A man reached out to us on Facebook to ask about the jackpot amounts in our Progressive InstaPlay games, and I’m sharing our answer here on the blog in case you’ve wondered the same thing.
The man specifically asked how the jackpot amount is determined in the “Extreme Green Progressive” InstaPlay game, but the process applies to the jackpots in any of our progressive InstaPlay games. They’re called progressive because their jackpots grow progressively larger with each ticket sold statewide until they’re won.
InstaPlay as a product combines features from both lotto games and scratch games. The games have a playstyle similar to that of our scratch games, but InstaPlay tickets are printed and sold on demand from the lottery terminal like those in lotto games. And in the case of our progressive InstaPlay games, they have a starting jackpot amount, just as lotto games like Powerball and Mega Millions have a starting jackpot amount.
In the case of Extreme Green Progressive, its jackpot starts at $20,000 and grows from there, increasing by $2 with each ticket sold statewide in the game.
An electronic file of plays exists in the game, and winning tickets are randomly distributed throughout that file. The exact amount of the jackpot won depends upon where the jackpot-winning ticket exists in the electronic file, and when the ticket is purchased.
Some jackpots won in the game will be larger, based upon where that particular jackpot-winning ticket falls within the game, and some will be smaller, for the same reason. As a security feature, not even those of us who work at the lottery know where the winning tickets are within our games, so no one can predict when or where the next big winner will hit.
The jackpot won in Extreme Green Progressive is therefore a combination of the starting jackpot amount in the game and the number of tickets purchased up until that particular jackpot is won.
The jackpot is clearly not the only prize available in that game. Players also can win prizes in Extreme Green Progressive ranging from $20 up to $10,000, so much of the money spent on tickets in the game goes to pay prizes. A portion of the money from sales in the game also becomes part of the lottery's annual proceeds to state causes. And part of it goes to pay the lottery's expenses for the game, including the costs of the paper on which the tickets are printed.
Hi, Greg. Great question, and no, you do not have to wait. When you cash in the ticket to receive your prize, you will also receive a replacement ticket showing your plays for the remaining draws involved. Be sure that you receive that ticket, though!
Posted by: Mary Neubauer | June 05, 2020 at 10:39 AM
If I have a multi-draw ticket that is a winner on one of the first draws do I need to wait until all draws are completed to cash that winner?
Posted by: Greg | June 04, 2020 at 04:00 PM
Hi, Greg. Here are the amounts in the other progressive InstaPlay games that are dedicated to the jackpot from each ticket purchased. In the $10 Jackpot Party Progressive game: $1; in the $5 Jumbo Bucks Progressive game: 35 cents; in the $2 Cherry Twist Progressive game: 15 cents; and in the $1 Loose Change Progressive game: 8 cents.
Those amounts are programmed into the prize structure of the game itself, and the lottery does not manually adjust the prize structure once it is executed, so it remains unchanged.
Posted by: Mary Neubauer | May 22, 2020 at 02:40 PM
What is the amount of increase per ticket for the other instaplay games?
i did not find that info in the rules.
Can the amount per ticket be changed at whose discretion?
Greg
Posted by: greg loutzenhiser | May 21, 2020 at 11:39 AM