Wild Card Game Page :: South Dakota Lottery". Retrieved January 21, 2015.
External links
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