The Michigan Lottery

The Michigan lottery can be found in restaurants, bars and even online. In addition to creating hundreds of new millionaires, the lottery also provides a healthy boost to the state’s educational system. Since 1973, the Michigan lottery has contributed over $13.6 billion to Michigan schools, including more than $600 million in the last nine years.

A few important dates in the history of Michigan’s lottery include:

• February 22, 1973 - Hermus Millsaps of Taylor, Michigan becomes the first $1 million prize winner.
• October 7, 1975 - The first instant game tickets go on sale.
• May 13, 1981 - Public Act 40 is signed into effect by Governor Milliken. This earmarked lottery revenues for the state’s School Aid Fund.
• August 13, 1984 - The first Lotto game goes on sale. The game makes $3.1 million in its first week and sets a national record.
• September 30, 1987 - Lottery sales reach $1 billion for the first time in a fiscal year.
• April 22, 2005 - $208 million, Michigan’s largest single jackpot, is won by a Mega Millions players.

Michigan Lottery Instant Games

Lottery scratch tickets are hugely popular. In fact, they are the fastest-growing product produced by the Michigan lottery. With a different game being produced every week, lottery fans have a number of different styles and strategies to choose from. The top prize includes $2 million or $1,000 a week for the rest of your life. There’s also a good chance of winning, as the overall odds are 1-in-5.

Michigan Lottery Club Games

Club games are offered at various bars and restaurants throughout Michigan. These consist of three primary games - Lucky Streak, Pull Tabs and Club Keno.

1. Club Keno features a winner every four minutes. The top prize is $2 million for a reasonable $20 wager. You can risk $1 through $5, or $10 or $20 per drawing, and players can buy tickets for up to 20 drawings at a time. Drawing are held seven days a week from 6:05am until 1:45 am.

To win, all you have to do is accurately predict which number will be drawn at random. The more you guess correctly, the more you will win. Overall, there are 37 different ways to play and win.

There’s also a kicker option which can greatly increase your winnings. For each dollar you wager, the kicker option can be activated for an additional dollar. Before every Club Keno drawing, a wheel is spun to determine if the kicker number will be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 10. If your Club Keno ticket is a winner, and you bought the kicker option, your winnings will be multiplied by whatever number came up on the wheel spin. That means your prize could be increased by as much 10 times.

2. Lucky Streak is currently being market tested throughout various Michigan counties and at 6 retail outlets in the Lansing area. This lottery game offers a top prize of $500,000. The minimum wager is $1, and drawings are held 7 days a week from 6:05 am until 1:45 am.

3. Pull tabs, also known as “break-opens” are lottery tickets with tabs that you pull open to reveal prizes. These rage in price from 50 cents to $2 per ticket, and the cash prizes range from $1 to $500. Overall odds of winning range from 1 in 4 to 1 in 10. New games are introduced all the time, but here are the names of some of the current favorites:

• Barbeque Bucks (50 cent game)
• Rags to Riches (50 cent)
• Snazzy 7s (50 cent)
• Big Bang Bucks ($1)
• Ruby Royale ($1)
• Bowling for Bucks ($1)
• Criss Cross Diamonds ($2)
• 5-Card Poker ($2)
• EZ Jackpot ($2)

Michigan Mega Millions

If you want to become really rich, Mega Millions is the game to play. A multi-state game, Mega Millions is offered in Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, California, Michigan, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia, Washington and Texas.

All jackpots start at a guaranteed $12 million, and drawings are held every Tuesday and Friday at 11 pm EST (no tickets sold after 10:45 pm). And if nobody wins, the jackpot increases for the next drawing. Jackpots have been known to stretch into the hundreds of millions of dollars!

To play, you select 5 numbers from 1 to 56 and 1 Gold Mega Ball number from 1 to 46. Each drawing only costs $1 to play, and your ticket can be used to play up to 20 consecutive games.

During the televised drawing, 6 numbers will be drawn at random. Compare the numbers on your ticket to the numbers drawn. The more numbers you match, the greater your winnings. Match all numbers correctly and you’ll be set for life. In addition, there are also eight other ways to win cash prizes.

If you do win the jackpot, you can receive your payment in one of two ways. If you select the annuity payment option, the winnings will be paid out in equal installments over 26 years. If the cash option is selected, the winner receives the present cash value of the jackpot in one lump sum. You get less money with the cash option, but you also don’t have to wait 26 years, either.

Classic Lotto 47

In this game, players select 6 numbers from 1 to 47 on a panel of the playslip. You can play up to five panels per playslip, and each play costs $1. The more numbers you match, then the more you will win. There are guaranteed prizes for matches of 3, 4 and 5 numbers. Getting all six numbers will win the jackpot, and it’s guaranteed to start at $1 million. Drawings for Classic Lotto 47 are held every Wednesday and Saturday at 7:29 pm EST.

Super Raffle

For about a month at a time, lottery terminals across the state will sell a limited number of tickets (usually around 250,000) for the Super Raffle. Each ticket will be given a number (ranging from 000001 to 250000). Then, in a single drawing, 4,527 tickets will be randomly drawn.

Two tickets will win $2 million (odds of winning 1 in 125,000). 25 tickets will win $100,000 (odds of winning 1 in 10,000), and 4,500 tickets will win $500 each (odds of winning 1 in 56).

Fantasy 5

To win the jackpot, you must match all five numbers (which will be randomly drawn). The jackpot begins at $100,000 and increases by a minimum of $5,000 per day until someone wins. Fantasy 5 jackpots are paid in one lump sum.

If you match 4 numbers, you are guaranteed of winning at least $100. Match three and win $10, and getting two numbers will give you back the $1 you spent on the ticket. The overall odds of winning a cash prize are 1 in 9. Drawings are held daily at 7:29 pm EST.

Keno

To play, you pick 10 numbers ranging from 1 to 80 on the playslip. The cost to play is only $1. Drawings are held each day at 7:29 pm EST. The top prize is $250,000. In all, players have six different ways to win.

Daily 3

To play this game, you select any 3-digit number on the panel of the playslip. You can wager 50 cents or $1 on this play. Up to 10 panels per ticket can be played. There are four different ways to win, and players can win up to $500. Drawings are held twice a day, 12:59pm and 7:29 pm, seven days a week.

Daily 4

Similar to the Daily 3, except a 4-digit number is chosen. Each play is $1, and the top prize is $5,000. Drawings are still held twice a day at the same times as the Daily 3 game.

Daily Double

This game plays just like Daily 3 and Daily 4, but players can risk $1 extra to win prizes that are 20 percent greater than those paid out on the other games. And besides being registered for the Daily 3 or 4 drawing, you will also be eligible for a mini-drawing which takes place the moment that you purchase your ticket.

Michigan Lottery Official Site

For more information on the Michigan lottery, be sure and visit their official site at http://www.michigan.gov/ lottery.