California State Lottery
The California State Lottery began on November 6, 1984 after California residents passed Proposition 37, the California Lottery Act, authorizing the creation of a state lottery.
The minimum age to purchase lottery tickets in California is 18.
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Lottery Act
The lottery act was passed to provide extra money to schools without imposing additional taxes. Thus, the California State Lottery is mandated to provide at least 34% of its revenues to public education, supplementing, (not replacing), funds provided by the state.
A mandated minimum of 84% of all funds must be given back to the public in the form of money given towards education or prizes. Of the 84%, 50% must be given back in the form of prizes, the rest may be given towards education (making up part of the 34%) or more in prizes.
A maximum of 16% is to be spent on administration, such as running the games, wages, etc.
The Lottery Act mandates that a commission, appointed by the Governor, is to operate and administer the lottery.
California, by law, is a pari-mutuel state, meaning that prize values are not fixed, but are dependent on sales and number of winning tickets. However, the Lottery has recently set fixed prize levels for its Hot Spot game, and is clear that, for this game, the pari-mutuel rule will no longer be enforced.
History
The California State Lottery began on November 6, 1984 after California residents passed Proposition 37, the California Lottery Act, authorizing the creation of a state lottery with a majority (58%) supporting the act.
California joined Mega Millions on June 22, 2005 becoming the 12th state to join the multi-state lottery. A draw was held in Hollywood, CA to commemorate the event.
California, while never desiring to offer Mega Million's rival Powerball, was briefly a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), because an "international" lottery game that would have included a number of states was in the works; however, the game never came into fruition.
Games & game info
SuperLotto Plus
California Super Lotto is a game played in the style of Mega Millions, in the state of California every Wednesday and Saturday. Five main winning numbers are selected from a set of 47 rubber balls, as is a "Mega number" which is chosen from a separate set of 27 rubber balls. California has historically offered a number of jackpot-style games, beginning with the "6-49" game in 1986, which was changed at various times to a 53 number game (in 1990) which included a seventh bonus number, then to a 51 number game which lasted until sometime in the year 2000.
The current 47/27 variant began in the year 2000 and continues to this day under the name Super Lotto Plus.
On February 16, 2002, the California Lottery's then-highest payout of $193 million was won by three winning tickets.
In 2004, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, as part of his redesign of state government, suggested that California join a multistate lottery. The next year, California became part of Mega Millions.
Overall chances of winning a prize are 1 in 23. Chances of winning the jackpot are 1 in 41,416,353. The minimum jackpot prize is $7 million.
Mega Millions
Mega Millions players choose six numbers for $1; five "white ball" numbers, 1 through 56, and a sixth number (the "Mega Number", 1 through 46; the Mega Number can be a duplicate of a "white ball" number.) Multi-draw is available; the same numbers can be played in 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 16, or 20 drawings in one transaction. Mega Millions drawings are Tuesdays and Fridays at 8pm Pacific time. The minimum jackpot is $12 million. California is unique among the 12 Mega Millions participants in that all nine prize levels for Mega Millions within the Golden State are always parimutuel, rather than each non-jackpot prize having a set value (e.g. the normal second prize in the other 11 Mega Millions jurisdictions is $250,000; it is not unheard of for that prize level to pay over $1 million to a California winner. The second prize pool within California frequently rolls; it is, in effect, a "secondary jackpot").
Overall odds of winning a Mega Millions prize are 1 in 40. Odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 175,711,536.
Daily 3
Daily 3 allows you to pick a set of 3 numbers, zero through nine, and choose a playstyle: straight, box, or straight/box. The game costs $1 to play. You may choose up to 14 extra plays during your purchase. There are two draws every day.
Scratchers
Scratchers are scratchcard lottery games that you scratch off a top layer to see if you won a prize. The prizes are smaller than other lottery games, but there are better odds (averaging 1:5). There are currently 37 types of scratchers, ranging in price from US$1 to US$5.
Daily Derby
Daily Derby is a mock horse racing betting game. You choose three horses, one to finish first, one to finish second and one to finish third. You then choose a time from 1:40:00 to 1:49:99 as your race time. You mark the last three digits of the race time on your playslip. You may choose from 7-14 extra plays during your purchase. The game costs $2 to play. Drawn every day at 6:35pm and televised at 6:59pm.
Hot Spot
In Hot Spot, players choose whether to play 2,3,5, or 8 numbers on a ticket from 01 through 80, either US$1, US$2, US$3, US$4, US$5, US$10, or US$20, for a maximum of 100 consecutive drawings, which occur every four minutes from 06:05 am until 02:00 am. Many lottery retailers have monitors that display Hot Spot drawings and recent results from other lottery games.
Fantasy 5
Fantasy 5 players five numbers 1 through 39. A ticket includes up to five sets of numbers; they can be played up to 12 drawings at a time. Tickets cost $1 per play. Fantasy 5 is drawn evenings at 6:35pm and televised at 6:59pm. Jackpots start at $50,000.
The Big Spin
The Big Spin is a television game show created as part of the California Lottery. Although the lottery has had several methods for choosing contestants, appearance on the show is currently a prize in one of the lottery's scratch-off games. The top prize is fixed at $3,000,000.00 and the minimum guaranteed prize is $1,750.
Instant games
California instant games range in price from $1 to $5, with higher priced tickets typically putting out a higher percentage of sales back into prizes. The payout percentages for each price point are as follows:
| $1 | $2 | $3 | $5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 53% | 55.8% | 60% | 64% |
Daily 4
A "pick 4" type game premiered on May 19, 2008. Each play costs $1 and drawings are held once per day. Playstyles, like the Daily 3, offer the straight, box, and straight/box option.
Payment Options
All prizes on Fantasy 5, Daily Derby, Daily 3, and non-jackpot Super Lotto Plus and Mega Millions prizes, are paid out in one payment, less 25% Federal withholding if the prize is over $5,000. Merchandise prizes over $5000 are subject to a 33% Federal withholding. Scratchers tickets are generally one payment prizes but some games have annuity options for payments each year or even some where the prize was a certain payment per week. California recently stopped deducting State Tax on lottery winnings. For Super Lotto Plus and Mega Millions jackpots, the player may choose a single cash payout for 50%-60% of the jackpot, or a 26-year annuity. The Super Lotto Plus annuity payment schedule is on a graduated basis, (every year the payment is slightly more than the previous year, such that the 25th payment is twice as much as the first), whereas payments in the Mega Millions annuity are the same every year. Until 2005, when California joined Mega Millions, the payment choice on Super Lotto Plus had to be made when the ticket was bought. Now, like most US lotteries, there is a 60-day window after winning in which the choice of lump sum or annuity is to be made.
Claim Period
All prizes must be claimed within 180 days of the draw or the announced end of the game. If the 180th day is a weekend or state holiday, the final claim date is extended to the next business day. Any unclaimed prize money is transferred to the education fund in addition to the minimum 34% that the Lottery is already obligated to transfer from income.
Because many of the partner states participating in Mega Millions have a one-year claim period, the California legislations recently changed the language in the Lottery Act to allow for a one-year claim period for a jackpot/grand prize from Mega Millions. AB 1251 which was authored by Tran modified California Government Code section 8880.321. This is the only prize in California that has a one-year claim period. All other prizes have the 180-day claim period. This legislation only affects Mega Millions drawings after July 5, 2008.
External links
- California State Lottery Official Site
- [1]Official Results Page
- [2] AB1251
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