 Wild Card 2 is a lottery game (which replaced the original version of "Wild Card") played in four contiguous states in the northern United States (Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.) It is administered by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which is better known for Powerball, Hot Lotto, and Cashola. It is drawn Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Players get two games for each $1 wagered. Each game is played in a similar fashion to Powerball; in each drawing, five numbers from 1-31 are selected. The sixth "number" is actually one of 16 playing cards, either a Jack, Queen, King, or the Ace of any of the four suits (Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades).
All prizes, including the jackpot, are paid in cash.
At the Idaho Lottery meeting on July 13, 2007, changes to Wild Card 2 were discussed. These include: three plays for $2, three drawings per week, a free ticket for matching only two of the five numbers, a "bonus wild card", and a PowerPlay option, which would be similar to the multiplier in Powerball.
Multi-State Lottery Association
The Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) is a "non-profit, government-benefit association owned and operated by its member lotteries."
It was formed in 1987 by six states and the D.C. Lottery. Its first game was launched the next year. Slowly, more states joined MUSL. After the original game ended in favor of Powerball (whose first drawing was held on April 22, 1992), US lotteries were more eager to join. Powerball (as of June 2007) is played in 29 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. All MUSL members offer Powerball. MUSL additionally runs several smaller games, including Hot Lotto, and Cashola, a video lottery jackpot game. MUSL also has retired several games, including Daily Millions, Rolldown, and the Powerball scratchcard game.
In September 2007, MUSL will launch Midwest Millions, a scratch ticket game, in Iowa, and Kansas.
Unlike Mega Millions, which is more loosely organized, the rules of MUSL games are virtually the same in all jurisdictions. The only major differences are: the minimum age to purchase tickets (which usually is 18, but is 19 in one state, and 21 in three others), and the period to claim winning tickets, which ranges from 90 days to one year.
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