Lotto America Drawing Numbers & Results | How To Play Lotto America

We have seen that, quite obviously, millions and millions of people have come to enjoy playing lottery games. What they were most familiar with at first was the scratch-off variety conducted within state borders.

As time went forward, lottery players became accustomed to pursuing bigger games (to pardon the pun). That’s because of the emergence of multi-state lotteries, which, as the description implies, include participants from multiple states. With multiple states, there are going to be more players and bigger jackpots. With bigger jackpots, there are going to be headlines and a higher degree of excitement. And then you have the makings of a phenomenon.

The game that introduced many people to the multi-state lottery game was known as Lotto America, which was established out of Iowa in 1988. It goes without saying that this was something that caught on, and gave birth to the industry as we know it now.

Lotto America eventually evolved into Powerball in 1992 and added a new dimension to this kind of game. But the name didn’t disappear forever.

There is a new version of Lotto America, and it’s doing just fine, thank you. And that is what we’re going to explore, because it’s well worth your participation.

Lotto America Facts

The history of Lotto America

The first drawing for Lotto America took place on February 15, 1988. At that time, it was a game with 40 available numbers, where the customer picked seven of them. The price was $1 per game. Those who were able to match four of the numbers earned a return of $5. The odds of hitting all seven numbers – in other words, hitting the jackpot – carried odds of one in 18 million. Those were the biggest odds of any lottery in history. And the jackpot winner was rewarded with a 20-year annuity payment. There was no opportunity to take a one-time, lump sum cash payment.

Eventually, the game became where players sought to match six numbers out of a field of 54. That lowered the odds of winning the jackpot to one in 13 million. There were no fixed payments; this was done strictly on a pari-mutuel basis, which meant that in the case of multiple winners, they split the prize.

It was also localized in some areas, so instead of “Lotto America” it was “Lotto (name of state).” 

Originally 15 states were involved, along with the District of Columbia. With the involvement of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), an organization that facilitated the operation of these multi-state games, there were more and more players to draw business from. In 1992, Lotto America was replaced by Powerball, which became a much bigger game with bigger prizes.

For a period of 25 years, Lotto America was dormant. But then a series of events caused it to be revived, albeit with a different organization.

There was another multi-state game called Hot Lotto, which had its run but was experiencing a period of low ticket sales. So around 2017, it was discovered that Eddie Tipton, who was the information security director of the MUSL, rigged the random number generator that controlled the Hot Lotto draw, to the tune of $14.3 million.

And that turned out to be the tip of the iceberg. Tipton and his accomplices had rigged a number of lottery games. This led to a real mess, and for purposes of our conversation, there was a lack of confidence in the legitimacy of the Random Number Generator that governed the selection of the winning numbers for Hot Lotto.

At that time it was felt that because of what became known as the “Hot Lotto Scandal,” a replacement for that multi-state game might be needed.

And so Lotto America found itself back in action.

The first drawing for the “new and improved” Lotto America took place on November 15, 2017. The game’s initial jackpot was $15 million, which had been inflated because the organizers had taken what had been left over from the Hot Lotto jackpot and applied it. Eventually, it grew to $23 million before somebody won.

Generally, Lotto America is not known as the home for massive jackpots on the order of other games like Powerball and Mega Millions. The jackpots start at $2 million and increase from there. To date, the biggest jackpot they have awarded has been $40.03 million (April 2023).

States where people play Lotto America

Currently, fifteen states are participating in the game. The latest to join up are Mississippi (May 13, 2024) and Nebraska (May 20, 2024). Here is the complete list:

• Delaware
• Iowa
• Idaho
• Kansas
• Maine
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Montana
• Nebraska
• North Dakota
• New Mexico
• Oklahoma
• Tennessee
• South Dakota
• West Virginia

How the game of Lotto America is played

Players in Lotto America choose five numbers from among a group of 52. These are the “white” balls. Then, the “Star Ball” has to be chosen, and it is drawn from a pool of balls numbered from 1 to 10. Players who match all six of the balls can hit the jackpot, and if there is more than one winner, they will split the jackpot. 

Every jackpot starts at $2 million and then continues to increase from one drawing to the next if there is no winner. 

It costs $1 per entry to play Lotto America.

And, as they say on TV, there’s more!

There is the opportunity to play an “All-Star Bonus” add-on. For the price of an additional dollar, there is the chance to multiply the yield of any non-jackpot ticket that is a winner.

That multiple can be either 2x, 3x, 4x or 5x. That is something that is revealed at the time of the drawing.

Customers can pick their own numbers when filling out their tickets, or they can opt to do an “Easy Pick,” in which those numbers are generated automatically for the customer.

When and where are the Lotto America drawings held?

Drawings for Lotto America are conducted every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at or around 9:15 PM Central time. When the game was revived, the drawings were held at the Florida Lottery headquarters in Tallahassee, which is odd because Florida is not one of the states that participates in the game.

Since April 2023, however, the drawings have been held in Johnston, Iowa, which is closer to where Lotto America was originally conceived in the late 1980s. 

What are the odds of winning at Lotto America?

One thing you will notice with Lotto America is that you have a better chance of winning a prize with that game than you might with games like Powerball or Mega Millions.

You’ll be much more hopeful of not going away empty-handed if you check out this odds table:

What are the payouts for winning at Lotto America?

You will see from the table below that the payouts that are made for winning combinations in Lotto America are all fixed, with the exception of the jackpot for the perfect ticket. And it should be noted that the jackpot will be divided among all the winners if there are more than one.

What you’ll also notice is that if you match the Star Ball only you will get back $2, which, if you bought the $1 ticket would double your money.

Exploring the jackpot payout in Lotto America

At the very beginning, those who won the jackpot in Lotto America were given only the option to take an “annuity” payment and were not able to take it in one lump sum cash installment.

But now the case is different.

Now there is an option between taking the payout all at once and taking it in the form of periodic payments. 

The annuity route takes the winner through one payment immediately after winning and then 29 more, one per year. The amount of the payments will increase at a rate of 5% for each year, presumably to keep pace with inflation.

A prize must be claimed no more than 180 days after the win; otherwise it will be considered a forfeit. In the case where the cash option is going to be chosen, the winner has 60 days after the drawing to make that decision.

Players who elect the lump sum will usually find that the payout is in the neighborhood of half what the annuity payout would have ultimately yielded. We took a random look as we were compiling this, and while the jackpot was valued at slightly more than $11 million, the cash option would have paid $5,430,000 right then. That’s because it is the cash that is available at that moment in the jackpot.

In order to collect any prize of that size, the customer will have to make arrangements through the lottery office that governs their jurisdiction, show up in person and bring the proper identification. Of course, there are also forms to fill out that alert the IRS of your sudden good fortune. In case you didn’t realize it, you are responsible for paying taxes on all of this.

Playing Lotto America online

Yes, you can buy Lotto America tickets online. Many of the states that offer the game have the facilities for customers to participate in the game through their websites.

Third-party sources can also be used.

Jackpocket is one of them. This is an app that is well-known as a “courier” service for lottery tickets. The process involves the customer going to the app, establishing an account, and filling out the ticket with whatever details they want.

Then, Jackpocket, in its “courier” role, turns around and buys a ticket from an authorized, participating retailer within the customer’s jurisdiction. The customer receives a scanned copy of the ticket for documented proof.

In the event one of their customers wins a prize, they will be notified by Jackpocket. If the amount is $600 or lower, that prize is deposited in the customer’s active account. Jackpocket takes no commissions from its winning players; it generates revenues by taking a percentage of deposits made by the customer.

They allow for a number of convenient methods for depositing money into an account, including Visa, MasterCard, Discover, PayPal and bank transfers. Players can opt for a subscription, so that they can automatically be entered in every available drawing as it regards their favorite games. 

Jackpocket can be utilized to purchase tickets in five states in which they are allowed to operate and which take part in the Lotto America game: Idaho, Montana, Minnesota, Nebraska and West Virginia. 
TheLotter.us is another courier service that offers both a website and an app. And before we go any further, we should mention a couple of things that are important for our conversation.

One is that the only Lotto America state in which it can be used is Minnesota. The other is that the app can’t be used in Minnesota. Therefore, if you’re in Minnesota (the home state of the first Lotto America jackpot winner, by the way), you need to enter the game through the website if you want to use TheLotter.

Once you’re in there, they give you some nice options. You select your game, how many tickets you want to play, and how many drawings you wish to participate in. What happens is that you are charged a 30% fee when buying the ticket. So, for example, if you are buying a ticket for $2, you will pay them 60 cents.

Customers can pay TheLotter through Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and/or bank transfers. They offer subscriptions, which will automatically get you signed up for every subsequent drawing until you tell them to stop. There are discounts available for these subscriptions. You can participate in pools as well.

We found a site where customers can buy tickets for Lotto America from outside the United States. WeLoveLotto.com is a UK-based service that charges $1.95 for a $1 ticket, so they obviously take a fee. They also offer the option to add the All-Star Bonus.

Customers will pay their tickets with their own numbers. Or they can avail themselves of the site’s “Lucky Pick” number generator. They can play up to 30 lines per ticket, and choose how many days they want to play the same ticket. Like the other courier services, a customer can see a scan of the purchased ticket for the sake of documentation.

Prize winnings get loaded into a “Wallet” that has been set up by the customer. And the player can withdraw from that wallet. They even have a 24-7 customer support apparatus that comes through live chat, phone, and email.

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