Idaho Lottery Gets Hot
Last Updated: Monday 15th December 2008, 09:05
The Idaho Lottery has announced the introduction of a new lottery game called Hot Lotto. This is a multi-state lottery which was created to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the bigger Powerball lottery in 2002, and it has been described as one which provides “medium sized” jackpots. These have a minimum value of $1 million, but can grow quickly thanks to the jackpot fund rolling over if no player wins the top prize.
Idaho Lottery Director Jeff Anderson said: “We feel strongly that Idaho needs a Lotto game with jackpots that fit between Wild Card and Powerball, in the $1 million to $20 million range. Hot Lotto fills this need and is another opportunity for Idahoans to play for millions of dollars.”
Hot Lotto is the first new game that the Idaho Lottery has introduced since Pick 3 in 2000, and it is likely to be very popular. Players are required to select 5 main white numbers from 1 to 39 and 1 orange “Hot Ball” from 1 to 19. Draws take place every Wednesday and Saturday. There are eight prize levels in all. The odds of a player winning the jackpot are 1 in 10,939,383 and the odds of winning any prize are 1 in 16.
“Within the entire suite of our Lottery products, I’m confident the Idaho Lottery will have a million dollar winning ticket before January 1st,” Anderson said. “In fact, I guarantee it.”
Details of this “guarantee” have yet to be released by the Idaho Lottery, but with the addition of Hot Lotto giving Idahoans four draw games to choose from (Powerball, Hot Lotto, Wild Card 2 and Pick 3) as well as scratchcards and pull-tab games, the odds of someone in Idaho scooping a million dollar prize before the end of the year appear to be fairly good.