Florida Lotto is a popular draw game offered by the Florida Lottery

Florida Lottery

The Florida Lottery is a government-run organization in Florida, USA. With numerous on-line and scratch-off games available, players have a wide variety of prize levels to choose from. Since it began, the Florida Lottery has continued to add variety to its portfolio of games...

. It was the last US jackpot lottery game not to directly compete with a multi-jurisdictional lottery until the Florida Lottery joined Powerball

Powerball

Powerball is an American lottery game sold in 44 jurisdictions as a shared jackpot game. It is coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association , a non-profit organization formed by an agreement with lotteries. Powerball is a game whose advertised jackpot starts at $20 million and can roll into...

 on January 4, 2009.

As with all Florida Lottery games, the minimum age to play is 18.

As of September 8, 2009 a total of 963 tickets had matched 6-of-6 in Florida Lotto to win or share a jackpot. Of these, 27 expired, never being claimed by ticketholders.

Notable Winners

• Largest Florida Lotto jackpot: 6 tickets shared $106.5 million on September 15, 1990, just two years after its launch (the Lottery initially advertised this jackpot at $75 million but raised it thrice; the final estimate was $100 million)
• Largest for one ticket: Whispering Pines Lottery Trust of New Port Richey won $81.6 million on March 29, 2000. They elected to receive the lump sum of $38,777,403.46, which was the largest one-time payout the Florida Lottery had made to date.
• Most Rollovers: $52 million won on April 17, 2010 by one ticket. The jackpot was finally won after a record 19 rollovers.
• First jackpot: Josie Morre of Port Charlotte won $14,080,000 on May 28, 1988.
• Largest Unclaimed Prize: Single ticket sold in North Bay Village won $53,700,000 on March 12, 2003 but was never claimed.
• Largest Lotto Plus prize: Richard Cormier won $18 million for a $8 million jackpot; he bought a $2 Lotto Plus ticket for the drawing of April 18, 2009. Mr. Cormier elected to be paid his winnings in a lump sum; he was awarded $11,025,708.
• Most jackpot winners in one draw: 3 occurrences where 9 tickets each shared a jackpot: June 24, 1989; November 23, 1991; and July 31, 1993. In the 1991 occurrence, one player claimed 2 of the 9 winning tickets.
• Smallest Jackpot Prize: $399,600 on June 24, 1989. Nine tickets (see above) shared a jackpot of $3.6 million (cash value). Due to the low jackpot shares, each winner was given a lump sum rather than the annuity value (the only way before 1998 a winner could receive their jackpot share in lump sum.)
• Most winning tickets by one person in one drawing: Regino Musa claimed 3 of 7 winning shares for the February 5, 2005 drawing. Interestingly, Musa's winning tickets were 3 of 5 winning tickets sold by one retailer; the other 2 were never claimed.
• Abraham Shakespeare
  Abraham Shakespeare
  Abraham Lee Shakespeare was an American casual laborer who won a $30 million lottery jackpot, receiving $17 million in 2006. In 2009 his family declared him missing and in January 2010 his body was found buried under a concrete slab in the backyard of an acquaintance...
  
  , winner of a 2006 jackpot, found buried under a concrete slab in 2010

Game's beginning (1988-1993)

The first tickets were sold on Friday, April 29, 1988; the first drawing was on Saturday, May 7, 1988.

The game was originally played by selecting 6 numbers from a field a 49. Each play cost USD

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

 1, and drawings were held Saturday nights at 11:00 P.M. EST. Players would win prizes by matching 3 or more numbers on their ticket to the 6 selected on Saturday night. If they matched all six, they would win a jackpot that was paid in 20 equal yearly installments (the cash option

Present value

Present value, also known as present discounted value, is the value on a given date of a future payment or series of future payments, discounted to reflect the time value of money and other factors such as investment risk...

 was not available until 1998.)


Florida Lotto is a pari-mutuel game, where prizes are based on the total number of tickets sold, and the number of winners for each prize level. Originally, 25% of all ticket sales accumulated in the jackpot prize pool. If no ticket were to win the top prize pool for a drawing that prize pool would roll over to the next week’s jackpot prize pool.

Before each drawing the Florida Lottery would estimate and advertise a jackpot based on expected ticket sales. The accumulated prize pool for the jackpot represented the current value of the 20-payment yearly annuity that would be awarded to the winner(s). The Lottery then advertised the total stream of payments such annuity would yield as the jackpot. In weeks where sales figures exceed expectations the Lottery would revise the estimated jackpot figures.

The game's original prize structure:

Matches	Avg. Prize	% Of Sales	Odds
6 of 6	Jackpot	25.0% + rollover	1:13,983,816
5 of 6	$3,523.00	6.50%	1:54,200.8
4 of 6	$98.00	9.50%	1:1,032.4
3 of 6	$5.00	9.00%	1:56.7
Overall odds of winning : 1 in 53.655

Beginning April 3, 1990, players could elect to use Quick Pick to have a lottery terminal select their numbers.

Same game, bigger advertised jackpots (1993-1999)

On February 6, 1993, the prize structure was revamped to increase the percentage of sales toward the jackpot pool, allowing for a minimum jackpot of $6 million.

The new structure was:

Matches	Avg. Prize	% Of Sales	Odds
6 of 6	Jackpot	33.50% + rollover	1:13,983,816
5 of 6	$1,355.00	2.50%	1:54,200.8
4 of 6	$62.00	6.00%	1:1,032.4
3 of 6	$4.50	8.00%	1:56.7
Overall odds of winning : 1 in 53.655

The game would go unchanged until October 21, 1998, when the Florida Lottery began allowing winners to receive their jackpot in lump sum in lieu of the 20-payment annuity. In order to receive the lump sum winners must make the election within 60 days of the drawing. Players electing lump sum would receive their share of the cash in the jackpot pool. The cash value option was elected for the first time for the October 24, 1998 drawing, as two players split a $12,780,000 (annuitized) jackpot. The cash in the jackpot pool for that drawing was $8,238,609.84. One player chose the 20 annual payments of $319,500 each. Jay Jasperson and Kay Stephens of Tampa became the first jackpot winners to choose lump sum payment; they split $4,119,304.92.

On November 15, 1998 the Lottery increased the length of the annuity option to 30 annual payments. This in effect allowed the Lottery to artificially increase their advertised jackpot amounts without actually increasing the cash in the jackpot pool. The then-new cash option remained. On November 28, 1998 two tickets split the $16,800,000 jackpot; the jackpot cash pool was $8,749,944.72. One player elected to receive a lump sum of $4,374,972.36, while the Moen Family Partnership from Jupiter became the first to select the 30-payment annuity, receiving $280,000 per year. Despite the nearly identical jackpot cash pool as in the October 21, 1998 drawing, the change to the annuity stream allowed the Lottery to announce a jackpot prize of nearly $4 million more.

On January 9, 1999, the Lottery began guaranteeing the estimated jackpot. When sales would otherwise create a jackpot below the estimate, the Lottery would supplement the prize to guarantee the 30-payment annuity. If the jackpot pool exceeds the estimated amount, then the player would receive the larger annuity stream if the annuity is chosen.

6/53 begins (1999-present)

On October 24, 1999, the most significant change to Florida Lotto occurred. Four numbers were added to the field to make a total of 53 numbers for players to choose from, increasing the difficulty to win the jackpot. A second weekly drawing, on Wednesday nights, also was added, the first mid-week drawing was on October 27, 1999. The first Wednesday drawing included the new highest number, 53. Because of the twice-weekly drawings, the minimum jackpot was reduced to $3 million.

The current prize structure is:

Matches	Avg. Base Prize	% Of Sales	Lotto Xtra Bonus	Odds
6 of 6	Jackpot ($2 mil starting Jackpot)	31.75% + rollover	No Bonus	1:22,957,480
5 of 6	$5,000.00	6.15%	2x, 3x, 4x, or 5x	1:81,409.50
4 of 6	$70.00	5.00%	2x, 3x, 4x, or 5x	1:1,415.82
3 of 6	$5.00 (guaranteed)	7.10%	2x, 3x, 4x, or 5x (5x guaranteed for limited time)	1:70.79
2 of 6	Not a winner	N/A	Free Xtra Ticket	1:8.58
Overall odds of winning : 1 in 67.36 Overall odds of Lotto Xtra ticket winning : 1 in 7.61 Lotto Xtra Multiplier Odds: 1:4

Starting with the October 14, 2009 drawing, the 3-of-6 prize minimum prize is $5. Previously, the minimum was $3.50.

On January 19, 2008, the Lottery changed its advertised jackpot policy again. The Lottery announced that all jackpot amounts are guaranteed. The annuity jackpot now is the guaranteed amount announced by the Lottery in advance of the drawing. The lump sum option is fixed at the current value required to fund the declared Jackpot annuity based on the interest rate in effect on the date of the Lotto drawing (or prior business day). If sales exceed Lottery expectations, the Lottery would no longer award the player the additional prize amounts, keeping the surplus in a special prize pool. Shortages are funded from any unclaimed prizes.

Lotto Plus and the Powerball effect (2008-2009)

On March 2, 2008, a new Lotto Plus feature was added to Florida Lotto. Players were able to increase a jackpot prize by making a special wager of either $2 or $3. If a player increased their wager to $2, matching all six numbers won $10 million (annuitized) in addition to their jackpot share. If the wager was $3, a player matching all six numbers won an additional $15 million above the $2 wager for a total of $25 million (annuitized) in addition to their jackpot share. The amounts wagered for Lotto Plus did not accumulate into a prize pool, and did not roll over where no jackpot was won or where none of the winning tickets had elected Lotto Plus. Unlike the base Lotto game, which was pari-mutuel, the bonus amounts were fixed. The advertised amounts of $10 million and $25 million were the amounts of the total annuitized payment stream the winner would receive or share. Players electing the lump sum received the present value of their share of the bonus prize along with the value of the guaranteed jackpot base prize. If multiple tickets won in a drawing and had chosen the Plus option, the bonus money was shared proportionally across winning tickets with $2 and/or $3 Lotto Plus wagers. Since the funds for Lotto Plus did not accumulate, the bonus money was profit to the Lottery when the bonus was not won, with the Lottery losing money if the bonus was won much more frequently than statistically expected.

On January 4, 2009 the Florida Lottery began selling Powerball tickets, affecting sales of Florida Lotto. The latter's drawings were moved to 11:15PM EST beginning January 7 to make room for the Powerball drawing at 10:59PM EST. Sales of Florida Lotto were impacted, with some rollovers increasing by only $2 million per drawing. On April 18, 2009, for instance, the Florida Lotto jackpot rolled over 18 times, yet the jackpot was only $50 million.

Along with the larger jackpots for Powerball, its PowerPlay option directly competed with Lotto Plus. Since the Lotto Plus feature did not offer a consolation prize for matching at least three numbers, it was difficult for it to compete with PowerPlay, which offered prizes for all Powerball prize levels except for the jackpot. Lotto Plus never was popular. Due to poor sales of Lotto Plus, the Florida Lottery discontinued the option on October 10, 2009. Advanced play tickets with the Lotto Plus option continued to qualify for an enhanced prize. Since Advance Play allows 52 drawings, the last Florida Lotto drawing that offered an enhanced prize was April 7, 2010. None of the Lotto Plus tickets sold for drawings after the official discontinuation of Lotto Plus were jackpot winners.

The Lotto Plus bonus was won only twice during its run; both were $2 tickets.

Lotto Xtra (2009-)

On October 11, 2009 at 6:00 a.m. the Florida Lottery began sales of Lotto Xtra. The first drawing offering the enhanced prizes was held on October 14, 2009. This feature is similar to Powerball's PowerPlay option where players can elect to add $1 to each game, multiplying non-jackpot winnings by either 2x, 3x, 4x, or 5x. The odds for each multiplier for each drawing are 1:4. As in Powerball, the multiplier for Xtra is selected by computer and shown on a monitor while the regular Lotto numbers are drawn by a ball machine. Additionally, Florida Lotto tickets purchased with Lotto Xtra win a free play with Lotto Xtra for a 2-of-6 match.

To promote the Lotto Xtra feature, the Florida Lottery guaranteed that Lotto Xtra tickets matching 3 of 6 would have a 5x multiplier through December 27, 2009. The Lottery has extended the promotion; no end date has been set.

Also starting with the October 14, 2009 drawing, the minimum prize for 3 of 6 was raised from $3.50 to $5.

On February 14, 2010, the Florida Lotto minimum jackpot was reduced to $2 million.

On April 14, 2010, Florida Lotto produced its 19th consecutive rollover. This broke the previous rollover record of 18 set on April 3, 2010.

As further evidence of eroding Lotto sales to the Powerball, the Florida Lottery changed the jackpot estimated rules again in mid-2010 to reduce the minimum increase in the guaranteed jackpot between drawings from $2 million to $1 million. The first such $1 million increase was on August 11, 2010, marking the smallest ever increase in the advertised jackpot following a rollover drawing.

External links

• Florida Lottery site
• Florida Lotto information site
• Official Florida Lotto Rules PDF
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• How to calculate the odds PDF
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• Florida Lotto History PDF
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• Lotto Playslip