New Jersey Lottery

New Jersey Lottery Commission
Agency overview
Formed	1970
Jurisdiction	New Jersey
Headquarters	One Lawrence Park Complex, Brunswick Avenue Circle, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
Employees	150
Agency executives	Frank V. Ragazzo, Chairman Carole Hedinger, Executive Director
Parent agency	New Jersey Department of the Treasury
Website
http://www.state.nj.us/lottery/

The New Jersey Lottery is run by the government of New Jersey. Its games consist of Powerball, Mega Millions, Pick-6, Jersey Cash 5, Pick-4, Pick-3, and scratch tickets. The Lottery is headquartered in the One Lawrence Park Complex in Lawrence Township, Mercer County.^[1]

New Jersey Lottery players must be at least 18 years old.

Games

Current draw games

Pick-3

Pick-3 is a three-digit draw game drawn twice daily.^[2] It began in May 1975 as a daily game; midday drawings were introduced in November 2001. It was originally known as Pick-it; the name changed to Pick-3 in 1987 to distinguish from the newer Pick-4 game.^[3]

The ways to win in the order of payouts from highest to lowest are:^[2]

• Straight - Matching all 3 digits exactly as they are drawn. Minimum play is $.50.
• Wheel - Match all 3 digits in any order and win the straight payout. Minimum play is $1.50 for 2 digits that are the same and a different digit and $3.00 for 3 different digits.
• Box - Matching all 3 digits in any order. Minimum play is $.50.
• Pair - Matching both digits in exact order. Minimum play is $.50.
• Split - Matching both the first and third digits exactly. Minimum play is $.50.

Typically, the straight payout is over $250, and the box payout averages $38.^[2] Unlike most lotteries, New Jersey pays winners of Pick-3 and Pick-4 on a parimutuel basis. Multiple wagers of the same number increase winnings if the numbers are matched. The most common Pick-3 wager is Straight and Box combined for $1.00 (50-50).

Pick-4

Pick-4 is a four-digit draw game also drawn twice daily.^[4] It was introduced as a weekly game in 1977, became a daily game, and has been a twice-daily game since November 2001.^[3]

The ways to win in the order of payouts from highest to lowest are:^[4]

• Straight - Matching all 4 digits exactly. Minimum play is $.50.
• Box - Matching all 4 digits in any order. Minimum play is $.50.

As in Pick-3, the most common Pick-4 wager is Straight and Box combined for $1.00. Typically, the straight payout is over $2,000, and the box payout averages $250.^[4] Multiple wagers of the same number increase winnings if the numbers are matched.

Jersey Cash 5

Jersey Cash 5 is a daily game that draws five balls from 1 through 40.^[5] Games cost $1 each. The top prize is a jackpot that grows until there is a 5-of-5 winner.

Jersey Cash 5 began in 1992 as a pick-5-of-38 game. Players won a parimutuel prize by matching at least three numbers. The original version of Jersey Cash 5 did not have a rolling jackpot; instead, if no ticket was a perfect match, the first prize pool was added to second prize winners (those who matched four numbers.) In September 2003, two numbers were added to make Jersey Cash 5 a 5/40 game, and the top prize level was changed to a progressive jackpot.^[3]

Pick-6 Lotto

Pick-6 Lotto is drawn on Monday and Thursday evenings. It draws six balls from 1 through 49. Games cost $1 each. The jackpot begins at $2 million (annuitized with a cash option) and increases by at least $200,000 per rollover until there is a 6-of-6 winner.^[6]

Pick-6 began in May 1980 as one of the first games of its kind in the United States.^[3] It originally was a pick-6 (hence the name) of 39 numbers. Players paid $1 for each game; a winning ticket needed at least four correct numbers in a game. It later went to a 6/42 matrix, followed by an additional change to 6/46; making even higher jackpots possible. Pick-6, until 2000, also drew a five-digit "bonus" number; an exact match entered the player into a special drawing where the top prize was $50,000 yearly in 20 installments (no cash option.)^[3]

The current game is a 6/49, which began in September 2000; no "bonus" number of any kind is drawn.^[6] Unlike with the previous matrixes, there is a $3 prize for matching three numbers. Matching at least four numbers wins a parimutuel prize.^[6]

Mega Millions

Main article: Mega Millions

On September 6, 1996, six lotteries began a multi-jurisdictional game, then known as The Big Game. In 1999, the New Jersey Lottery became its first additional member. The game became known as The Big Game Mega Millions in May 2002; a short time later, the The Big Game part was retired. Mega Millions' jackpots begin at $12 million.

On January 31, 2010, many MUSL members (until then offering only Powerball) joined Mega Millions; likewise, most Mega Millions members added Powerball; New Jersey offered both games as of the above date.

The Megaplier option, initially available only in Texas, became available to Mega Millions players in New Jersey during January 2011, the deadline for all 43 Mega Millions (then) members to offer the Megaplier.

Powerball

Main article: Powerball

Powerball is a multi-lottery game which began in 1992. On October 13, 2009, the Mega Millions consortium and Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) reached an agreement in principle to cross-sell Mega Millions and Powerball in U.S. lottery jurisdictions. On January 7, 2010, the New Jersey Lottery announced that it would join Powerball, effective January 31, 2010; on that date, the 33 MUSL members were joined by 10 lotteries, including New Jersey's, that offered Mega Millions.

On March 13, 2010, New Jersey became the first previously Mega Millions-only jurisdiction to produce a jackpot ticket for Powerball after the cross-sell expansion. The annuity value of the jackpot was over $211 million; the ticket was sold in Morris Plains.

Powerball's basic game has always had a $1 price; a game with the Power Play option (introduced in 2001) costs $2. In January 2012, the format change for Powerball will include a price increase; games will cost $2 for a basic play, or $3 with Power Play. The minimum jackpot will be doubled, to $40 million; a second-prize game (matching all five white balls, but not also the Powerball) will win $1 million, or $2 million if Power Play was selected.

Cash/annuity jackpot choice

Unusually, for Pick-6, as well as for Mega Millions and Powerball within New Jersey, players must choose cash or annuity when playing, instead of after winning. The cash option, if chosen, is legally binding; however, a New Jersey-generated annuity ticket that wins a jackpot in any of the three games can be changed to cash. There is no annuity option in Jersey Cash 5, as its jackpot shares are always paid in lump sum.

Instant Match

The Lottery offers a form of instant win game known as Instant Match.^[7] Available as a $1 add-on to Pick-3, Pick-4 and Jersey Cash 5 tickets, the lottery terminal's random number generator produces a same-sized set of numbers to the main game. If any of the randomly generated numbers match the ticket's chosen numbers, the player wins the indicated prize amount.^[7] The maximum prize is $500. It is not available on quick pick tickets; the player must choose their numbers for the main game.^[7]

Instant Games

The Lottery offers numerous scratchcard games, called "Instant Games", with various price points, prizes, formats and themes.^[8]

Former games

5 Card Lotto

5 Card Lotto was offered from 1988 to 1990. It was the New Jersey Lottery's response to the initial wave of terminal-based lottery games with a higher prize potential than those offered in pick-3 and pick-4 games.

Rather than an all-number field, the game used the 52 cards from a standard deck of playing cards. A $1 bet allowed players to choose five cards on each of three plays. The game was drawn twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays. The winning combination was the five "cards" (actually marked balls) drawn. Although a "poker-themed" game, poker hands (four of a kind, full house, flush etc.) were not used to determine winning tickets. Instead, any game matching at least three of the five cards won a parimutuel prize. A ticket with any game matching all five cards won (or shared) the cash jackpot, which started at $200,000 and remained there until sales supported a higher top prize. Unusual at the time, 5 Card Lotto drawings were originally broadcast during the early afternoon, before being shifted to evenings.

Lotzee

Lotzee (stylized LOTZEE) was a game offered from March 1998 to September 2003.^[3][9] Originally drawn once a week on Saturdays, it expanded with a Wednesday drawing before being discontinued. It was unpopular with players, who felt the rules, which featured a combination of player- and machine-selected numbers, were too complex and confusing. The top prize was $500,000 cash; although not a progressive jackpot, the prize was split if there were multiple winners.^[9]

Drawings

The New Jersey Network (NJN) aired live televised drawings twice a day, seven days a week; midday at 12:57 PM ET and nightly at 7:56 PM ET. NJN also aired the twice-weekly Mega Millions drawings at 10:59 PM every Tuesday and Friday night, as well as the Wednesday and Saturday Powerball drawings at the equivalent time. On July 1, 2011, the New Jersey Lottery became the first lottery in the nation to stream their drawings, live, from the New Jersey Lottery's headquarters on either the New Jersey Lottery's website or the New Jersey Lottery's Ustream channel. On September 6, 2011, drawings returned to broadcast on television on NJTV on a one-hour tape delay; the live drawings continue to be held at the Lottery's headquarters and broadcast online.

Hosts

Former

• Renai Ellison
• Joe DeRose
• Meredith Orlow (neé Parker)
• Carmen Delia-Bryant
• Hela Yungst (deceased)
• Dick LaRossa

References

1. ^ "Contact Us." New Jersey Lottery. Retrieved on March 23, 2009.
2. ^ ^{a b c} New Jersey Lottery's Pick-3 page
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} New Jersey Lottery history
4. ^ ^{a b c} New Jersey Lottery's Pick-4 page
5. ^ New Jersey Lottery's Jersey Cash 5 page
6. ^ ^{a b c} New Jersey Lottery's Pick-6 Lotto page
7. ^ ^{a b c} New Jersey Lottery's Instant Match page
8. ^ New Jersey Lottery's Instant Games page
9. ^ ^{a b} Jonathan Miller (September 12, 2003). "Players Bid Lotzee Goodbye, But Say It Won't Be Missed". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/12/nyregion/players-bid-lotzee-goodbye-but-say-it-won-t-be-missed.html. Retrieved April 22, 2011. 

External links

• New Jersey Lottery official site