With the recent post about new state lotteries, it reminded me of a proposal for an Arkansas lottery. Here's a brief description for each game.
In-State Game Offerings
A run of the mill pick-3 game, with straight/box, combo, and pairs, front, back, and split. $500 for a $1 straight bet, $83 for a $1 6-way box bet, and $167 for a $1 3-way box bet.
Pick 5 out of 30; tickets are $1 each.
Matches
| Prize
| Odds
|
5/5
| $50,000 | 1:142,506
|
4/5
| $50
| 1:1,140
|
3/5
| $5
| 1:47.5
|
Overall odds are 1 in 45.587.
Pick 6 out of 40; tickets are $1 each.
Minimum jackpot : $1,000,000*
Match
| Avg. Prize
| Odds
| % Of Sales
|
6/6
| $2,183,895*
| 1:3,838,380
| 31% |
5/6
| $470
| 1:18,815.6
| 2.5%
|
4/6
| $30
| 1:456.1
| 6.5%
|
3/6
| $3
| 1:32.1
| 10%
|
A total of 50% of sales go back into prizes.
Overall odds are 1 in 29.917
*Paid in 30 annual installments. Amount based on current interest rates. Cash option worth about 45-60% of annuity value.
$1, $2, and $5 tickets, with $10 tickets coming as the lottery grows. Extended play tickets like bingo and crossword will cost $2.
Preferred Multi-State Game
The reasons for Arkansas joining Mega Millions as opposed to Powerball are as such:
Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee.
All Powerball states, all connected to Arkansas. Add Mississippi to that, and you've got people from Shreveport and Monroe in LA, Greenville, MS, the Missouri Ozarks, perhaps Tulsa, and of course, Memphis, coming into Arkansas tp play MM when it's gets big. Arkansas would make a lot more money off Mega Millions than Powerball for this reason alone.
Only problem is the moratorium on new states joing MM. Perhaps AR is small enough squeeze in without an adverse effect on jackpots, but if Buddy Roogow, or whoever is heading the MM group right now, won't budge, that's what Lotto 6/40 is for.
Start-Up Plan
Scratch tickets will be the first offerings, along with a "Grand Opening Raffle" to be drawn the day before the other on-line games get started. Once that happens, The Daily Game, Diamond 5, and Lotto 6/40 will go on sale, with the former two games having their first drawings that same day.
Drawing Methods and Such
If I was running the show, we would only use RNGs for raffles. Other games will be televised live, with ball machines. I was thinking of the Smartplay Standard Daily for The Daily Game, and a Smartplay Magnum for Diamond 5 and Lotto 6/40.
Seeing they are the juggernaut in Little Rock, I would imagine KATV would be doing the draws.