New England states start new lottery game Thursday

Mar 13, 2012, 9:00 am (57 comments)

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Updated Mar. 13, 2012, 11:12 am: New game replaces Weekly Grand Extra.

By Todd Northrop

For the first time ever, the six New England states will jointly run a multi-state lottery game, starting this week.

The new "Lucky for Life" regional draw game begins this Thursday, March 15 for the six following states: Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massechusetts, and Rhode Island.  Ticket sales for the new game started Sunday.

For Connecticut, the new Lucky for Life replaces a similar in-state-only game, Lucky-4-Life.

Also, Lucky for Life replaces the three-year-old Weekly Grand Extra game played  in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. 

Players of the new Lucky for Life game choose 5 different numbers between 1 and 40, and one "Lucky Ball" number between 1 and 21.  The draw format is similar to other multi-state games, like Mega Millions and Powerball, except there are fewer numbers to choose from, thus making the game a bit easier to win.

Tickets cost $2 each, and drawings are held every Monday and Thursday at 10:38 pm.  The drawings will be conducted by the Connecticut Lottery.

The top top prize in Lucky for Life is $7,000 a week for life — or perhaps in a more tantalizing way, $1,000 a day for life.  It is guaranteed to be paid to winners for a minimum of 20 years.

In addition to its life-changing top prize, Lucky for Life also features a $25,000 second prize and other cash prizes ranging from $2,000 to $2. The overall odds of winning a prize in the game will be 1 in 6.6.

While there will not be a cash option offered on the game's top prize, all lower-tiered prizes will be paid out in one-time, lump sum payments.  All winning tickets will need to be redeemed in the same state in which they were purchased.

Odds and Prizes

Each $2.00 wager of Lucky for Life matching the selections for that draw will win as follows:

Match (in any order) Prize (up to) Odds
5 Numbers + Lucky Ball $7,000 a Week for Life 1 in 13,818,168
5 Numbers $25,000 1 in 690,908
4 Numbers + Lucky Ball $2,000 1 in 78,916
4 Numbers $100 1 in 3,948
3 Numbers + Lucky Ball $50 1 in 2,322
3 Numbers $10 1 in 116
2 Numbers + Lucky Ball $15 1 in 211
2 Numbers $2 1 in 11
1 + Lucky Ball $5 1 in 53
Lucky Ball Number $4 1 in 43

The overall odds of winning a prize in Lucky for Life are 1 in 6.6, based on a $2 play.

Top prize values are subject to a "split-prize" liability, and may be lower than shown, if more than one ticket wins the top prize in a particular drawing.

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

dk1421's avatardk1421

Very interesting! My first thought was how awesome this was - I have always felt that more states needed to band together to get better lottery games. 

However - $2??!! No thank you.

Also, there is no lump sum allowed. I am not a conspiracy theory person, however, I do not trust the government to keep paying me $7,000 a week for life for 20 years. As soon as they need the money, they'll take what they can.

I believe in a one-time lump sum.

mcginnin56

Replaces my tri- state game of "Weekly Grand", which had a top prize of $50K for 20 years. Very rare to see anyone win. Hope these

six New England states and the revamping of this game make a difference. Have already bought my PP and QP this past Sunday. And I

do plan on becoming the first Jackpot winner of this game right out of the box.    Wink

NightStalker's avatarNightStalker

The odds are almost the same for Ohio's Classic Lotto which is a pick six 1-49 game.  It's odds are 1 in 13,983,816.  It usually goes for months without anyone hitting it.

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by dk1421 on Mar 13, 2012

Very interesting! My first thought was how awesome this was - I have always felt that more states needed to band together to get better lottery games. 

However - $2??!! No thank you.

Also, there is no lump sum allowed. I am not a conspiracy theory person, however, I do not trust the government to keep paying me $7,000 a week for life for 20 years. As soon as they need the money, they'll take what they can.

I believe in a one-time lump sum.

  I Agree!     Roger that, dk.

Grovel's avatarGrovel

Quote: Originally posted by dk1421 on Mar 13, 2012

Very interesting! My first thought was how awesome this was - I have always felt that more states needed to band together to get better lottery games. 

However - $2??!! No thank you.

Also, there is no lump sum allowed. I am not a conspiracy theory person, however, I do not trust the government to keep paying me $7,000 a week for life for 20 years. As soon as they need the money, they'll take what they can.

I believe in a one-time lump sum.

I love how no one trust the goverment but uses their services everyday.

Nikkicute's avatarNikkicute

Quote: Originally posted by Grovel on Mar 13, 2012

I love how no one trust the goverment but uses their services everyday.

LOL@ grovel

mediabrat's avatarmediabrat

Quote: Originally posted by dk1421 on Mar 13, 2012

Very interesting! My first thought was how awesome this was - I have always felt that more states needed to band together to get better lottery games. 

However - $2??!! No thank you.

Also, there is no lump sum allowed. I am not a conspiracy theory person, however, I do not trust the government to keep paying me $7,000 a week for life for 20 years. As soon as they need the money, they'll take what they can.

I believe in a one-time lump sum.

I don't get the whole "they'll take what they can" attitude that's prevalent on this site regarding the reasoning behind lump sums being preferable to annuities.  It's one thing to be worried about taxes going up, but taxes are unavoidable.  There is no legal way to get out of paying taxes on that kind of money; with the lump sum they'll hit you all at once in the beginning, and depending on what you do with your winnings they'll probably hit you again somewhere down the road.  Whether it's a one-time huge chunk or smaller pieces over time, you will end up paying.  They'll get you coming or going.

Another concern is inflation.  The idea seems to be that somehow your winnings will be protected from inflation if you invest the lump sum yourself rather than taking the annuity from the lottery.  This doesn't make sense to me; inflation affects the value of ALL dollars, regardless of whether they're public or private.

The conspiracy theory that seems to be at the core of this, however, goes further than taxes and seems to be centered on the belief that someday the s**t will hit the fan and the government will outright confiscate all existing lottery annuities.  Well, my friends, if that happens, chances are we'll be worrying about a whole lot more than a few shmucks who lost their lottery money... you know, like survival and the complete collapse of civilization.

mediabrat's avatarmediabrat

Anyway, I digress.  A lump sum wouldn't be appropriate for "win for life" games like Lucky For Life because the whole point of the top prize is that it's an open-ended payment.  You literally win for life.  The minimum payout is 20 years worth of payments, so if you hit the jackpot and then kick the bucket 5 years later, your estate still gets the remaining 15 years.  (I don't know if they'd pay out the remainder all at once or keep up the regular payment schedule.)  You could live for 40 years and you'd still be eligible to receive the $7,000 per week.

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by mediabrat on Mar 13, 2012

I don't get the whole "they'll take what they can" attitude that's prevalent on this site regarding the reasoning behind lump sums being preferable to annuities.  It's one thing to be worried about taxes going up, but taxes are unavoidable.  There is no legal way to get out of paying taxes on that kind of money; with the lump sum they'll hit you all at once in the beginning, and depending on what you do with your winnings they'll probably hit you again somewhere down the road.  Whether it's a one-time huge chunk or smaller pieces over time, you will end up paying.  They'll get you coming or going.

Another concern is inflation.  The idea seems to be that somehow your winnings will be protected from inflation if you invest the lump sum yourself rather than taking the annuity from the lottery.  This doesn't make sense to me; inflation affects the value of ALL dollars, regardless of whether they're public or private.

The conspiracy theory that seems to be at the core of this, however, goes further than taxes and seems to be centered on the belief that someday the s**t will hit the fan and the government will outright confiscate all existing lottery annuities.  Well, my friends, if that happens, chances are we'll be worrying about a whole lot more than a few shmucks who lost their lottery money... you know, like survival and the complete collapse of civilization.

I agree. 

Besides, lottery annuities are not paid out by the government.  They are paid out by privately-held banks.  The lottery shops around to see which banks provides the best rates, and awards the business (the annuity) to the bank.

With this in mind, it is ridiculous to say that the government is going to stop paying or something.  Once the annuity is set up, the government is no longer in the picture.  (Other than taxing the payout every year.)

VenomV12

I like these kinds of games and for most people they are probably better. Honestly for most people when you just hand them a huge chunk of cash at one time very little good can come from that and most likely they will blow it all. 

Even for the big jackpots I always assumed you either had to take all cash or do the annuity until I was watching one of those lottery shows and the guy took part of the prize in a lump sum and the rest in an annuity which I thought was the best way to go. 

$4000 a week or so for life would be pretty good for almost anyone and would be an ideal prize.

GiveFive's avatarGiveFive

Quote: Originally posted by NightStalker on Mar 13, 2012

The odds are almost the same for Ohio's Classic Lotto which is a pick six 1-49 game.  It's odds are 1 in 13,983,816.  It usually goes for months without anyone hitting it.

Sounds like Ohio has a coverage problem with Classic Lotto.  (Sales are stagnant and not enough tickets are sold to cover enough combinations out of almost 14 million possible combo's to produce a JP winner.)

But what's the population of Ohio compared to the combined populations of the 6 New England states?  IMHO, there's an excellent opportunity to sell enough tickets so as not to have a coverage problem. In addition the lower tier prizes arent bad for Lucky for Life, so my guess is you'll see enough JP winners to give the new game some legs.  If there are a few early JP winners, the game could take off.  Time will tell.

I do know this, I''m reasonably close to Connecticut, and I have reason to go to Connecticut every few months. I'll be sure and get a ticket or two when I do.

CDanaT's avatarCDanaT

Quote: Originally posted by mediabrat on Mar 13, 2012

I don't get the whole "they'll take what they can" attitude that's prevalent on this site regarding the reasoning behind lump sums being preferable to annuities.  It's one thing to be worried about taxes going up, but taxes are unavoidable.  There is no legal way to get out of paying taxes on that kind of money; with the lump sum they'll hit you all at once in the beginning, and depending on what you do with your winnings they'll probably hit you again somewhere down the road.  Whether it's a one-time huge chunk or smaller pieces over time, you will end up paying.  They'll get you coming or going.

Another concern is inflation.  The idea seems to be that somehow your winnings will be protected from inflation if you invest the lump sum yourself rather than taking the annuity from the lottery.  This doesn't make sense to me; inflation affects the value of ALL dollars, regardless of whether they're public or private.

The conspiracy theory that seems to be at the core of this, however, goes further than taxes and seems to be centered on the belief that someday the s**t will hit the fan and the government will outright confiscate all existing lottery annuities.  Well, my friends, if that happens, chances are we'll be worrying about a whole lot more than a few shmucks who lost their lottery money... you know, like survival and the complete collapse of civilization.

Media...let me share some light on the "cash now" mentality. You made great points on the taxes and inflation now and taxes down the road issues....Here's some more food for thought....At 35% tax rate as of right now ??....my taxes are all done, finished without any chance of increase at all over then next 29 years. The only tax I pay is on the interest I make in the future on the multi millions in my current possession that I have invested.
     I can buy my houses, cars, vacation homes, land, gold, silver, loose cash, guns, a storage or living bunker, long term food supplies, jewelry, hobby stuff or anything I want RIGHT NOW or within a few weeks/ months of the big payday. NO or little inflation involved during that time.... If I wait and do the "annuity" over time, like you pointed out, inflation,market demand,booming economy,production costs will definitely go up in the future.
      If you took the annuity and the pay out was 2 million over 29 years.(just an example)..out of 2 million the feds get 35% now leaving you with 1.3 million.. If you have to take state taxes out as well, from that 2 million and a nice house and cars and what I described above it could all be easily wiped out leaving you short, waiting for another year and the next big annuity check....SEE what I mean...Like J.G. Wentworth commercials say, " It's my money and I want it now". Also the Boys Scouts have a pretty good motto with "be prepared".
    While we cant predict the future in 2-10-29 years, we can say with certainty that cars aren't getting cheaper, houses built are not going to cheaper and numerous other BIG DOLLAR products won't be less expensive down the road. If I get the big stuff(purchases & taxes) out of the way now...then purchasing the smaller stuff in the future won't be a big deal if "sh*t does hit the fan"..... Just my humble opinion

mcginnin56

I agree. It was a smart move to involve all of these states, practically guaranteeing the adequate numbers of people necessary to produce winning

jackpots, and lower tier prizes. Unless  your a mega state such as CA, TX or NY, this would be a tough one to pull off. I think this game will

have great success.  Thumbs Up

mcginnin56

Quote: Originally posted by CDanaT on Mar 13, 2012

Media...let me share some light on the "cash now" mentality. You made great points on the taxes and inflation now and taxes down the road issues....Here's some more food for thought....At 35% tax rate as of right now ??....my taxes are all done, finished without any chance of increase at all over then next 29 years. The only tax I pay is on the interest I make in the future on the multi millions in my current possession that I have invested.
     I can buy my houses, cars, vacation homes, land, gold, silver, loose cash, guns, a storage or living bunker, long term food supplies, jewelry, hobby stuff or anything I want RIGHT NOW or within a few weeks/ months of the big payday. NO or little inflation involved during that time.... If I wait and do the "annuity" over time, like you pointed out, inflation,market demand,booming economy,production costs will definitely go up in the future.
      If you took the annuity and the pay out was 2 million over 29 years.(just an example)..out of 2 million the feds get 35% now leaving you with 1.3 million.. If you have to take state taxes out as well, from that 2 million and a nice house and cars and what I described above it could all be easily wiped out leaving you short, waiting for another year and the next big annuity check....SEE what I mean...Like J.G. Wentworth commercials say, " It's my money and I want it now". Also the Boys Scouts have a pretty good motto with "be prepared".
    While we cant predict the future in 2-10-29 years, we can say with certainty that cars aren't getting cheaper, houses built are not going to cheaper and numerous other BIG DOLLAR products won't be less expensive down the road. If I get the big stuff(purchases & taxes) out of the way now...then purchasing the smaller stuff in the future won't be a big deal if "sh*t does hit the fan"..... Just my humble opinion

You'll be taking the lump sum from 2-nite's MM, no doubt CD. Dance

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