With a major city like Chicago, you better believe that the Illinois Lottery is a big one. The IL Lottery generates funding for the Common School Fund, along with other initiatives for the public good. Illinois also has specialty games that benefit programs that raise money for causes like the Special Olympics, breast cancer research, HIV/AIDS research, Alzheimer’s care, and homelessness prevention.
This is one of the nation’s older lotteries, one that celebrated its 50th anniversary during 2024. Interestingly, Illinois was the only state to have lottery drawings televised across the nation, as numbers were drawn on WGN up until 2014.
The Illinois Lottery is actually operated by the Camelot Group, making the state the first to privatize its lottery in 2018. Lottery tickets can be purchased online through the official lottery website, but Illinois does not partner with third-party sellers like Jackpocket or Jackpot.com.
Illinois Lottery Games
Illinois is one of the states that offers the multi-state Powerball and Mega Millions drawings. All of the other draw games are exclusive to the state and so are the FastPlay games and the scratch-offs.
There are more than 7,200 retailers in the state and players must be 18 or older to purchase tickets.
Illinois does have sports betting and casinos, but both are operated independently, so they are not considered part of the Illinois Lottery.
Illinois Lottery Draw Games
Powerball
Forty-five states offer Powerball and Illinois is one of them, with drawings every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 9:59 p.m. CT. There are nine ways to win with Powerball and players can either select or have the computer select from numbers ranging from 1 to 69 and a Powerball number from 1 to 26.
The rolling Jackpot begins at $20 million and grows until a grand prize winner is selected. Draw sales close at 9 p.m. CT on drawing nights and each wager costs $2 with an optional $1 add-on for the Power Play option.
Illinois joined the Powerball drawing on January 31, 2010 along with eight other states.
Mega Millions
Illinois was one of the original states to have the Mega Millions drawing, joining Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Virginia on September 6, 1996 with the launch of the game.
Each Mega Millions ticket costs $2 to play with a $1 Megaplier optional add-on. Players select or allow the computer to select five numbers from 1 to 70 and select a Mega Ball that ranges between 1 and 25.
Drawings are held every Tuesday and Friday at 10 p.m. CT and ticket sales are cut off at 9:45 p.m. CT, as each state can determine when to stop offering sales prior to the drawing.
Like Powerball, there are nine ways to win Mega Millions, but matching all six numbers is everybody’s end goal.
Lotto Extra Shot
This is Illinois’s state-specific lotto drawing. Players pick six numbers ranging from 1 to 50. Whether the computer picks or not, each wager costs $2.
But, unlike other state lottery, Lotto Extra Shot gives Illinois Lottery players three chances to win. Each line costs $2 to play, but each play is entered into the Jackpot drawing, plus the Lotto Million 1 and Lotto Million 2, each with a $1,000,000 top prize.
There is also the “Extra Shot” option, which is a $1 add-on applied to all plays on the ticket to match the Extra Shot number for additional ways to win.
Drawings for this game are Monday, Thursday, and Saturday evenings at 9:22 p.m. CT. Sales are cut off at 9:15 p.m. CT on drawing nights.
Lucky Day Lotto
This is Illinois’s state-specific five-number lotto draw, with two drawings daily, one at 12:40 p.m. CT and one at 9:22 p.m. CT. Seven days a week means a lot of potential chances to win and each play only costs $1.
There is an additional add-on for the EZmatch for $1 per play, but that is only available with retail ticket purchases. Players who utilize the EZmatch option can win a prize up to $5,000.
Pick 4 Plus Fireball
Even though this name matches the Pick 4 in other states, this game is specific to Illinois. There are two draws daily at 12:40 p.m. CT and 9:22 p.m. CT. Each play costs as little as 50 cents to win a top prize of $2,500, or a $1 ticket can be purchased to win up to $5,000.
There is also the Fireball option, which doubles your original wager, but provides more ways to win. If you match up with the Fireball, you can still win a prize, even if you didn’t match anything with the Pick 4 numbers.
The numbers range from 0 to 9 and can be played Straight, Boxed, Combo, or Straight/Box. Each play costs either 50 cents or $1 for all of the extra ways to win.
Sales end at 12:35 p.m. CT for the early draw and 9:15 p.m. CT for the late draw.
Pick 3 Plus Fireball
Similar to Pick 4, this is a Pick 3 version that is exclusive to Illinois, despite the matching name to other states. Drawings are held at 12:40 p.m. CT and 9:22 p.m. CT with the same 50-cent or $1 per play cost.
The Fireball option is also available here, which doubles your original wager but allows for more ways to win.
The numbers range from 0 to 9 and can be played Straight, Box, Combo, Straight/Box, Front Pair, or Back Pair.
Sales end at 12:35 p.m. CT for the early draw and 9:15 p.m. CT for the late draw.
Illinois Lottery FastPlay Games
The Illinois Lottery offers roughly 30 FastPlay Games that can be played online or at retail locations. Plays range from $1 to $30 with many of the higher-priced tickets associated with Progressive Jackpots. Some Progressive Jackpot games can be played at lower amounts that pay a percentage of the overall jackpot.
The online ones are played instantly through the website and the ones purchased at retail locations simply produce a ticket that says you are a winner or not based on the game played.
Players can go on the Illinois Lottery website and see how many prizes are still unclaimed for each FastPlay title.
Illinois Lottery Scratch-Offs
The Illinois Lottery has a large collection of scratch-offs for players. These include year-round fixtures, but also special tickets for holidays and causes. Scratch-offs range from $1 to $50, so there are some huge prize amounts available, up to as much as $10 million. At any given time, there are upwards of 60 different scratch-off styles available.
There are also “Good Causes” games that run throughout the year where the proceeds from ticket sales go to special causes and initiatives in the state of Illinois.
New tickets are being printed and offered all the time, so players will always find something entertaining.
Many 2nd Chance promotions are available in Illinois as well, to go along with Digital Promotions for those with a registered email address or app downloaders.
Illinois Lottery App
The Illinois Lottery App is the preferred place to purchase lottery because pretty much everything can be done from the palm of your hand. The app is available on the Apple App Store and also in the Google Play Store for Android users.
How To Claim Illinois Lottery Prizes
For those playing online through the Illinois Lottery App, any prize of $600 or less will automatically be added to your online wallet, unless such winnings push your balance over $2,000. The app wallet can only contain as much as $2,000 at any given time, so anything over that balance will be sent via check.
Any prize of $600 or less at a retail location can be redeemed at an approved Illinois Lottery retailer. They can also be claimed at an Illinois Claim Center, redeemed via mail to Illinois Lottery Claims Department, P.O. Box 19080 in Springfield, 62794, or players can complete an e-Claim Form.
Prizes between $600 and $10,000 can only be claimed at one of the Illinois Lottery Claim Centers, by mail to the above address, or by sending in an e-Claim form to get the winnings by mail.
Prizes of $10,000 to $1 million need to be redeemed by a Claim Center or Mail. Prizes over $25,000 can be direct deposited by filling out a direct deposit form.
For prizes over $1 million, players need to contact the Illinois Player Hotline at 1-800-252-1775 and speak with an Illinois Lottery representative.
Lottery winnings in Illinois are subject to a 4.95% tax rate.
Illinois Lottery Frequently Asked Questions
There are more than 7,200 approved lottery retailers in the state of Illinois.
Players must be 18 years of age or older to enjoy the IL Lottery
Yes. Illinois Lottery tickets can be purchased online, but only through the official Illinois Lottery App.