(KMDL-FM) The Louisiana Lottery will take a bit of a break tonight. Sure, they have their daily games and scratch-off games they'll be working, but Thursday night is kind of an "off night" as far as the big money games like Powerball and Mega Millions are concerned. There was a Powerball drawing last night, and on Wednesdays, they draw for Lotto and Easy 5 as well. We've got winners to tell you about.
The two primary driving forces for "draw games" in Louisiana are the Powerball game, which holds drawings on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday night. And the Mega Millions game. That game draws on Tuesday and Friday night. Both games are mult-state lottery games, and the jackpots are among the largest in the world.
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The Mega Millions jackpot of $843 million is garnering most of the national media attention, but here in Louisiana, we seem to lean more toward playing Powerball. Perhaps it's because Powerball has been available in Louisiana a lot longer?
One thing we do know is this: there have been several multi-million dollar jackpot winners sold for Powerball in Louisiana, but to date, the state's lottery players have yet to hit the jackpot prize in Mega Millions. Maybe that will happen on Friday?
Powerball held its Wednesday drawing last night. If you missed the event, here is how it played out.
Wednesday's jackpot amount, for the estimated annuitized jackpot, was $439.8 million. There were no tickets sold across the Powerball footprint that had the match scenario needed to claim that prize. There were also no Match 5 Million winners.
The largest prizes paid out in Wednesday's Powerball were three tickets that earned $250,000 and eight tickets that earned a prize of $50,000. None of those big winners were sold in Louisiana. The largest prize earned by a Louisiana Powerball ticket last night was $500. Six tickets earned that prize.
If you'd like to check your numbers, here's what we saw roll out of the hopper in Wednesday's drawing.
09 17 29 61 66 Powerball 26 Power Play x5
It was a good night to have the Power Play on your ticket, and about 1,545 Louisiana Lottery players added that option to their winning tickets. Overall, some 4,000 or so winning tickets were sold in Louisiana for the Powerball on Wednesday.
The Lotto Jackpot continues to grow; it's currently $3.55 million. That's about as high as we have seen that jackpot in the past five years or so. It's not a record, but for an investment of a dollar, it might be worth a holler. Lotto will draw again on Saturday after failing to get a jackpot win last night.
Easy 5 will also draw on Saturday. That game has a top prize of $170,000. I think Easy 5 is an "easy" draw game to win. You don't have as many numbers to increase your odds, and the cost is prohibitive for the money you could win. My opinion only, there is no implied promotion of the game on our behalf.
Please remember that all lottery games involve a risk of losing money. Only play with what you can afford to lose. If you have a gambling problem, get help. You may call 1-877-770-STOP (7867). The call and the referral to counseling are free for you and your family. Good Luck.
Gallery Credit: JD Knight