Hot Lotto
Hot Lotto is administered by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which also operates the Powerball lottery game. Currently, it is available in 10 of its 31 members (nine states and the District of Columbia; see list below).
Hot Lotto drawings are held every Wednesday and Saturday at the MUSL's headquarters in Urbandale, Iowa. Normally, the Hot Lotto drawing is immediately following the 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time (9:59 p.m. Central) drawing of Powerball. Unlike Powerball, Hot Lotto drawings are not televised, and are drawn with a computerized RNG instead of a traditional rubber ball/gravity mix or air mix and ping pong ball machine.
The record Hot Lotto jackpot was US$19.9 million annuity won January 13, 2007. The winner chose the cash option of about $11.9 million.
Playing the game
To play the game, a player pays one dollar (US$1) and picks five distinct numbers from 1-39 plus one additional number (the “Hot Ball”) from 1-19 drawn from a separate pool.
The player wins according to the following:
| Matches | Payoff | Odds of winning |
|---|---|---|
| Hot Ball only | $ 2 | 1: 39 |
| 1 number with Hot Ball | $ 3 | 1: 47 |
| 2 numbers with Hot Ball | $ 4 | 1: 183 |
| 3 numbers without Hot Ball | $ 4 | 1: 108 |
| 3 numbers with Hot Ball | $ 50 | 1: 1,950 |
| 4 numbers without Hot Ball | $ 50 | 1: 3,575 |
| 4 numbers with Hot Ball | $ 500 | 1: 64,349 |
| all 5 numbers without Hot Ball | $ 10,000 | 1: 607,744 |
| all 5 numbers with Hot Ball | Jackpot | 1: 10,939,383 |
Overall odds of winning a prize are approximately 1:16.
Jackpot prizes are determined by a modified parimutuel system. The minimum jackpot prize is a US$1 million annuity disbursed in 25 payments over 24 years. If no one picks all five correct numbers and the Hot Ball, the jackpot prize pool is rolled over into the following drawing.
Jackpot winners have the option of receiving an annuity prize or a single lump sum cash payment. The lump sum payment is the present value of the annuity, which is typically approximately 50% - 60% of the annuity value depending on prevailing interest rates.
Participating states
- Iowa
- Kansas (joined in March 2006)
- Minnesota
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico (November 2006)
- North Dakota (June 2004)
- South Dakota
- West Virginia
Also available in
- Washington, D.C. (April 2004)
MUSL member Idaho had offered an unrelated in-state game called "Hot Lotto" in the 1990s. It was a pick-5-of-32 game that rolled down if nobody won the top prize; this may explain why Idaho has never offered the multi-state Hot Lotto. MUSL's ultimate goal for this game may be to expand it to all of its 31 members; however, for it to happen, a name change probably would be in order, due to the Idaho version of Hot Lotto. Also, MUSL members (i.e. Connecticut) have been reluctant to replace their "classic lotto" games with Hot Lotto. A revamped version, with longer jackpot odds than the current 1-in-11 million, might entice such states since Hot Lotto would consistently offer higher jackpots than these small games. As of April 2007, no new states or game changes are planned.