How to play the Illinois Lucky Day Lotto

Playing the Illinois Lucky Day Lotto and picking possible winning numbers are easy and straight-forward. Simply buy a ticket from a Local Retailer to stand a chance to win big cash prizes.

Can you play online? Yes!

• Check winning numbers
• Estimated jackpot amounts
• See draw results
• Payout amounts

And more!

Easily check today’s Illinois Lucky Day Lotto winning numbers, handy and useful tips.

What is the Illinois Lucky Day Lotto?

In the Lucky Day Lotto, a player pays $1 to pick 5 numbers from a field of 45 or gets 5 numbers randomly drawn on their behalf – known as a “quick pick”. Players who match all 5 numbers split a pari-mutuel jackpot that starts at a whopping $100,000. Players will also win for matching 4, 3 or 2 numbers. The Lucky Day Lotto drawings take place twice a day, seven days a week.

How to play the Illinois Lucky Day Lotto?

In the current version of Lucky Day Lotto, a player pays $1 and picks 5 numbers from a field of 45 (or by “quick pick”).

• Players matching all 5 numbers split a pari-mutuel jackpot that starts at $100,000
• Players matching 4 of 5 numbers win $200
• Players matching 3 of 5 numbers win $15
• Players matching 2 of 5 numbers win $1

Lucky Day Lotto drawings take place twice a day, seven days a week.

For an additional amount of $1 per game, players can add an EZMatch option. In the EZMatch play, five additional numbers are randomly assigned and is not chosen by the player. If any of the EZMatch numbers match any of the regular field numbers chosen by the player, there is an instant payout of anything from $2 to $5,000!

Lucky Day Lotto tickets from authorized retailers in Illinois. Online play is also available via the lottery’s official website or mobile app.

Illinois Lucky Day Lotto Prizes

• Matching all 5 numbers split a pari-mutuel jackpot: starting at $100,000
• Matching 4 of 5 numbers: $200
• Matching 3 of 5 numbers: $15
• Matching 2 of 5 numbers: $1

Adam Rybinski from Wood Dale, won $1.15 million from playing Lucky Day Lotto, last April 9, 2018.

How to claim your lotto cash prize

Winnings at a value lower than $600 can be collected at any registered lottery retailer, Lottery Claims Center, or by mailing the ticket to the Lottery’s Springfield HQ (remember to sign the back!).

The lottery publishes the winner’s names, home city, and the amount they won. Contact details, such as addresses and telephone numbers are never published. Both state and federal taxes apply on lottery winnings. Players must be 18 years old or older to play the Illinois Lottery. Players need to be a resident of the state and live in Illinois at the time of purchasing their lottery tickets to play online. Most Illinois Lottery game tickets can be bought in advance at registered lottery retailers.

Illinois Lucky Day Lotto frequently asked questions

Where do the profits from ticket sales go?

All profits made from Illinois Lottery games go toward the state’s public education, capital projects, and a range of special causes.

Can players buy lottery tickets online, over the phone, or by mail?

Players can play online, but cannot purchase tickets by phone or mail.

Which Illinois Lottery games can be played online?

Powerball, Mega Millions, and Lotto games online as well as subscriptions to Lucky Day Lotto (Midday, Evening), Pick 3 (Midday, Evening), and Pick 4 (Midday, Evening).

Playing Online Lotteries

• Make sure that the online lottery site is secure by looking for a small symbol of a padlock obviously displayed – this simple indicates that all personal information will be safe. If you don’t see that symbol NEVER enter any private information!
• If there is a requirement that you must be at least 18 years old to play don’t sign up if if under that specified age as proof of age is needed to claim a prize.
• A legitimate, online lottery site will not impose fees on winnings.
• Never enter credit or debit card information over an open Wi-Fi network!

How long do players have to claim a prize?

One year from the date of the draw.

What happens if a ticket is lost or damaged?

Always sign the back of a lottery ticket! The Illinois Lottery can’t be held responsible for lost or damaged lottery tickets.

Illinois Lottery Apps and Technology

The Illinois Lottery supports mobile apps for Android and iOS devices. Players can download the app directly from the lottery’s official website or the Apple App Store. For Android users, a new version of the official app should be available for download soon as the older version is unfortunately no longer supported.

The Illinois Lottery App lets players:

• Scan tickets for winners
• Purchase tickets and subscriptions to all of IL Lottery’s games
• Check the latest jackpot amounts and winning numbers
• Manage their account and winnings
• Find the nearest retailers

and much more!

History of The Illinois Lotto and Lucky Day Lotto

June 1, 1988: “Cash 5” was created which began as a 5/35 game which held drawings on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

May 15, 1989: Cash 5’s name was changed to “Little Lotto”.

April 6, 1990: New drawing balls were introduced

November 7, 1994: Five of the possible numbers were removed from the game which means the matrix changed to 5/30. 

August 4, 1998: Little Lotto became a Monday-through-Friday game

February 25, 2004: The “Little Lotto” matrix was changed to 5/39

2012: Little Lotto was renamed Lucky Day Lotto.

The Illinois Lotto had its start in 1983 when it was better known as the Lotto 6/40. The game was drawn on Saturdays and was the first in the country to offer a guaranteed, massive million-dollar prize.

Comparison table for The Illinois Lucky Day Lotto

Illinois Lucky Day Lotto Payouts and Odds

Tips for playing The Illinois Lucky Day Lotto

Lottery numbers are randomly drawn. But randomly drawn numbers form patterns that can be tracked and used to your advantage.  We will pop in some fun strategies and bonus tips for good measure!

Play the Right Games

There is a selection of lottery games—and they each have different odds of winning.

• Read the odds to ensure you’re maximizing your chances of winning.
• Pick up some scratch cards. Yes, they offer smaller prizes but higher chances of winning overall.

Identifying Hot numbers, Cold numbers, Overdue Numbers

To use the hot, cold, overdue strategy, analyze the results of your chosen lottery – see which numbers have been drawn recently and which haven’t, at least 50 drawings is needed to get a decent sample size.

• Hot numbers: Picked most frequently
• Cold numbers: drawn less frequently overall.
• Overdue numbers: are ones that have not shown up in recent weeks.

Bonus Tip: Look at a list of past winning numbers for Illinois Lotto, and you’ll see, more often than not, one or more of the number groups are not represented. Tracking and studying Number Groups can help you make an informed choice.

Don’t Miss a Lottery Win!

• Keep your ticket somewhere that is safe and easy to find
• Make a note of the drawing date and time in your calendar
• Check and Double-check the numbers against your ticket
• Use a lottery app to keep track

Pick Traditional Lucky Numbers

Seven days of the week, seven wonders of the world, seven continents, seven seas, and the list goes on.

Other traditional lucky numbers include three (as in “good things come in threes”) and four.

Choose Rarer Numbers

Picking certain numbers may offer you a slight advantage, not for your chances of winning, but for your payout.

If you win a lottery jackpot, there is a chance that you might have to split the payout with players who picked the same numbers, so you might as well try to select rarer numbers to improve your odds of keeping more of the payout for yourself.

Lucky Number Generators

The simplest way to find lucky numbers to play is simply to use a generator. Lucky number generators use numerology, or perhaps simply randomness, to find numbers for you.

Finding and playing lucky numbers is based on fun more than facts. Mathematically, every number has an equal chance of being chosen as a winner.

Why the Illinois Lucky Day Lotto is so popular

Not only does the Illinois Lucky Day Lotto offer players “top prize” payouts, but it has multiple ways and chances to win. As previous results and jackpot payouts will show, the Illinois Lucky Day Lotto offers players of any income a chance to win and dream BIG! All profits made from Illinois Lottery games go toward the state’s public education, capital projects, and a range of special causes.

Illinois Lucky Day Lotto number generator

Odds of winning The Illinois Lucky Day Lotto

The odds of winning the jackpot in the new Lucky Day Lotto IL game are one in 1,221,759

Is the Illinois Lucky Day Lotto a Scam?

Absolutely not! The Illinois Lotto was launched in 1983 and is still going strong over 37 years later. Unfortunately, fake wins with other institutions have become a regular occurrence – so here are a few tips to keep you and your money safe!

• Only buy tickets from authorized lottery retailers.
• Offers to sell international lottery tickets by mail or online are usually illegal.
• If you didn’t buy a lottery ticket or participate in a second-chance lottery game, you didn’t win no matter how convincing a text message may sound.
• The lottery doesn’t notify players when you win; players alone are responsible for checking your winning tickets.
• Players are NEVER required to pay money up-front to receive a winning lottery prize.

A lottery scam is a type of advance-fee fraud which begins with an unexpected email notification, phone call, or mailing (sometimes including a large check) explaining that “You have won!” a large sum of money in a lottery.

What to do:

If you receive a letter or email claiming that you won a prize for the Illinois Lucky Day Lotto but did not enter, it is strongly recommended that you:

• Delete or destroy the letter or email immediately.
• Do not open any link contained in a suspicious email.
• Do not respond to, or contact, the sender.
• Do not disclose any personal or financial information.
• Do not send any money.
• If you have already responded, break off contact with the fraudster immediately.
• If you have provided personal or financial details, alert your bank immediately.
• If you receive a suspicious email, or believe you have been the victim of internet fraud, report it to the police.

Clues to look for:

• The email is sent from a free webmail address (e.g. @hotmail.com, @yahoo.com, @gmail etc.)
• The letter or email starts with something vague like ‘Dear Winner’.
• Scam letters are often on poor quality, photocopied letterhead (although some will include a genuine business address in an attempt to provide legitimacy).
• Strict time limit to claim the ‘prize’. This is intended to put the potential victim under pressure and deter them from seeking advice or investigating the matter further.
• Confidentiality is often demanded as a ‘condition of winning’. Again, this is to deter the recipient from seeking the advice of friends or family who may be more familiar with this type of scam.
• Poor spelling, grammar and syntax are usually a good indication that the letter or email is a scam.

Joining a lottery “club” will not improve your chances of winning foreign lotteries although Con artists will claim that pooling your money with other people means more tickets and more chances to win.

What Are Lottery Pools?

A lottery pool is when group of players pools money to buy lottery tickets together – any of the tickets bought which results in a win, will be split.

The biggest note to remember – It’s impossible to win a lottery without buying a ticket and never share your banking or personal details with anyone! The chances of recovering money from foreign crooks may be even worse than that of actually winning a lottery. 

Conclusion

The Illinois State Lottery is the official lottery for the state of Illinois, first started in July 1974.

The Illinois Lottery helps fund Illinois’ Common School Fund and other causes which include support for Illinois veterans, breast cancer research, and more. The Illinois State Lottery have contributed over $20 billion to worthy causes since 1985. Illinois lottery tickets are available all throughout the state of Illinois as well as online. Winning tickets are valid and claimable for up to a year after the official draw.