In-house draw games Pick 3 Pick 3 (originally known as
The Daily Game) launched on February 19, 1980. It started out as a single-drawing game that was held on Monday through Saturday evenings. On March 20, 1983, the lottery began to offer Sunday drawings of Pick 3. Ten years later on December 20, 1993, it expanded to 14 draws weekly with the addition of midday drawings. Pick 3 draws three sets of balls numbered 0 through 9. Prices, options, and payouts vary.
Pick 4 Pick 4, similar to Pick 3, began on February 16, 1982, with drawings held on Tuesday and Friday evenings. On August 27, 1984, drawings expanded to six nights a week with the addition of Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday draws. Sunday drawings were added on March 9, 1985. Concurrent with the expansion of Pick 3 to daily drawings, on December 20, 1993, Pick 4 expanded to 14 draws weekly with the addition of midday games. The game draws four sets of ten balls numbered 0 through 9. Prices, options and payouts vary.
Fireball On September 1, 2013, the Illinois Lottery introduced an optional feature to Pick 3 and Pick 4, called "Fireball", to provide a chance to obtain more winning number combinations. The option can be added for a cost equivalent to the player's original base wager(for example, if a Pick 3 wager is 50¢, it costs an additional 50¢ to add the "Fireball" option); The fireball number is drawn from 10 balls numbered 0 through 9 for each game during each day and night pick 3 and pick 4 drawing. Players can use the fireball number to replace a number drawn by the lottery to make new combinations. A fireball prize is awarded to players who match the numbers in any given fireball combination. A bonus prize will be awarded if the player matches the base game numbers and any of the resulting fireball combinations to where the Fireball number can replace a lottery drawn number that is identical to the Fireball number drawn.
Lucky Day Lotto In the current version of Lucky Day Lotto, a player pays $1 and picks 5 numbers from a field of 1 to 45 (or gets 5 randomly assigned numbers as a "quick pick"). Players matching all 5 numbers split a parimutuel jackpot that starts at $100,000. Players matching 4 of 5 numbers win $200, players matching 3 of 5 numbers win $15, For an additional $1 per game, players can add an EZMatch option. With EZMatch, five additional numbers are randomly assigned. If any of the EZMatch numbers match any of the regular field numbers chosen by the player, there is an instant payout of an amount varying from $2 to $5,000. Historically, on June 1, 1988, Illinois created "Cash 5", which began as a 5/35 game that was drawn on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On May 15, 1989, the game's name was changed to "Little Lotto Cash 5", then "Little Lotto". New drawing balls were introduced on April 6, 1990; the game used a Beitel Criterion drawing machine. On November 7, 1994, five of the possible numbers were removed from the game(with the matrix becoming 5/30).
Little Lotto became a Monday-through-Friday game beginning with the August 4, 1998 drawing. On February 25, 2004, the number matrix for "Little Lotto" changed again, to 5/39, with jackpots beginning at $100,000; the game's drawing also expanded to seven days a week. In 2012, Little Lotto was renamed Lucky Day Lotto. On July 14, 2014, Lucky Day Lotto was changed again, to 5/45, with 4/5, 3/5, and 2/5 rewards being doubled while maintaining the same jackpot theology.
Lotto In the current version of Lotto, a player pays $2 and picks 6 numbers from a field of 1 to 50 (or gets 6 randomly assigned numbers as a "quick pick"). Players matching all 6 numbers split a parimutuel jackpot that starts at $2,000,000 and rolls by $150,000 until it is won. Players matching 5 of 6 numbers win a variable amount that averages $2,000, matching 4 of 6 win a variable amount that averages $50, matching 3 of 6 numbers win $5, and matching 2 of 6 win $1. Lotto drawings take place on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. Lotto now has three drawings: the Jackpot drawing, Lotto Million 1, and Lotto Million 2. Historically, Lotto began on February 19, 1983, as a Saturday-only game, with six plus an "alternate" of 40 numbered balls being drawn. On May 19, 1984, it became a 6/44 game. On December 1, 1985, advance play was introduced. On January 15, 1986, Wednesday drawings were added; the game was played twice weekly until April 15, 1987. Beginning with the May 7, 1988 drawing, the matrix in which the six numbers could be drawn increased from 44 to 54. On April 7, 1990, new balls and a Beitel Criterion drawing machine debuted. Wednesday drawings were reintroduced on August 15, 1990. On January 15, 1998, the 6/54 matrix was scaled down to 6/48, featuring an
all-cash jackpot that began at $1 million (previously, the jackpot was
annuitized, with no cash option). The matrix changed again to 6/52 on April 14, 1999, and added a fourth prize, $3, for matching three numbers; the jackpot again became annuitized, but with a cash option. On April 1, 2021, the matrix is changed from 6/52 to 6/50 and the base wager was raised to $2 to support the entry for the Main draw and 2 additional draws (Lotto Million 1 and Lotto Million 2, both have a $1,000,000 cash prize). The odds of winning a jackpot in the game's current version are 1 in 15,890,700 for a single set of drawn numbers.
Lotto Extra Shot In November 2012, Illinois introduced an add-on to Lotto, called Lotto Extra Shot. While regular Lotto plays are $2 per game, Lotto Extra Shot plays are $3. A Lotto Extra Shot purchase adds a "quick picked" number from 1 through 25 for each play. Matching the Extra Shot number increases the payout received. Players matching the Extra Shot and either 5, 4, 3, or 2 of the 6 numbers of the regular field receive a payout that is 25 times the payout without the Extra Shot. When matching the Extra Shot and 5 regular field numbers this is a variable amount that averages $50,000. When matching 4 it is a variable amount that averages $1,250. When matching 3 regular field numbers the prize is $125, and when matching 2 it is $25. There is also a payout for matching the Extra Shot and 1 or no regular field numbers – $10 or $5, respectively. Matching the Extra Shot when also matching all 6 regular field numbers does not increase the jackpot payout.
Instant games Multiple
scratch games in varying amounts and themes are offered by the lottery, including games based on
licensed properties such as the
NBC game show Deal or No Deal. Chicago and St. Louis area sports teams also have tie-ins with the Lottery.
Multi-jurisdictional games Mega Millions On September 6, 1996, six U.S. lotteries, including Illinois', launched
The Big Game. Six years later,
The Big Game added
Mega Millions to its name; the game now is known simply as
Mega Millions. Mega Millions' minimum jackpot is $40 million. Players pick 5 numbers from 1 to 70 for the primary numbers and 1 number from 1 to 25 for the mega ball. Each set of numbers costs $2 for the base game, $3 with the megaplier add on, where players can win up to $5 million without hitting the jackpot. Initially, Mega Millions drawings were to be held at the
WGN-TV studios; however, to entice the
Georgia Lottery to switch from Powerball,
The Big Game′s drawing machines were moved to
Atlanta before its first drawing. Mega Millions tickets are currently sold in 44 states plus the
District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In late October 2017, Mega Millions became $2 per play ($3 with the "Megaplier"). Mega Millions sales in Illinois were suspended on June 30, 2017, due to the state's budget dispute.
Powerball On October 13, 2009, the Mega Millions consortium and
MUSL reached an agreement to cross-sell Mega Millions and
Powerball. Illinois, already a Mega Millions member, began selling tickets for both games on January 31, 2010. In 2012, the price of a Powerball play was raised to $2 ($3 with the "PowerPlay" option). Powerball tickets are sold in the same jurisdictions as Mega Millions. Powerball sales in Illinois were suspended on June 28, 2017, due to the state's budget dispute. Powerball sales resumed on July 7, 2017, after the Illinois House came to an agreement on a new state budget. ==Retired draw games==