Hot Lotto

Hot Lotto was a fun game offered by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), the same organization that oversees Powerball. Unlike Powerball, which is widely available across the United States, Hot Lotto was only available in the following states and jurisdictions:

• Delaware
• Idaho
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Maine
• Minnesota
• Montana
• New Hampshire
• New Mexico
• North Dakota
• Oklahoma
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• West Virginia

Hot Lotto was unique in that the state lotteries involved in the game paid jackpot withholding taxes on prizes. This meant that more money stayed in the hands of winners, who never typically received less than the estimated jackpot amount. While Hot Lotto did not offer the mind-blowing top prizes that made Powerball and Mega Millions famous, the prospect of getting exactly what was advertised made the game tempting for many players.

Hot Lotto was introduced on April 10th, 2002 to celebrate Powerball's 10th anniversary. The first states to offer the game were Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, South Dakota and West Virginia. More states joined the game as the years went on, with Tennessee being the latest state to offer Hot Lotto. Vermont stopped participating in the game as of May 17th, 2014.

The game's rules remained somewhat constant since its inception. The biggest change to Hot Lotto took place in May 2013, when the game began to offer its then-famous taxes-paid jackpot prize.

The final historical moment for Hot Lotto was its last ever draw which took place on October 28th, 2017.

Hot Lotto was easy to play - all you had to do is pick five numbers from 1 to 47 and a Hot Ball number from 1 to 19. Drawings took place on Wednesday and Saturday evenings. Players also had the option to pay an extra $1 for the Sizzler option, where any non-jackpot prize you won could be tripled!

Hot Lotto had a guaranteed minimum $1 million jackpot, which increased by $50,000 every time the jackpot wasn't won. Here's a breakdown of the Hot Lotto prizes and the odds of winning based on a $1 play, as well as what you could have won with the Sizzler option:

Although the Hot Lotto has ended, the usual rules for your state apply for claiming prizes. The exact claim periods can vary, so check with your state lottery for confirmation of your prize deadline. However, the longest claim period on offer is 365 days, meaning that all Hot Lotto prizes will have expired by October 28th, 2018.

Hot Lotto players were required to be at least 18 years old. The only exception to this rule was Iowa, where players had to be at least 21 years old.