Washington's Lottery is the lottery system for the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, run by the

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

. Its games include

Mega Millions Mega Millions (originally known as The Big Game in 1996 and renamed, temporarily, to The Big Game Mega Millions six years later) is an American multijurisdictional lottery game. The first drawing took place on September 6, 1996, with six partic ...

Powerball Powerball is an American lottery game offered by 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and overseen by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which also manages other large jackpot games such as t ...

Keno Keno is a lottery-like gambling game often played at modern casinos, and also offered as a game in some lotteries. Players wager by choosing numbers ranging from 1 through (usually) 80. After all players make their wagers, 20 numbers (some va ...

Lotto Lotto may refer to: * Lotto, original, 15th century name of the Italian lottery * Lotto America, one of many U.S. lottery games called Lotto * Lotto (Milan Metro), a railway station in Milan, Italy * Lotto carpet, a carpet having a lacy arabesq ...

, Hit 5, Match 4, Pick 3, and scratch games. The

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

(H.B. 1251) creating the lottery was passed by the

state legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

in 1982 (

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

on June 30, 1982;

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

on July 1, 1982) and signed by governor John Spellman on July 16. Washington became the sixteenth state with a lottery and only the second in the Western U.S., joining

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. It was launched four months later with a one-dollar scratch ticket game titled "Pot O'Gold Instant Lottery," which began on November 15, 1982. What is now Pick 3 began as Triple Choice in January 1984, and Lotto was launched six months later in July, with a weekly drawing on Saturday evening. A second Lotto drawing on Wednesday was added on November 18, 1987, and a third on Monday on February 14, 2005.

Games

Washington's Lottery offers several draw games, plus scratch ticket games. The list of draw games: Laws prohibit any game from being drawn more than once daily. † These prizes are multiplied by 2, 3, 4, or 5 if the ''Megaplier'' option was activated (this option, initially used only in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, was introduced to Washington's Lottery in January 2011). ♠ In January 2012, the ''Power Play'' multiplier was retired; non-jackpot prizes have fixed values regardless of whether the option was activated. In the case of second prize, a ''Power Play'' wager wins $2,000,000 cash. A list of scratch ticket games can be found
here

Retired games

This is a partial list games that have been retired and when they were active. Quinto, for a brief period, had an add-on game called ''Beat the State''.

Special games

For its 25th anniversary in 2007, the Lottery held its first raffle, 375,000 tickets were sold, with three prizes of $1 million, four of $100,000, and 350 of $1,000. In the first drawing, all tickets were sold. In spring 2008, a second raffle was held, however, over 100,000 tickets were unsold. The cost of a ticket in both raffles was $20.

Additional information

Many U.S. lotteries draw some games, such as pick-3, at least twice daily. However, local law prohibits Washington's Lottery from drawing any of its games more than once daily. This explains why its Keno is not drawn every few minutes, unlike a growing number of lotteries. In April 2009, both houses of the

passed a bill to allow Washington's Lottery to sell

tickets, to take effect 90 days after the governor's signature, and sales began on February 3, 2010. Minimum age to purchase lottery tickets in

is 18.

References

External links