Florida Lottery

The Florida Lottery began operation on January 12, 1988 by order of a constitutional amendment approved by Florida voters by a 2-to-1 margin in the general election of November 4, 1986. The point of the Lottery is to give extra funding to Florida education, and it was mandated that a significant proportion of all revenue generated by ticket sales go to the Education Enhancement Trust Fund. The Bright Futures scholarship program is funded by the Florida Lottery. The minimum age to purchase a Florida Lottery ticket, regardless of game, is 18.

The first game offered by Florida Lottery was Millionaire, a $1 scratch-off game with a $1 million annuity prize. Total sales in the first 12 days totaled $95 million.[1] Seventeen days of ticket sales allowed for the Lottery Commission to repay with interest the initial $15.5 million bond from Florida's General Revenue Fund that got it going.

Sheelah Ryan of Winter Springs, won the largest single lottery jackpot in world history to that point, a jackpot of $55.16 million. She was the 10th Florida Lotto winner. However, the Florida Lotto cash option (see below) was still 10 years away. She died before she could receive all of her winnings, which funded a foundation she established to provide for the less fortunate.[4]

The first $100 million Florida Lotto jackpot was for the drawing on September 15, 1990. Six tickets split a $106.5 million jackpot. (There was no cash option for jackpot winners at the time.) That day, the Florida Lottery set a record with $30 million in revenue from that game alone.

In 1991, a daily four-number on-line game, Play 4, was introduced on July 4, with a top prize of $5,000.

December 1991 saw the advent of "Florida Lotto Month", where minimum jackpots and rollovers were guaranteed at $10 million for the Christmas season.

On September 27, 1993, the first $2 Scratch-Off game, Bingo, was introduced. Through variants, it is the longest-running Scratch-Off game by the Florida Lottery.

On January 24, 1994, Fantasy 5 expanded to Mondays through Fridays.

On May 22, 1994, the first Florida Lotto mail-in promotion began where losing tickets could be mailed in for a prize. Called the Great LOTTOMOBILE Giveaway, 50 tickets each won their holders a 30th Anniversary 1995 Ford Mustang.

In October 1995, the Florida Lottery launched Flamingo Fortune, a game show where people who sent in losing Scratch-Off tickets were selected to play for prizes.

On February 28, 1996, Barbara Arens of Clearwater was announced as the first winner of the Win for Life $2 scratch-off. She is receiving $1000 per week for life, paid in annual installments of $52,000, with a guarantee of $1 million. (There was no cash option available.)

The 500th Florida Lotto drawing occurred on November 30, 1996, with a jackpot of US$26 million. It rolled over twice before being won by PAPI-AMOR Partnership of Lake Worth.

The Lottery celebrated its 10-year anniversary on January 12, 1998. To that point it had grossed $21 billion in sales and given US$8 billion to Florida education.

On February 25, 1998, Mega Money began, a four-plus-one numbers drawing game played every Tuesday and Friday with jackpots in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Initially rolled out on an 18-week trial run, it was relaunched on a permanent basis on June 1, 1998.

Later in 1998, Florida Lotto began its cash option. The annuity, now optional, was lengthened to 30 annual payments. (Unlike with most other U.S. lotteries, a winner desiring the cash option must claim within 60 days of the drawing, instead of the more usual 60-day period after claiming.)

On October 24, 1999, Florida Lotto underwent major changes. The matrix increased from 6/49 to 6/53, with Wednesday drawings added. Because of the second weekly drawing, its initial jackpot was reduced to $3 million with lower initial rollovers.

Fantasy 5's matrix, on July 16, 2001, increased from 5/26 to 5/36. The top prize was changed to a rolldown format.

On September 8, 2003, the largest unclaimed ticket in the Lottery's 15-year history expired after the 180-day deadline with no one claiming the ticket. The Florida Lotto ticket was worth an estimated $53.7 million ($30.1 million cash).[1] Note that while Florida Lotto (and Mega Money beginning in 2004) jackpot winners have 180 days to claim their prizes, if they want to be paid in lump sum, they must claim within 60 days of the drawing, unlike most US lotteries, which start the clock when the ticket is claimed.

On January 28, 2004, Mega Money was revamped. It was changed from a 4/32 + 1/32 matrix to a 4/44 + 1/22 matrix. Also, the jackpot was changed from all-cash to 20 annual payments with cash option.

On March 20, 2006, a new play option called EZmatch was added to Fantasy 5. For an extra $1, players can win up to $500 instantly, by matching their Fantasy 5 numbers to the random EZmatch numbers.

Florida Governor Jeb Bush declined an offer to join Powerball on February 2, 1999.

Governor Charlie Crist assumed office in 2007. On July 2, 2008, the Florida Lottery announced it would be joining Powerball, making it the 32nd lottery to join the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which includes the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Powerball game changed to accommodate Florida, which then became the most populous MUSL member. Powerball sales began in Florida on January 4, 2009, for the January 7 drawing, the first to be held at Universal Orlando Resort. Florida became the home base of the Powerball drawing.

Florida Powerball drawings initially were held from Universal Studios in Orlando, but were shifted to the Tallahassee headquarters of the Florida Lottery. (Powerball drawings continue on Wednesdays and Saturdays.)

On October 3, 2009, the Florida Lottery announced its first Powerball jackpot winner. The winning ticket was worth $101,160,403.68 cash ($189 million annuity) and was the largest prize awarded by the Florida Lottery. Dr. William A. Steele claimed the prize, and elected to take the lump sum.

On October 11, 2009, the Florida Lottery introduced Lotto Xtra as an add-on for Florida Lotto. Players may elect to add $1 to the cost of their Florida Lotto ticket and multiply non-jackpot prizes by up to 5x.

On October 11, 2010, the Florida Lottery introduced Lucky Lines.[5] Lucky Lines is an instant win game where players elect how much to wager on each ticket from $1, $2, $3, or $5.[6] The Lottery computer then produces a 7x7 grid of numbers from 1 to 49 with the player numbers distributed throughout. If the player's 7 numbers form a straight line that ticket is a grand prize winner and is paid from $400,000 to $3,000,000 depending on the amount of the wager for that ticket. The top prize is always offered as a lump sum.[7] Lesser prizes are offered for lines formed with 3, 4, 5, or 6 numbers as well as tickets where none of the 7 numbers are adjacent to each other. Lines can be diagonal, horizontal, or vertical on the play card.[8]

On January 12, 2013, the Florida Lottery celebrated 25 years in operation with a major rebranding campaign including a logo redesign and presence on social media, including Facebook and Twitter.[9]

On February 28, 2013, the Florida Lottery announced it will begin selling Mega Millions tickets on May 15, 2013. Florida became the 43rd state to join Mega Millions. The remaining seven states do not have lotteries.[10] Lucky Lines will end by the end of 2013.[11]

Pick 2, which debuted in Florida on August 1, 2016, is drawn every day during a live broadcast at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time for the midday drawing, and, effective August 5, 2018, 9:45 p.m. (previously 7:57 p.m.) ET for the evening drawing. Two ball machines, each with balls numbered ranging from 0 through 9, are used. One ball is drawn from each machine. Anyone who matches the two numbers (in any order, or only in order, depending on how the numbers were played; Picks 2, 3, 4, and 5 offer several different options when playing) in exact order wins $50 on a $1 ticket.

Pick 3 is drawn every day during a live broadcast immediately following the Pick 2 drawings. It is played the same way as Pick 2, except three ball machines are used. Anyone who matches the three numbers (in any order, or only in order, depending on how exactly the numbers are played; Picks 2, 3, 4, and 5 offer several different options when playing) in exact order wins $500 on a $1 wager. More recently, more ways to play involving multiple-number tickets were introduced. On August 23, 2010, Florida added a 1-OFF selection to the game. This gives the player 26 extra combinations of his/her number in which the digits are 1 up or 1 down. If the number matched exactly, one would win just $250 instead of $500 for a $1 play and $125 instead of $250 for a 50-cent play. If one of the 1-Off numbers drew, one would win $10 on $1 plays and $5 on 50-cent plays. See the lottery website for further details. This game was formerly named Cash 3 until August 1, 2016.

Pick 4 is drawn every day during a live broadcast immediately following the Pick 3 drawings. This time, four ball machines are used, and anyone who matches the four numbers (in any order, or only in order, depending on how exactly the numbers are played; Picks 2, 3, 4, and 5 offer several different options when playing) in exact order wins $5,000 on a $1 wager. This game was formerly named Play 4 until August 1, 2016.

Pick 5, which debuted in Florida on August 1, 2016, is drawn every day during a live broadcast immediately following the Pick 4 drawings. This time, five ball machines are used, and anyone who matches the five numbers (in any order, or only in order, depending on how exactly the numbers are played; Picks 2, 3, 4, and 5 offer several different options when playing) in exact order wins $50,000 on a $1 wager.

Fantasy 5 is drawn every day during a live broadcast at 11:15 p.m. ET. A single ball machine is used with balls numbered from 1 through 36. (Before July 16, 2001, the matrix was 1 through 26, and before 1993, it was 1 through 39). Five balls are drawn from the machine. Anyone who matches all five numbers in any order wins or shares a top prize pool of around $200,000. Originally, if no one matched all five, the pool rolled down to the 4-out-of-5 winners. The rolldown feature in Fantasy 5 was modified on September 15, 2008. See the Rollover and Rolldown section below for more details. An astonishing 98 people won the August 28, 2012 Fantasy 5, reminiscent of a scene in the movie, Bruce Almighty. The reward for each winning ticket was only $1,992.32.[1]

Jackpot Triple Play is drawn each Tuesday and Friday during a live broadcast at 11:15 p.m. ET. Jackpot Triple Play replaced Lucky Money. A single ball machine is used with numbered balls ranging from 1 through 46. For $1 players select 6 numbers, or may opt to have them quick picked. Two additional rows of 6 numbers are automatically quick picked. Each of the 3 rows play separately for regular prizes. For an additional $1, players add a "Combo" option for that selection, then the numbers of all 3 lines qualify for matching the drawn numbers, even if they appear more than once.[17][18]

Florida Lotto is drawn each Wednesday and Saturday during a live broadcast at 11:15 p.m. ET. A single ball machine is used with numbered balls ranging from 1 through 53 (before October 24, 1999, there were 49 balls). Anyone who matches all six numbers in any order wins or shares the jackpot.

In October 2009, the Lotto Xtra option was introduced, replacing Lotto Plus. Players can pay an additional $1 for each game, multiplying non-jackpot winnings by 2x, 3x, 4x, or 5x. Additionally, Lotto Xtra tickets win a free play for matching 2 of 6 numbers.

Beginning on October 10, 2020, the Lotto Double Play option was introduced for an additional $1 per play, which allows players the chance to win up to $250,000 in an additional drawing following the regular Lotto drawing.

The Florida Lottery joined Cash4Life on February 17, 2017. (The game also is available in Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia.)

Players choose 5 of 60 numbers in one field, and 1 of 4 green "Cash Ball" numbers in the second field. Until July 1, 2019, live drawings were held on Monday and Thursday evenings at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Livestream. Since then, the drawings are held nightly at 9:00 p.m. ET. The top prize (win or share) $1,000-per-day-for-life. Second prize is $1,000-per-week-for-life.[19][20] A cash option is available for winners of a "lifetime" prize.

Mega Millions is offered in 44 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Mega Millions was added to the Florida Lottery on May 15, 2013. The game began its current format on October 19, 2013; since October 28, 2017, players choose 5 of 70 "white balls", and a gold-colored "Mega Ball" from a second pool, of 25 numbers. The odds of winning the jackpot per play are 1 in 302,575,350. Games are $2 each ($1 previously); games with the "Megaplier" option are $3 ($2 previously). Also, the Mega Millions starting jackpot increased to $40 million from $15 million. (On April 2, 2020, because of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic, the Mega Millions starting jackpot amount was temporarily reduced to $20 million.) The Megaplier multiplies non-jackpot prizes by up to 5.

Mega Millions is drawn Tuesday and Friday nights at 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time at the WSB-TV main studios in Atlanta, Georgia.

Powerball became available in Florida on January 4, 2009; the first drawing including Florida was January 7. Powerball jackpots start at $40 million; it is drawn Wednesday and Saturday nights at 10:59 p.m. (On April 7, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Powerball starting jackpot amount was temporarily reduced to $20 million.) Since October 7, 2015, players choose 5 of 69 "white balls", and a red-colored "Powerball" out of 26 numbers from a separate pool. The odds of winning the jackpot per play are 1 in 292,201,338.[21] Each draw costs $2, or $3 with the Power Play option. (Previously, Powerball plays cost $1; when PowerPlay began, such games were $2.) The official cutoff for ticket sales is 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time, with some lotteries cutting off their sales earlier.[22]

As a result of Florida joining Powerball, the regular drawing venue was moved from Iowa to Universal Orlando Resort, and then to the Lottery's Tallahassee headquarters.

Monopoly Millionaires' Club (MMC) began sales on October 19, 2014 with 23 lotteries participating in the launch. MMC, drawn weekly on Fridays, was suspended following the December 26 draw.

MMC was tied to a television game show, which continued airing until April 2006; the draw game was replaced by 16 states' versions of an MMC scratch ticket. The game show featured players and audience members who won a trip to Las Vegas via the draw game, and later the scratch game.

Lucky Lines tickets went on sale on October 11, 2010.[23] Players who wish to purchase this game must make two selections when they buy their tickets. First they must choose how much to pay for each ticket, either $1, $2, $3, or $5 and secondly they must determine if they wish to select a set of 7 numbers between 1 and 49 or let the computer select (Quick Pick) the numbers for them.[24] Like previous online games players may mark their selections on a Lucky Lines play slip or verbally give their instructions to the Lottery Terminal operator.[25] Unlike other Lottery online games players may not have a partial quick pick ticket. Players must either select all 7 numbers, or have the computer quick pick all numbers.[26]

As each ticket is produced the Lottery's computer generates a 7x7 grid with the numbers 1 through 49 arranged in each cell. If the player selected their own numbers the grid will be completely randomized.[27] If the player numbers were quick picked the numbers on the 7x7 grid will be in sequential order to make it easier for players to find their numbers on the grid. Regardless to the method of play, the game odds and dynamic are unchanged.[28] Players are then asked to circle[29] their 7 numbers on the grid and if 3 or more of the numbers for a straight line horizontally, vertically, or diagonally that ticket is a winner. In addition a ticket with no numbers touching is also a winner and will pay double the original ticket cost.[30] Since the grid has all 49 numbers present it is not possible for any player numbers to not be in the grid; all tickets will have all 7 player numbers on the grid.[31] Prizes are awarded for tickets with a single 3 number line, a single 4 number line, two independent 3 number lines, a 5 number line, separate 3 and 4 number lines, 6 numbers in a line, or all 7 numbers in a single line. [8] If all 7 numbers form a line the ticket is a grand prize winner and will pay $400,000 for a $1 bet, $1 million for a $2 bet, $1.6 million for a $3 bet, and $3 million for a $5 bet.[32] All lucky lines prizes are lump sum awards.[7] The odds of winning the top prize is 1:5,368,787. The odds of winning any prize is 1:4.37.[33]

Unlike previous online games, Lucky Lines players do not have to wait till a future drawing to determine if their ticket is a winner making this game very similar to one of the Lottery's scratch off offerings.[34] However, unlike scratch-off tickets where the winning tickets are all predetermined and top prizes may be sold before a player makes their purchase, the Lottery's computer randomly generates all Lucky Line tickets in real time.[35] All Lucky Lines tickets have an equal chance of winning the top prize regardless of what tickets were sold in the past. Because Lucky Lines is an instant win game, tickets cannot be cancelled once purchased.[36]

With the introduction of Mega Millions, Lucky Lines ended in 2013.[11]

Lucky Money was drawn each Tuesday and Friday during a live broadcast at 11:15 p.m. ET. Two ball machines were used, one with white balls numbered from 1 through 47 and a second with gold balls numbered from 1 through 17. (Before January 28, 2004, each machine contained 32 balls.) Four balls were drawn from the "white" machine, and one number (called the "Lucky Ball") was drawn from the "orange" machine. Anyone who matched all four white numbers in any order plus the Lucky Ball won or shared the jackpot. The jackpot began at $500,000 (annuity). If not won, the jackpot increased until it reached $2 million, where it was capped. Any excess funds rolled down to the lower prize levels. Unlike the original version of Lucky Money, which was all-cash, jackpot winners desiring the lump sum had to claim their prize within 60 days of the drawing. This game was known as Mega Money until July 1, 2014, when its name was changed to avoid confusion with Mega Millions. Lucky Money also had the add on feature of ezmatch for a dollar extra per play. Lucky Money had its final drawing January 29, 2019, and was replaced with Jackpot Triple Play.[37]

In addition to simple donations to education, the Florida Lottery has, along with the Florida Legislature established the Bright Futures Scholarship Program to help students pay for college.[3] Since the program's inception in 1997, the Florida Lottery has contributed more than $3.9 billion to send over 600,000 students to college.[3] The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program consists of three levels of awards.[40] The first is the Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars Award, followed by the Florida Medallion Scholars Award, and finally the Florida Academic Scholars Award.[40] Once the student is in college, these awards must be renewed by maintaining a minimum 2.75 GPA for Florida Gold Seal Vocational and Florida Medallion Scholars awards and a 3.0 for the Florida Academic Scholars Award.[40] Each award has additional hours requirements to maintain.[40]