 Florida Lotto is a popular lottery game offered by the Florida Lottery. Unlike similar games throughout the United States, it does not compete head-to-head (within Florida) with either Mega Millions or Powerball, as the Florida Lottery is the only US state lottery that does not participate in a multi-state game.
Game's Beginning (1988-1993)
The game first went on sale on Friday, April 29, 1988, and the first drawing took place Saturday, May 7, 1988.
The game was originally played by selecting six numbers from a field a 49. Each play cost USD$1, and drawings were held weekly every Saturday night at 11:00 P.M. EST. Players would win prizes by matching 3 or more numbers on their ticket to the six selected on Saturday night. If they matched all six, they would win a jackpot that was paid in 20 equal yearly installments.
The game's first prize structure were as follows:
| Matches |
Avg. Prize |
% of Sales |
Odds |
| 6 out of 6 |
Jackpot |
25.0% |
1:13,983,816 |
| 5 out of 6 |
$3,523.00 |
6.50% |
1:54,200.8 |
| 4 out of 6 |
$98.00 |
9.50% |
1:1,032.4 |
| 3 out of 6 |
$5.00 |
9.00% |
1:56.7 |
| Overall odds of winning : 1 in 53.655 |
Same Game, Bigger Jackpots (1993-1999)
In 1993, the prize structure was tweaked to put a larger percentage of sales into the jackpot, and to allow for a minimum jackpot of an annuitized USD$6,000,000.
The new structure looked like this:
| Matches |
Avg. Prize |
% of Sales |
Odds |
| 6 out of 6 |
Jackpot |
33.50% |
1:13,983,816 |
| 5 out of 6 |
$1,355.00 |
2.50% |
1:54,200.8 |
| 4 out of 6 |
$62.00 |
6.00% |
1:1,032.4 |
| 3 out of 6 |
$4.50 |
8.00% |
1:56.7 |
| Overall odds of winning : 1 in 53.655 |
The game would go unchanged until November 1998, when the jackpot payout scheme was changed to allow players to receive 30 equal yearly payments (as opposed to 20 when the game began), or to receive a lump sum payment of the hard cash in the jackpot pool. Players had, and still have, 60 days from the draw date (unlike, in most US lotteries, 60 days after claiming) to select a payment option or the payment will default to the 30 annual installments.
6/53 Begins (1999-Present)
The biggest, and most recent, change occurred in October 1999. Four numbers were added to the field to make a total of 53 numbers for players to choose from. A second weekly drawing on Wednesday nights was also added. The minimum jackpot was also decreased to an annuitized USD$3,000,000 (with a cash option still available within 60 days of the draw) in order to compensate for the second weekly drawing.
As of September 2007, it is still a pick-6-of-53 game, drawn Wednesdays and Saturdays. Players continue to win by matching three, four, five, or, for the jackpot, all six numbers. The top prize has usually continued to start at $3 million, but is sometimes decreased to $2 million if the state is struck by a hurricane or other chaotic event.
The current prize structure looks like this:
| Matches |
Avg. Prize |
% of Sales |
Odds |
| 6 out of 6 |
Jackpot |
31.75% |
1:22,957,480 |
| 5 out of 6 |
$5,007.00 |
6.15% |
1:81,409.5 |
| 4 out of 6 |
$71.00 |
5.00% |
1:1,415.8 |
| 3 out of 6 |
$5.00 |
7.10% |
1:70.8 |
| Overall odds of winning : 1 in 67.364 |
The jackpot for the Wednesday, September 12, 2007 drawing is $6 million (annuity); the lottery generally does not give the cash value unless a winner chooses lump sum. The most recent jackpot win was in the August 25, 2007 drawing; there have been two consecutive rollovers since. There are numerous Florida Lotto billboards throughout the state along major highways; they are all maintained by people who update the jackpots manually, rather than through a central system.
As with all Florida Lottery games, the minimum age to play is 18.
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