Additional drawing to begin in August
By Kate Northrop
Texas Lottery players will get an additional chance to hit the Lotto Texas jackpot with a new weekly drawing to be added this August.
Lotto Texas is the latest game to be included to the Monday Night Draw schedule, joining various other games that night in the Lottery's lineup.
Also known as "The Texas Original," it's a 28-year-old game that offers the largest rolling jackpots drawn in a local statewide game. Players pick six numbers from one to 54 and have the option of selecting the "Extra!" feature for an additional dollar to increase non-jackpot prizes up to $10,000.
"As the Texas Lottery marks its 30th anniversary, we are thrilled to celebrate by adding a third weekly drawing to Lotto Texas, our longest-running in-state draw game," Gary Grief, Executive Director of the Texas Lottery told Lottery Post. "Adding a Monday drawing will offer Lotto Texas players more chances to play for larger and faster-growing jackpots. This change, along with Powerball joining our Monday Night Draw schedule, will help the Texas Lottery generate additional revenue for public education in Texas."
Currently, Lotto Texas drawings occur on Wednesday and Saturday evenings at 10:12 pm CT. Ticket sales for the first Monday drawing will begin on Sun., Aug. 22, 2021, with the draw to occur on Mon., Aug. 23, 2021.
Players can view live drawings at 10:12 pm CT on the Texas Lottery's official website.
The change is in tandem with the addition of a third Powerball drawing that is also set to take place for the first time on Mon., Aug. 23, 2021.
Other games drawn on Monday are Texas Two Step, Cash Five, All or Nothing, Pick 3 plus FIREBALL, and Daily 4 plus FIREBALL.
With the third drawing, the game play, game odds, and prizes will remain the same. The cost to play Lotto Texas at $1 per play will also not change, and the Extra! feature will not be affected.
A Longview resident was the most recent Lotto Texas jackpot winner, taking home a $5 million estimated annuitized jackpot for the June 5, 2021 drawing. The jackpot currently sits at $8.25 million for the drawing on Sat., July 24, 2021, with an estimated cash value of $6.47 million.
The largest Lotto Texas jackpot in game history was an advertised $145 million prize for the June 19, 2004 drawing, which was sold in El Paso and claimed by VOM Enterprises, Ltd.
A lot of states have been adding extra drawings to their games lately. My state recently went daily with 3 different games. Makes sense though, it makes them more money.
No price increase!
Well, I'm thinking I will pass on that and just play Wednesday and Saturday on PB and Lotto.
I'm not surprised they are doing this.
This is no different than when Texas went from 2 draws a day to 4 draws a day with the Pick 3 and Daily 4 games. They like to tell players that "You have 4 chances to win!". Well, you also have 4 chances to lose. It's really a way for the lottery to make more money.
Could be to much for people playing it at a good budget like $20 the game.
As human beings we tend to get bored easily. From movies that are too long, to eating the same type of food for weeks, to doing a boring repetitive job over and over. Even a relationship where you wake up one day after 9 yrs and ask yourself "why? " why am I still here? The people who run the lotteries realize that we are like this, that's why they are constantly shifting and changing and trying to bring in as many "new" and "interesting" games as possible ....from drawing style games to scratch-offs. They are not going to sit back and allow us to become bored with the same old games month after month. Even the biggest fish in the sea (Powerball) has added an additional night. These people are smart.
I am interested to see the increases in between the 3 draws at higher $$ levels($2-300M+). Will the extra day generate only half the dollar amount increases with the lower jackpots ?
Right the annuity is only going up $250,000 each draw. So the cash value increase is about $220,000 - $230,000.
It will be interesting to see.
Edit. I just checked the last 5 draws. Cash amount on July 7 was $5,410,000. Cash amount for this Saturday's draw is $6,470,000, $1,060,000 difference. So, the cash increase is actually about $176,000 each rollover, though it does vary. The increase from last night for the next draw is $240,000 even though the annuity only went up $250,000. Interest rates play into the difference.
You don't wannabe a "Texez 3 Stepper"?..