Since we announced in August that the Hot Lotto® game will end Oct. 28, we’ve heard from a lot of folks wondering what will happen to the game’s jackpot if it isn’t won by then. And today, we can announce that a decision has been made. The money in the Hot Lotto jackpot pool will roll forward into the new Lotto AmericaSM game if the jackpot hasn’t been won by the time Hot Lotto ends.
Initial thoughts were that the money in the jackpot pool – which currently stands at $11.63 million – would be returned to the states in the Hot Lotto game in proportion to the percentage of sales that had come from each state. And the money could then be used for prizes in future games and promotions. But a lot of players said they want the chance to keep playing for that money.
So the 14 states in the Hot Lotto game have voted for that very thing to occur. If the Hot Lotto jackpot isn’t won before the game ends, the money in the jackpot pool will carry forward into the new $1 Lotto America game that begins sales on Sunday, Nov. 12. The jackpot in Lotto America normally will start at $2 million and grow until someone wins it, but if the Hot Lotto jackpot money carries forward, the first jackpot in Lotto America on Wednesday, Nov. 15, will be $15 million annuity!
Click here to see more details about Lotto America from our blog entry when we announced that game last month. And below, I've included an image showing the prizes that will be available in the Lotto America game and the odds of winning. The first column shows the prizes available if you don't add the All Star Bonus multiplier to your play. The other columns show the prizes available with the All Star Bonus, which will multiply any prize except the jackpot by two to five times.
What a joke. The hot lotto ended above 12M folks and now the lottery deems its doing us a favor by playing for a 15m annuity? The Hot lotto game was taxes paid. So now if you win you win 7.5Million minus taxes (approx lump sum). So maybe you get 5million when before you would of had 12. So where does all that other money go? Well sounds like its up to the states lottery system. I assume there was no formal written by laws for this and why they were deciding what to do in the article. Why not keep playing till it was won and then end the game?
Sounds like a class action lawsuit to me.
Posted by: James | November 04, 2017 at 01:02 PM
Hi, Jimmie. The final drawing in the Hot Lotto game was held on Saturday, Oct. 28. Because the game has ended, information about it is no longer available on our home page. But the details about the game are still on the Hot Lotto game page on our website. Here is a link to the winning numbers page for Hot Lotto: http://www.ialottery.com/Pages/Games-Online/HotLottoWin.aspx
Posted by: Mary Neubauer | October 30, 2017 at 01:46 PM
Hi, Jerry. The lump-sum amount of a jackpot is always dependent upon interest rates for the annuities that would be purchased. So, the cash value is not a set amount of the annuity value. In Lotto America, players who choose the annuity option will receive their jackpot in 30 payments made over 29 years.
Posted by: Mary Neubauer | October 30, 2017 at 01:42 PM
Hi, Matt. I can tell you put a lot of feeling into what you wrote. So thank you for sharing your thoughts. To clarify one point, the initial discussions were for the money from the jackpot pool to be returned to the states in the Hot Lotto game in proportion to the percentage of sales from each state. Here in Iowa, unclaimed prize money goes into the lottery's prize pools for future games and promotions, so that money is given away to players. As you know, the lotteries in the Hot Lotto game later voted for the money in the jackpot prize pool to roll forward into the new Lotto America game that will start on Nov. 12.
Posted by: Mary Neubauer | October 30, 2017 at 01:39 PM
Yes, it will have the Play 'Em All feature! And with the numbers 1-10 being in the Star Ball pool, it will be an easy feature to utilize in the game.
MN
Posted by: Mary Neubauer | October 30, 2017 at 01:35 PM