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Florida Lotto is a pick-6-of-53 game, drawn Wednesdays and Saturdays during a live broadcast at 11:00 p.m. ET. Tickets can be purchased until 10:40 p.m. Eastern Time on the night of the draw. Tickets purchased after 10:40 p.m. will be for next draw.
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How Do You Win?
Players would win by matching three, four, five, or, for the jackpot, all six numbers. The top prize has usually continued to start at $3 million, however, it may be decreased to $2 million if the state is struck by a hurricane or other chaotic event. All prizes must be claimed within 180 days of the applicable draw date.
A single ball machine is used with balls numbered ranging from 1 through 53. Anyone who matches all six numbers in any order wins or shares the jackpot. You can choose to receive your portion of the Florida Lotto jackpot in a one-time Cash Option payment, or you can receive it in 30 annual payments.
Cash Value or Annual Payments?
Players have 60 days after the winning draw date to elect the Cash Option payment. The Cash Option payment is each jackpot ticket winner's portion of the prize pool that is available immediately for investment (approximately half of the advertised jackpot amount.) Appropriate federal income taxes will be withheld from both Cash Option and Annual Payments at the time payments are made.
Florida Lottery History
Florida Lotto started on April 29, 1988 with an initial jackpot at US$2 million, and was played every Saturday initially, with the first drawing being held on April 30.
The game was originally played by selecting six numbers from a field of 49. Drawings were held weekly every Saturday night at 11:00 P.M. EST. Players would win prizes by matching 3 or more numbers on their ticket to the six selected on Saturday night. If they matched all six, they would win a jackpot that was paid in 20 equal yearly installments.
The biggest, and most recent, change occurred in October 1999. Four numbers were added to the field to make a total of 53 numbers for players to choose from. A second weekly drawing on Wednesday nights was also added. The minimum jackpot was also decreased from USD$6,000,000 to an annuitized USD$3,000,000 in order to compensate for the second weekly drawing.
Florida Lotto Prizes and Odds
The current prize structure looks like this:
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Matches
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Avg. Prize
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% Of Sales
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Odds
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6 out of 6
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Jackpot
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31.75%
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1:22,957,480
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5 out of 6
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$5,007.00
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6.15%
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1:81,409.5
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4 out of 6
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$71.00
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5.00%
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1:1,415.8
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3 out of 6
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$5.00
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7.10%
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1:70.8
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Overall odds of winning : 1 in 67.364
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There are numerous Florida Lotto billboards throughout the state along major highways; they are all maintained by people who update the jackpots manually, rather than through a central system. As with all Florida Lottery games, the minimum age to play is 18.
Play online...
Official website of Florida Lottery
