Frequently Asked Questions of the West Virginia Lottery

State voters approved the Lottery Amendment to the West Virginia Constitution on November 6, 1984 by a vote of 67% for the issue to 33% against. The West Virginia Legislature passed the Lottery Act in April 1985, which was signed in May by Gov. Arch A. Moore, Jr. The first instant tickets were sold on January 9, 1986. More than 1.5 million tickets were sold the first day.

Who plays the West Virginia Lottery?

Research conducted by RMS (Ryan McGinn Samples Research) shows that the typical Lottery player in West Virginia is a married white female (60%), 25 to 44 years old, with a high school diploma and some college, and an average household income of $20,000 to $40,000. Occupation ranking: 1) Professional / technical; 2) Retired

How many West Virginia Lottery employees are there?

The Lottery employs nearly 84 people. Contracts for providing online games, instant tickets and field services (through Scientific Games) provide employment for additional West Virginians.

What games does the West Virginia Lottery offer?

Instant (scratch-off) Games, on-line games [DAILY 3, DAILY 4, Cash 25, HotLotto™, PowerBall® and "TRAVEL™" Keno], and video lottery games. TRAVEL™ Keno games [5-minute draws] are available only in certain "adult environments"; video lottery games are available only at the State’s four pari-mutuel racetracks & in certain adult environments.

Who can play the West Virginia Lottery?

You must be 18 years or older to purchase tickets. You may be younger than 18 to receive tickets as gifts and receive prizes. All tickets must be purchased from authorized lottery retailers in accordance with West Virginia Lottery legislative rules.

Can lottery tickets be purchased by phone, mail or Internet?

No. Current law prohibits such sales. Also, federal interstate trade laws prohibit the sale of tickets across state lines. Tickets must be purchased at an authorized West Virginia Lottery retailer location.

I live outside West Virginia. How can I buy West Virginia lottery tickets?

West Virginia lottery tickets can be purchased at nearly 1,800 West Virginia lottery retailers statewide. Tickets may not be sold by mail, over the phone, or Internet due to federal interstate commerce laws. You may want to consider a trip to West Virginia. For maps, travel guides and information, call 1-800-CALL WVA!

How long do I have to collect on a winning ticket?

A winner has 180 days from the drawing date to collect on-line game cash prizes and 180 days from the ending date for instant games.

Can lottery winnings be claimed by mail?

Yes. You can claim any prize by mailing (we suggest certified or registered mail) your ticket to: West Virginia Lottery Claims, P.O. Box 2913, Charleston, WV 25330. Be sure to sign the back of your tickets and include your postal address. If your winning ticket is for over $600 dollars, please include a legible photocopy of your driver's license or the following information: full name, address, social security number, date of birth and your phone number. We also encourage you to keep a photocopy of your ticket.

Can a group of people share a Lottery prize?

Yes, some Lottery prizes (e.g. PowerBall® and CASH 25) can be shared. This decision must be made at the time of claim. Some restrictions do apply. Initially, one check is issued. The individuals and their respective shares are reported for tax purposes. Remaining PowerBall® annuity checks are sent to each individual.

Are Lottery prizes taxable?

Yes. All prizes are subject to income taxes. The Lottery must withhold federal and state taxes from each prize over $5,000. The Lottery withholds 25% for federal taxes and 6.5% for WV State taxes. State taxes are not withheld from out-of-state winners’ checks. They are responsible for reporting the income in their respective states. Non-US residents’ prizes are subject to federal back-up withholding.

I can buy several tickets in a row and have no winners. Why can't the lottery have more winners in an instant game?

A Lottery is a game of chance, and to preserve the integrity of the West Virginia Lottery, printing winning tickets is done randomly. We cannot program winning tickets without compromising integrity. There are a certain number of winners in every book, but even within each book, winning tickets and their prizes are printed randomly. The prize payouts for instant games are considered fairly high. The prize payout averages approximately 68%.

Instant ticket odds are incorrect.

Odds printed on the back of all instant tickets (i.e. 1 in 4.25) are the overall average odds based on the total amount of tickets printed for that game. This means that if you could purchase EVERY ticket that was printed for the game and scratched them all, the number of tickets printed divided by the number of winners found would equal the odds. It does not mean that by purchasing four to five tickets in order at a time will produce a winner. Remember, that the Lottery is a game of chance and not every ticket can be a winner.

Does the Lottery place winning instant tickets in certain parts of the state?

No. Winning instant tickets are randomly placed by the computer into the packs of instant tickets during the manufacturing process. The Lottery randomly distributes the packs around the state. Because of this system, players in one part of the state have as much chance of buying winning instant tickets as those in any other part of the state.

What happens if I accidentally lose a winning ticket?

The West Virginia Lottery is not responsible for lost or stolen tickets. Protect yourself by signing the back of your tickets, and include your address and social security number. Lottery tickets are bearer instruments. Unless signed, anyone in possession of the ticket can file a claim.

In which states are PowerBall® available?

PowerBall® tickets may be purchased in the following states: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virgin Islands, Vermont, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. It is also available in the District of Columbia.

Do PowerBall® players have to choose the cash or annuity option before buying the ticket?

No, you may choose cash or annuity up to 60 days after claiming a jackpot. Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") rules govern this issue. At one time, the annuity or cash option was required at the time a ticket was purchased. After the enactment of Internal Revenue Code section 451h, a player now may switch from annuity to cash within 60 days of claiming a jackpot.

Why is the cash amount of the PowerBall® jackpot less than the annuity amount?

The annuity amount is the value of the cash amount invested in securities over 30 years.

What happens to annual jackpot payments if the winner dies before collecting all of the prize installments?

In case of a winner’s death, the West Virginia Lottery will continue to pay the annual payments, as scheduled, to the winner's estate, trust or person(s) named in his or her will. The Lottery does NOT keep the money; the state does NOT take it. It is possible for legal action to be taken to have the lump cash sum remaining in an annuity to be made payable to the estate.

The Lottery recommends that all jackpot winners consult a financial advisor and competent attorney as soon as possible.

When the PowerBall® jackpot is more than $20 million, why not have several top prizes of $1 million or $5 million each instead of one $30 million, $50million or $75 million prize?

The PowerBall® game is designed for players wanting large jackpots; sales go up as the jackpot rises. The Lottery provides other on-line games with more frequent winners of smaller prizes.

Why did you change the Powerball game to make it even harder to hit the jackpot?

There is another side of the coin. The chance of winning the other prizes under the new Powerball structure (changed in October, 2002) are close to the same and the $100,000 cash level could now be worth millions of dollars, since when the jackpot gets to whatever its record level is it will only go up by a set $25 million maximum per drawing. The balance of the sales coming in will be added to the $100,000 prizes. In addition, those who choose the $1 PowerPlay option now know that if they win a prize it will at least double with the possibility of being multiplied by five, as we no longer include the number one in the multiplier mix.

The reason the odds of the jackpot were changed was because of the recent addition of several lottery states to the game. Since so many more people were going to be playing, it followed that the jackpot would be hit more frequently and thereby kept low, which is not why folks play Powerball. In this particular game the larger the prize, the higher our sales. As one player said to me, "Where else can I get the chance of this much money for a dollar, regardless the odds?"

People who want better odds of winning lots of money can play "Hot Lotto" (odds are 1 in 10.9 million of hitting the jackpot) or for the cash prizes in Cash25, Daily3, and Daily4.

Since several states sell PowerBall® and HotLotto™, which state gets the profits from the tickets sold in West Virginia?

The profits from PowerBall® and HotLotto™ tickets sold in West Virginia stay in West Virginia.

What is the Powerball TV Game show all about and how do I enter?

Tapings for the game show are held at the elegant Venetian in Las Vegas. The shows are hosted by Todd Newton, from the “E” Entertainment channel.

The Venetian offers everything under one roof. The largest resort-hotel-casino in the world, it offers numerous specialty stores, fifteen different restaurants, a full-service spa, and golf. In addition, hotel guests can be entertained by numerous theaters, art galleries and evening shows.

Some tickets in the Lottery’s Instant Powerball Television Game Show® that is not a cash prize is an entry ticket for drawings. The number of contestants’ entries drawn depend on how many weekly television shows are taped; the number of home players is set by sales of each participating lottery. In addition to West Virginia, participants include Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Connecticut, Kentucky, Iowa, Louisiana, Delaware, Colorado, New Mexico and the District of Columbia.

Rules allow each contestant to win at least $1,000, but the public does not know the exact amount until each show airs. One of the 13 weekly contestants makes it to the bonus round in which a cash prize of up to $1 million can be won. In addition, contestants receive a four-day, three-night trip for two to Las Vegas, airport transportation, and a room at the Venetian. Those who take the trip also receive $750 spending money.

New home players will receive letters informing them of their win. New home players will receive letters informing them of their win. In addition, their names are listed in an advertisement aired during the television show in which they participate. After the show airs, they are mailed a prize check. Home players win $100 if their contestant does not get beyond the preliminary round of the game show. They each win $500 if their contestant is the single player getting to the final bonus round; if their contestant wins the $1 million top cash prize in the bonus round, however, home players each win $10,000.

Every ticket in the Lottery’s Instant Powerball Television Game Show® that is not a cash prize is an entry ticket for drawings from which the contestants’ and at-home-players’ entries are drawn. The address to which entries are mailed is included on the back of each ticket and on point of sale materials at each lottery retail location. Entries included in each drawing are destroyed after it is concluded. Drawing dates and details are also included on brochures at retail locations.

The Instant Powerball Game Show® is carried for the West Virginia Lottery by WCHS/Huntington-Charleston; WVVA/Bluefield; WTAP/Parkersburg; WDTV/Clarksburg-Bridgeport; WTRF/ Wheeling; and WHSV/Harrisonburg, VA. The public should check local listings, as broadcast times vary between 6 PM and 7:30 PM.

How many West Virginia players have won MultiState jackpot prizes? It seems they are mostly from out-of-state.

Nine West Virginia players have won a MultiState jackpot prize since the West Virginia Lottery began participating in 1988; five of those being Powerball® winners. The largest of those was a $315 million Powerball® prize won by Andrew J. Whittaker, a W.V. resident who bought a ticket in Hurricane at C&L Super Serve for the drawing held on December 25, 2002. The second largest was a $62.4 million Powerball® prize won by Hobert Parnell, a V.A. resident who bought a ticket in Bluefield at the Blue Flash Food Mart #5 for the drawing held on March 25, 2003. The third largest was a $30.6 million Powerball® prize won by Robert Cogar, a P.A. resident who bought a ticket in Morgantown for the drawing held on June 8, 2002. Roger Boone of Lewisburg won a $24 million Powerball® prize in 1995. The odds of winning for every ticket are exactly the same, regardless of the state in which it was purchased. Understandably, however, there will be more winners in areas of greater population because of increased participation level. All profits generated by game sales remain in each state where the tickets were purchased.

What is a straight/box bet in DAILY 3 and DAILY 4?

You can play both Daily3 and Daily4 numbers in a "straight/box" bet. This simply means that you are covering your straight bet combination with a box bet. Therefore, if your straight bet wins, you win both the straight amount and the boxed amount. If your numbers do not come up straight, but a combination of your numbers come up, you win only the boxed amount. Keep in mind, 50¢ of your $1 bet goes to each type, therefore your winnings will be half those of just a straight or just a box bet.

In DAILY 3 and DAILY 4, what are the differences between all of the box bets such as 3-way box, 6-way box, 24-way box, 12-way box, 6-way box and 4-way box? Why is there a varied payout?

A boxed bet is a winner if any combination of your numbers come out as winning numbers.

The 3-way and 6-way box bets as they pertain to the Daily3 game: The term "3-way" and "6-way" refer to the number of combinations that are possible for a certain bet. If your Daily3 bet consists of 3 unique digits, such as 1-2-3, there are 6 different winning combinations possible (1-2-3; 1-3-2; 2-1-3; 2-3-1; 3-1-2; and 3-2-1). This is a 6-way box. A Daily3 number that has 2 like numbers, such as 1-1-2, only has 3 possible winning combinations--1-1-2; 1-2-1; and 2-1-1. This is a 3-way box bet. You win more money for 3-way box bets because there is a lower probability of winning with only 3 possible combinations rather than 6.

The same principle applies to the Daily4 box bets, which are the 24-way, 12-way, 6-way and 4-way boxes. Again, the "24-way" refers to how many possible combinations of a number there are. A Daily4 boxed bet with 4 unique digits, such as 1-2-3-4, has 24 different possible winning combinations. With 24 ways to win, this is the easiest Daily4 box, therefore it has the lowest payout. The 12-way box applies to a number that has 2 like numbers within it, such as 1-1-2-3. The 6-way box has 2 pairs, example 1-1-2-2; and a 4 way box has 3 like numbers, for example 1-1-1-2. The 4-way box has the highest payout of the boxed bets because with only 4 possible combinations, it is the least probable box bet to win.

Where does the money go?

Over 50% of all West Virginia Lottery instant and online ticket sales have been returned to players in prizes. State law requires that at least 45% of total revenue be paid in prizes. Retailers who sell tickets receive 7% of sales. Not more than 15% of the Lottery’s total revenue may be spent on operating costs. The remainder is profits transferred to the State Lottery Fund for appropriation by the Legislature to Education, Senior Citizen and Tourism programs.

What is Video Lottery?

In the state of West Virginia, Video Lottery is the legal use of player interactive gaming machines similar to those commonly known as “slot” machines in the casino industry. As of 1994, video lottery was approved, with restraints set forth by law, at West Virginia’s four thoroughbred and greyhound racetracks. The issue had to be approved by voters in the counties in which each track is located.

In 1999, the West Virginia Legislature passed a bill allowing for a limited number of video lottery machines in adult environments. It is referred to as the “Limited Video Lottery Act.” The measure outlawed pre-existing “gray” or “poker” machines and restricted the number of Limited Video Lottery terminals to no more than 9,000. The environments in which they are permitted are classified as adult-only based on the fact that they possess a Class A, Alcohol and Beverage Commission (ABCA) license and meet various other legal requirements.

What is the difference between the Video Lottery at the racetracks and “Limited Video Lottery”?

It should be noted that the machines in both environments are the same with exception to “reel and coin drop” machines that are allowed only in the racetrack environment.

Video lottery machines are stand-alone, player-interactive gaming machines with a video simulation of the common “slot” machine. Prior to the fall of 1999, the video lottery machines in racetracks were all voucher, ticket printing machines, sold by a number of state licensed manufacturers. West Virginia law was developed to allow the licensed racetracks to offer some actually “slot” machines that did not use a video simulation and some machines that dropped coins instead of issuing vouchers. The limited video lottery product, in the non-racetrack environment, remains confined to video simulation and vouchers. Video lottery games in West Virginia must pay out no less than 80 percent and no more than 95 percent.

How are the profits spent for each one – Racetrack and Limited Video Lottery?

In general, profits from video lottery gaming fund West Virginia programs for senior citizens, education and tourism. In 2000, House Bill 102 capped the lottery’s 4 percent administrative allowance under the Racetrack Video Lottery Act at the fiscal year 2001 level. Today, excess funds are deposited into the State’s Excess Lottery Revenue Fund, used to provide West Virginia students with college scholarships and to back bonds for economic development endeavors. West Virginia cities and counties also receive two percent of the State’s revenues produced by the limited video lottery machines located within their geographic boundaries.

Who decides how proceeds are used?

Each year the West Virginia Legislature appropriates net profits deposited into the State Lottery Fund to various programs benefiting education, senior citizen and tourism programs. The placement of basic skill education computers in classrooms statewide and programs under the School Building Authority, Education & Arts, Senior Services, as well as Natural Resources and Tourism are most of the beneficiaries of Lottery revenues. The Lottery, itself, has no authority over where proceeds are directed.

What benefits do retailers get from selling tickets?

Retailers receive 7% commission on ticket sales. Incentives such as a 1% cashing bonus of prizes from $1 to $600, a 1% selling bonus for prizes of $500 or more (up to a $100,000 top bonus for winning Powerball tickets) and various other retailer promotions are used.

What happens to unclaimed prizes?

By law, unclaimed prize money is returned to the prize fund for second chance drawings, additional prizes in games and other promotional efforts. Beginning July 1, 1996, the Unclaimed Prize Fund also paid 1¼% out of the 7% retailer commission.

How can I get winning numbers?

For winning numbers call 1-800-WVA-CASH (982-2274). Numbers may also be obtained through any Lottery retail location, newspapers, radio stations, or through our Internet site www.wvlottery.com. The West Virginia Lottery is only responsible for numbers provided through its phone service and internet site.

What TV stations broadcast the nightly live lottery drawings?

There are seven (7) stations:

WVVA Bluefield

WDTV Clarksburg/Bridgeport

WHSV Harrisonburg, VA

WOWK Charleston/Huntington

WOAY Oak Hill/Beckley

WTAP Parkersburg

WTRF Wheeling

Which game is the West Virginia Lottery's biggest seller by percentage?

For Fiscal year ending June 30, 2003: West Virginia Lottery instant games were the top seller with 55%, next was PowerBall® with 27%, Keno with 6%, DAILY 3 with 5%, CASH 25 with 3% and DAILY 4 with 2%. Other Multi-state games accounted for 1%.

When I buy a Lottery ticket, does the Lottery computer know whether I have won or lost?

No. The purchase of a Lottery ticket and the random drawing of the winning numbers are totally separate. Nobody knows if there is a winner until after the drawing.

How do I know that the Lottery is safe?

The Lottery is one of the most closely scrutinized agencies in state government and is structured with a comprehensive oversight network of numerous checks and balances. All financial records are audited by several entities; the background of every employee, vendor, and licensed retailer must pass an in-depth security check in conjunction with the West Virginia State Police. Numerous security measures are included in the drawing procedures to assure their randomness and integrity. A staff that includes a security officer, an event manager and an independent auditor oversees all drawings.

How does the Lottery make sure its drawings are random?

The West Virginia Lottery goes to great lengths to ensure the randomness of its drawings and to eliminate any possibility of a breach of security that could jeopardize integrity.

All equipment is stored in a locked area of our drawing studio. Further, a numbered and recorded seal secures each ball case. Each seal is checked and verified every night prior to drawings by the Lottery’s security officer, the event manager and the independent auditor. For each game, we have multiple sets of balls. The ball sets to be used are randomly selected prior to each drawing by the independent auditor. The auditor monitors all drawing activities to make absolutely certain that all procedures approved by the Director are followed. All drawing-related activities are recorded on both video and audiotape. Prior to every drawing, pretests are conducted and following every drawing posttests are conducted to ensure the random drawing of numbers – to ensure that no one digit is drawn more often than another. Each set of balls is regularly weighed and measured down to 1/1000 of a gram by the WV Department of Weights and Measures. All Lottery drawings are open to the public.

Is the West Virginia Lottery Audited?

Yes. The West Virginia Lottery employs an internal auditor, is audited each year by an independent auditing firm and is subject to Legislative audits. An independent auditing firm observes all game drawings.

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