KY Lottery

The process of claiming an online lottery prize differs from that of a printed game. If your winning warrants a free play, you can only redeem this prize by making an online purchase. If you won a prize of $600 or less, the earnings are automatically deposited into your account. 

If your winnings exceed $5,000, you will receive a check in the mail within seven to 10 business days. Prizes of up to $100,000 can be claimed in this manner. Winnings exceeding $100,000 must be claimed at the Kentucky Lottery Headquarters, where it's encouraged to make an appointment in advance. 

The odds of winning can vary substantially across different games available in the Kentucky Lottery. For scratch-off tickets, the odds of winning a prize will always be printed on the ticket itself and available on the Kentucky Lottery website. These odds are predetermined based on the total number of tickets printed for a game divided by the number of printed winning tickets. On average, the odds of wining are 1-in-3.5. 

For the nationwide Powerball, the chances of winning the jackpot are currently 1-in-292,201,338 per $2 play. Your chances of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1-in-302,575,350. Both the Powerball and Mega Millions are part of the Multi-State Lottery Association, which tends to make odds lower and winnings higher. In comparison, a Kentucky-exclusive game like Cash Ball 225 has higher significantly odds of winning the jackpot, at 1-in-1,309,000. 

All winnings from the Kentucky Lottery are considered taxable income by the state. Any prize that exceeds $600 is automatically reported to the IRS and Kentucky Department of Revenue. Additionally, the Kentucky Lottery must subtract all state and federal taxes from winnings higher than $5,000. 

Drawings can differ from game to game, so it's important to check and stay updated on the current schedule for each one. Here is a breakdown of the current times and dates for the drawings of Kentucky Lottery games:

• Powerball: 11 p.m. EST/10 p.m. CST Monday, Wednesday, Saturday
• Mega Millions: 11 p.m. EST/10 p.m. CST Tuesday, Friday
• Keno: Every four minutes, daily
• Lucky For Life: 10:35 p.m. EST/9:35 p.m. CST, daily
• Kentucky Cash Ball 225: 11:00 p.m. EST/10:00 p.m. CST, daily
• Cash Pop: Every four minutes, daily
• 5 Card Cash: 11:00 p.m. EST/ 10:00 p.m. CST, daily
• Pick 3: 1:20 p.m. EST/12:20 p.m. CST, 11:00 p.m. EST/10:0 p.m. CST, daily
• Pick 4: 1:20 p.m. EST/12:20 p.m. CST, 11:00 p.m. EST/10:0 p.m. CST, daily

You can find the results of the drawings by calling the Kentucky Lottery's winning numbers hotline at (502) 583-2000. You can also visit the Kentucky Lottery website and navigate to the "Draw Games" page to find your specific game and view the most recent winning draw. The Kentucky Lottery also has a mobile app where you can access winning numbers with the touch of a finger. 

To play the Kentucky Lottery, you must be at least 18 years old or older, as is common for most states in the U.S. This is true for both retailer-sold games and online or mobile-based games. Lottery is popular in the state of Kentucky, with approximately 70% of residents over the age of 18 having played a lottery game within the last six months. 

The prices of lottery tickets can vary between games. Many games offer supplemental add-ons that either increase your chances of winning or multiply your potential earnings. Other games use a personal wager system, where the player chooses the amount they're willing to pay themselves and can earn a prize that hinders on how much money they wagered. Here are the prices of each game offered by the Kentucky Lottery:

• Powerball: $2 per play, $1 to add Power Play to multiply winnings
• Mega Millions: $2 per play, $1 to add Megaplier to multiply winnings, $3 to do Just the Jackpot for two chances to win only the jackpot
• Keno: personal wager
• Lucky for Life: $2 per play
• Kentucky Cash Ball 225: $1 per play, $1 to add EZmatch for chance to win up to $500
• Cash Pop: personal wager of either $1, $2, $5, or $10 per number
• 5 Card Cash: $2 per play
• Pick 3: personal wager
• Pick 4: personal wager

If you're lucky enough to win a prize from the Kentucky Lottery, your best form of action is to claim your ticket as soon as possible. This prevents you from accidentally misplacing your ticket or forgetting to claim it before the 180-day period ends. When winnings go unclaimed, they're put into an unclaimed prize pool. Funds from this pool go directly to the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship (KEES) reserve fund, which provides financial assistance to higher education students in the state of Kentucky. Over $100 million in unclaimed winnings have gone to the KEES fund since 2003. 

If you're interested in learning more about the Kentucky Lottery system and how it works, Lottery Current can provide you with the most up-to-date lottery information for states across the country. Feel free to contact Lottery Current with any lottery-related questions or concerns.