Washington's Lottery

Not to be confused with D.C. Lottery.
Washington's Lottery
FormationNovember 15, 1982[1][2]
TypeLottery System
HeadquartersOlympia, Washington, U.S.
Websitewww.walottery.com

Washington's Lottery is the lottery system for the U.S. state of Washington, run by the state government. Its games include Mega Millions, Powerball, Keno, Lotto, Hit 5, Match 4, Pick 3, and scratch games.

The bill (H.B. 1251) creating the lottery was passed by the state legislature in 1982 (House on June 30, 1982; Senate on July 1, 1982)[3][4] and signed by governor John Spellman on July 16.[5][6] Washington became the sixteenth state with a lottery and only the second in the Western U.S., joining Arizona.[5]

It was launched four months later with a one-dollar scratch ticket game titled "Pot O'Gold Instant Lottery," which began on November 15, 1982.[1][2][7][8] What is now Pick 3 began in January 1984,[9] and Lotto six months later in July, with a weekly drawing on Saturday,[10] a second drawing on Wednesday was added on November 18, 1987,[11] and a third on Monday on February 14, 2005.

Games

Washington's Lottery offers several draw games, plus scratch ticket games. The list of draw games:

Game Matrice(s) Prize range
Mega Millions 5 of 70 + 1 of 25[12] $1†, $2†, $5†, $5†, $500†, $5,000†, $1,000,000†, or Jackpot(begins at $20 million)
Powerball 5 of 69 + 1 of 26 $4♠, $7♠, $100♠, $50,000♠, $1,000,000♠, or Jackpot(begins at $20 million)
Lotto 6 of 49 $3 through Jackpot(begins at $1 million)
Hit 5 5 of 42 Free ticket through Cashpot(begins at $100,000)
Daily Keno 10 of 80; 20 numbers drawn Prizes vary by number of 'spots' picked and matched.
Match 4 4 of 24 $2, $20, or $10,000
Pick 3 (known as Triple Choice from 1984-87, then The Daily Game from 1987-2020) 3 digits from 0-9 Prizes vary by betting style.
Cash Pop 1 of 15 prizes range from $25 to $1,250 for a $5 wager for each number (here called a pop).

Laws prohibit any game from being drawn more than once daily.

† These prizes are multiplied by 2, 3, 4, or 5 if the Megaplier option was activated (this option, initially used only in Texas, was introduced to Washington's Lottery in January 2011).

♠ In January 2012, the Power Play multiplier was retired; non-jackpot prizes have fixed values regardless of whether the option was activated. In the case of second prize, a Power Play wager wins $2,000,000 cash.

A list of scratch ticket games can be found *here

Retired games

This is a partial list games that have been retired and when they were active.

Name Dates Rules
Quinto 1990-March 2007 5 of 52 cards
Lotto Plus May 1, 2002 - October 4, 2003 5 of 43; + 1 of 23

Quinto, for a brief period, had an add-on game called Beat the State.

Special games

For its 25th anniversary in 2007, the Lottery held its first raffle, 375,000 tickets were sold, with three prizes of $1 million, four of $100,000, and 350 of $1,000. In the first drawing, all tickets were sold. In spring 2008, a second raffle was held, however, over 100,000 tickets were unsold. The cost of a ticket in both raffles was $20.

Additional information

Many U.S. lotteries draw some games, such as pick-3, at least twice daily. However, local law prohibits Washington's Lottery from drawing any of its games more than once daily. This explains why its Keno is not drawn every few minutes, unlike a growing number of lotteries.

Washington was the tenth state lottery to join Mega Millions and sales began on September 6, 2002.[citation needed]

In April 2009, both houses of the state legislature passed a bill to allow Washington's Lottery to sell Powerball tickets, to take effect 90 days after the governor's signature, and sales began on February 3, 2010. Minimum age to purchase lottery tickets in Washington is 18.

See also

  • Birds, award-winning Washington Lottery television commercial

References

  1. ^ a b Sher, Jeff (November 11, 1982). "'Follow the fun,' beckons lottery jingle". The Spokesman-Review. p. 6.
  2. ^ a b "Lottery tickets go on sale in Washington right after midnight". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. November 14, 1982. p. 1C.
  3. ^ Workman, Dave (July 1, 1982). "State fiscal package includes lottery". The Spokesman-Review. p. 1.
  4. ^ Workman, Dave (July 2, 1982). "State staff for lottery authorized". The Spokesman-Review. p. 1.
  5. ^ a b "Spellman signs lottery bill". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. July 17, 1982. p. 1.
  6. ^ "Governor signs lottery, cuts spending". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. July 17, 1982. p. 1A.
  7. ^ Rielley, Chris (November 16, 1982). "A lucky day for Post Falls couple". The Spokesman-Review. p. 1.
  8. ^ Lee, Sandra L. (November 16, 1982). "Lottery: Christmas on a perforated card". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1A.
  9. ^ Spoerhase, Jim (January 17, 1984). "State's new on-line lottery starts Wednesday". The Spokesman-Review. p. A6.
  10. ^ "State's new Lotto game goes on line". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Associated Press. July 16, 1984. p. 13.
  11. ^ "Midweek Lotto contest off to slow start". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Associated Press. November 17, 1987. p. A3.
  12. ^ "Mega Millions".