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Three states replacing Lotto South game
Lotto South: Three states replacing Lotto South game
Like a tired mule whose best days are behind him, Lotto South is being retired and a fresh workhorse brought in to pick up the production. The three-state lottery game, which began in September 2001, will be replaced next month by a new game that pays winners $1,000 a week for the rest of their lives, Virginia Lottery interim executive director Donna M. VanCleave said Thursday. Virginia's Lotto South partners, Kentucky and Georgia, also will participate in the new "Win For Life" game. Lotto South is the descendant of Virginia's pick-six Lotto game, which began in January 1990. The games have sold more than $2.5 billion in tickets and paid more than $1.7 billion in jackpot prizes in Virginia, but player interest has waned in recent years, VanCleave said. "Lotto was a great game for us," she said. "We sold lots of tickets and had lots of winners, but over time it just became a little stale." She said Lotto sales peaked at $292 million in 1992. Lotto South sales in Virginia last year fell to $66.7 million as more players were enticed by the huge jackpots offered by the 12-state Mega Millions drawing and the slick marketing of instant scratch-off tickets. Georgia sold $67.4 million and Kentucky $17.6 million in Lotto South tickets last year. Win For Life is similar to Lotto, which requires players to choose six numbers from a pool of 44. Here's how the new game will work: Players will try to match six numbers correctly, from one to 42. Anyone who picks all six will win $1,000 a week for life, with at least 10 years of payments guaranteed to winners or their heirs. Winners also may choose a lump sum of $520,000 before taxes. But unlike Lotto, a seventh "free ball" will be drawn from the remaining numbers after the first six are drawn to help determine the amount of lower-level prizes. Those prizes will range from $2 for players who match two of the first six plus the free ball, to $52,000 for those who match five of six plus the free ball. VanCleave said the Virginia Lottery learned through focus groups that the prospect of lifetime income supplement appeals to people regardless of age. "They said they think they'd play it at least as much as Lotto South if not more," she said. "It's not a life-changing type product, but it could make things a little nicer." The odds of winning the top prize also are better — one in 5.2 million, compared to one in 14 million for Lotto South. VanCleave said lagging Lotto South sales weren't the only reason the timing was right to make the change. North Carolina is starting its own lottery in April year, providing competition along the state line where the Virginia Lottery has enjoyed some of its strongest sales. "With North Carolina coming on board this spring, this will give us an interesting product," VanCleave said. Win For Life tickets will go on sale Feb. 26 with the first drawing held March 1. Drawings will be held on Wednesday and Saturday nights.
AP
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10 comments. Last comment 5 years ago by .
Tennessee United States Member #8005 October 15, 2004 11317 Posts Offline |
| Posted: January 12, 2006, 7:17 am - IP Logged |
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time will tell if they made the right choice with this game.i would probably play it if it were here in tennessee......
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Coastal Georgia United States Member #2703 October 30, 2003 1868 Posts Offline |
| Posted: January 12, 2006, 8:38 am - IP Logged |
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As said here before, win for life is too gimmicky for me.
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Atlanta, Georgia United States Member #467 July 9, 2002 1508 Posts Offline |
| Posted: January 12, 2006, 9:18 am - IP Logged |
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My dad was talking with me about this and I just thought he got his info wrong but now I see he was right. Yes, time will tell about this new game. Don't forget to flip those 6's/9's.
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Mobile, AL and Jasper, TN United States Member #13647 April 5, 2005 1592 Posts Offline |
| Posted: January 12, 2006, 9:35 am - IP Logged |
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I would play for the better odds myself. How are you going to win if you don't play?
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Alabama United States Member #18137 June 27, 2005 309 Posts Offline |
| Posted: January 12, 2006, 10:06 am - IP Logged |
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"It's not a life-changing type product, but it could make things a little nicer"...
" Anyone who picks all six will win $1,000 a week for life, with at least 10 years of payments guaranteed to winners or their heirs. Winners also may choose a lump sum of $520,000 before taxes..."
If a player chooses $1,000 a week for life, I wonder how the taxes will be handled. If taxes aren't automatically withheld from every check, I would guess that the player would be responsible for making quarterly tax payments to the IRS and their state department of revenue. I wouldn't want that headache.
Of course, I'd take the cash option - IF I play the game. I may play a little (very little), but I'll save the bulk of my lottery budget for pick 5 games.
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Chief Bottle Washer New Jersey United States Member #1 May 31, 2000 18142 Posts Offline |
| Posted: January 12, 2006, 11:34 am - IP Logged |
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As said here before, win for life is too gimmicky for me.  I personally like Lotto South a lot, and wish they'd put some marketing muscle behind it, instead of punting it.
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IL United States Member #15418 May 10, 2005 103 Posts Offline |
| Posted: January 12, 2006, 6:11 pm - IP Logged |
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1 in 5 million chance of winning and all you get is a cash value of 520 thousand, or 52 thousand a year for life. You would have to stay alive for 40 years just to make 2 million dollars. I'd stick with pick six with a rolling jackpot, my states pick six jackpot is 20 million with a 1 in 10 million chance of winning, double the odds for 40 times more money should be a easy choice.
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United States Member #436 June 30, 2002 675 Posts Offline |
| Posted: January 12, 2006, 10:48 pm - IP Logged |
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"It's not a life-changing type product, but it could make things a little nicer"...
" Anyone who picks all six will win $1,000 a week for life, with at least 10 years of payments guaranteed to winners or their heirs. Winners also may choose a lump sum of $520,000 before taxes..."
If a player chooses $1,000 a week for life, I wonder how the taxes will be handled. If taxes aren't automatically withheld from every check, I would guess that the player would be responsible for making quarterly tax payments to the IRS and their state department of revenue. I wouldn't want that headache.
Of course, I'd take the cash option - IF I play the game. I may play a little (very little), but I'll save the bulk of my lottery budget for pick 5 games.
Anything over $601 has to have federal withholding taken out. But let's say it wasn't and you did have to make quarterly payments to the IRS. You say it would be a headache to get a weekly check, do some simple math (subtraction), sign your name, and slap a stamp on an envelope? Heck, you have to just about do that to pay your electric bill!
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Somewhere in VA United States Member #1980 July 29, 2003 130 Posts Offline |
| Posted: January 12, 2006, 11:09 pm - IP Logged |
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If they run this game like they have run the scratch-off Win for Life games, even though the prize is "$1,000 a week for life", the payments are actually made quarterly. Doing it this way simplify's the tax withholding as well as saves the state money as 4 checks cost a heck of a lot less to print and mail than 52 checks.
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Ypsilanti, MI United States Member #16012 May 20, 2005 186 Posts Offline |
| Posted: January 14, 2006, 12:34 am - IP Logged |
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"It's not a life-changing type product, but it could make things a little nicer"...
" Anyone who picks all six will win $1,000 a week for life, with at least 10 years of payments guaranteed to winners or their heirs. Winners also may choose a lump sum of $520,000 before taxes..."
If a player chooses $1,000 a week for life, I wonder how the taxes will be handled. If taxes aren't automatically withheld from every check, I would guess that the player would be responsible for making quarterly tax payments to the IRS and their state department of revenue. I wouldn't want that headache.
Of course, I'd take the cash option - IF I play the game. I may play a little (very little), but I'll save the bulk of my lottery budget for pick 5 games.
Anything over $601 has to have federal withholding taken out. But let's say it wasn't and you did have to make quarterly payments to the IRS. You say it would be a headache to get a weekly check, do some simple math (subtraction), sign your name, and slap a stamp on an envelope? Heck, you have to just about do that to pay your electric bill! On the taxes... it's anything over $5,000 where withholding is required. If you took the lump sum, then your taxes (but not your full liability) would be immediately taken out, but assuming you did actually get a check every week, the lottery is not required to withhold anything from them unless you direct them to. Anything won over $600 is when you have to pay taxes.
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