The Illinois Lottery is run by the government of Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. The Lottery was founded in 1974, when U.S. lotteries were confined to the Northeast and Midwestern states. Televised drawings are based at the West Bradley Place studios of Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

's CW affiliate WGN-TV

WGN-TV

WGN-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located at 2501 W...

 (channel 9), and occur twice daily, with the midday drawing occurring at 12:40 p.m. CT during that station's noon newscast Monday-Fridays and on weekend afternoons during syndicated programming, and the evening drawing occurring at 9:20 p.m. CT during the 9 p.m. newscast seven nights a week. The drawings are supervised by the accounting firm of E.C. Ortiz & Co., LLP and verified by the auditing firm of Mayer Hoffman McCann, P.C. Illinois' is the only lottery to have their non multi-jurisdictional drawings televised nationwide (via WGN-TV's national superstation feed WGN America).

The Illinois Lottery is one of 42 members of Mega Millions

Mega Millions

Mega Millions is a US multi-jurisdictional $1 lottery game. Since it replaced The Big Game in May 2002 , Mega Millions' advertised jackpots have started at $12 million, paid in 26 yearly installments , increasing when there is no jackpot winner...

, and among 44 members of 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...

 (whose drawings are also broadcast by WGN-TV in the Chicago area and nationally on WGN America). It also runs Illinois Lotto (players pick 6 of 52 numbers) with a smaller jackpot on a Monday-Wednesday-Saturday night drawing schedule. Pick 3 and Pick 4 numbers are drawn twice daily; the same numbers apply to those playing the same games in neighboring Iowa

Iowa Lottery

The Iowa Lottery is run by the government of Iowa. It is a charter member of, and home to, the Multi-State Lottery Association , which administers its games on behalf of the member lotteries...

. Little Lotto (5/39)

Fantasy 5

The following is a list of lottery games in the United States and Canada in which five regular numbers are drawn from a larger set of numbers. The list includes the name, the number field for each, and the frequency of drawings. All pick-5 games in the U.S...

, with a minimum jackpot of $100,000, is drawn nightly.

Pick 3

Pick 3 (originally known as The Daily Game) began on February 19, 1980. It started out as a one-drawing-a-day game Mondays through Saturdays. On March 20, 1983, Pick 3 added Sunday drawings. On December 20, 1993, it expanded to 13 draws weekly. Pick 3 draws 3 sets of balls numbered 0 through 9. Prices, options, and payouts vary.

Pick 4

Pick 4, similar to Pick 3, began on February 16, 1982, drawing Tuesdays and Fridays. On August 27, 1984, it expanded to Mondays through Saturdays. Sunday drawings were added on March 9, 1985. On December 20, 1993, Pick 4 expanded to 13 draws weekly. It draws 4 sets of 10 balls 0 through 9. Prices, options and payouts vary.

Illinois Lotto

On February 19, 1983, Illinois Lotto began as a Saturday-only game, drawing 6 of 40 balls. On May 19, 1984, it became a 6/44 game. On December 1, 1985, advance play was introduced. On January 15, 1986, Wednesday drawings were added; the game was twice-weekly through April 15, 1987. On May 7, 1988, it became a 6/54 game. On April 7, 1990, new balls and a Beitel Criterion drawing machine debuted. On August 15, 1990, Wednesday drawings were re-introduced. On January 15, 1998, the 6/54 matrix was scaled down to 6/48, and now featured an all-cash jackpot that began at $1 million (previously, the jackpot was annuitized

Annuity (finance theory)

The term annuity is used in finance theory to refer to any terminating stream of fixed payments over a specified period of time. This usage is most commonly seen in discussions of finance, usually in connection with the valuation of the stream of payments, taking into account time value of money...

). On April 14, 1999, the matrix changed again to 6/52, and added a fourth prize, $3, for matching three numbers. The odds of winning a jackpot are 1:10,179,260. The starting jackpot is $2 million; players get two games for each $1 played.

Little Lotto

On June 1, 1988, Illinois created Cash 5, which began as a 5/35 game drawn Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. On May 15, 1989, the game's name was changed to its current name. On April 6, 1990, new balls were introduced, also drawn with a Beitel Criterion machine. On November 7, 1994, the matrix was changed to 5/30. On August 4, 1998, the game expanded to Mondays through Fridays. On February 25, 2004, the game changes again, to 5/39, with jackpots beginning at $100,000, drawing seven days a week.

Mega Millions (43 jurisdictions)

On September 6, 1996, six lotteries, including Illinois's, began a jackpot game then called The Big Game. Jackpots begin at $12 million. Its Megaplier option became available in Illinois in January 2011. The price of a basic Mega Millions play is $1; with Megaplier, $2.

Initially, the game's drawings were to be held at the Illinois Lottery studios; however, to entice the Georgia Lottery

Georgia Lottery

The Georgia Lottery is overseen by the government of Georgia, United States. Headquartered in Atlanta and run by the Georgia Lottery Corporation, the lottery takes in over US$1 billion yearly. By law, half of the money goes to prizes, one-third to education, and the remainder to operating and...

 to switch from Powerball (Georgia wanted to offer both games for several months; instead, it was booted from Powerball within days of The Big Game startup) the game's official venue was, and is, Atlanta

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

.

Powerball (44 jurisdictions)

Powerball began in 1992. On October 13, 2009 the Mega Millions consortium and Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) reached an agreement to cross-sell Mega Millions and Powerball in US lottery jurisdictions. On January 31, 2010, Illinois began selling tickets for both games.

As with Mega Millions, games are $1 or $2 each. In January 2012, Powerball games will cost $2 each, or $3 with Power Play.

Lotto 7 (April 22, 1987 – May 4, 1988)

For just over a year, Illinois drew a second jackpot game, called Lotto 7. It was played only on Wednesdays. Jackpots were annuitized; there was never a cash option. Its final drawing was on May 4, 1988.

Scratch games

Multiple scratch games

Scratchcard

A scratchcard is a small card, often made of thin paper-based card for competitions and plastic to conceal PINs, where one or more areas contain concealed information which can...

 in varying amounts and themes are offered by the lottery, including games based on licensed properties

Brand licensing

Licensing means renting or leasing of an intangible asset. Examples of intangible assets include a song , a character , a name or a brand . An arrangement to license a brand requires a licensing agreement...

 such as the NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 game show

Game show

A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...

 Deal or No Deal

Deal or No Deal

Deal or No Deal is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which was the Dutch Miljoenenjacht produced by Dutch producer Endemol. It is played with up to 26 cases with certain sums of money...

. Chicago sports teams also have tie-ins with the Lottery.

Distribution of funds

Proceeds from the Illinois Lottery and unclaimed prizes are distributed to support education and schools in Illinois.