The
Missouri Lottery began selling tickets for a new draw-type game on Sunday. Tickets
cost $2 and give lottery-loving punters nine chances to win up $250,000 from a
single game.
Each ticket
for the new "Triple Play" cash game contains three separate games and
each game gives the player three chances to win. The maximum prize set for Game
1 is $250,000, Game 2 has a top prize of $10,000, and $5,000 is the largest
payout available from Game 3.
Missouri is
the only state to host the Triple Play game.
"All
the prizes will be won on tickets bought right here in Missouri," said
Scheve Reardon, executive director of the Missouri Lottery.
The overall
chances of winning a Triple Play prize are 1 in 6.8, so although the size of
the prizes on offer are smaller than those of some other games the chances of winning
a prize are higher. The odds of winning a prize in the Missouri Lotto draw are
1 in 20 and US Powerball players only have a 1 in 32 chance of winning a prize.
"Based
on the design, we expect to average more than 100,000 winners each month and
average more than one winner of a quarter of a million," Reardon
explained.
To play
Triple Play, players must pick four numbers between 1 and 60 for Game 1. If they
prefer players can choose "Quick Pick" and allow the computer to
choose their numbers for them. Players then receive 8 more Quick Picks and the
Triple Play winning numbers will be drawn on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 20:59 (CST), along with the Missouri Lotto and Pick 3 and Pick 4 games.
"We
are very excited about this new Draw Game," Reardon said. "Players
are going to love getting so many chances to win on one ticket."