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Virginia Lottery players have won a lot of money since online games launched. A lot, as in, more than $2 billion.
The lottery announced recently that players have won more than $2 billion dollars via online games since the new platform launched a little over two years ago.
“The convenience of playing online has really caught on with Virginia Lottery players as an additional way to play,” Virginia Lottery Executive Director Kelly Gee said in a press release about the milestone. “Our focus at Lottery is all about ensuring the best customer experience possible, translating to more sales and profits for our beneficiary–K-12 public education. Online sales are contributing to both of those goals.”
Winners averaging around $6,700 per win
According to the Virginia Lottery, more than 300,000 unique players have won prizes playing the online lottery. That averages out to around $6,700 in prizes per winner.
Players can buy tickets for big-jackpot games like Mega Millions and Powerball. They can also purchase more than 60 instant-win games created exclusively for the online lottery. Some of those games include:
- Monopoly Progressive Jackpots: Tickets range from 50 cents to $50, and the jackpot grows for as long as the jackpot isn’t won.
- Casino Multiplier: Top prize of $250,000, with odds of winning the top prize and 1-in-4 million.
- VA Cash Expander: The odds of winning the top prize of $250,000 are twice as good as Casino Multiplier.
- Street Fighter 2: An instant-win themed after the popular arcade game, the odds of winning the $150,000 top prize are 1 in 2 million
Online lottery resembles slot-machine play
Virginia’s online lottery games are very similar to slot machines. Players purchase a ticket for a game. They then tap or click a “Play” button and their game populates three rows of five squares. Players know instantly if they’ve won. Some games offer bonus plays.
Additionally, players may have the option to choose an “Auto Play” mode that allows them to:
- Set a max number of auto plays (10, 25, 50, or 100)
- Set a stop-loss that ends auto-play when losses reach a certain dollar amount ($5, $10, $25, or no limit)
- Choose a cash-out option that lets the player stop auto-play once they reach a single win amount ranging from under $25 to more than $100.
Players can also try out demo versions of each game to familiarize themselves with how the games work.
Biggest online prize hit nearly $300,000
A South Boston man took home the biggest online jackpot to date: $295,806 playing Jungle Tumble Jackpots.
And, recently, Susan Disse, a Henrico resident, took home more than $150,000 playing Monopoly Progressive Jackpots. She played the game in demo mode first, then decided to play the real-money version.
She won a $158,570 jackpot, according to the Virginia Lottery. So stunned was she by the win that she asked her husband to take her laptop away for fear she’d do something to lose the prize.
“I was afraid I would hit something and make it go away,” she said.
