Pennsylvania Lottery

The Pennsylvania Lottery is a lottery operated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It was created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly on August 26, 1971; two months later, Henry Kaplan was appointed as its first executive director. The Pennsylvania Lottery sold its first tickets on March 7, 1972, and drew its first numbers on March 15, 1972.

Lottery proceeds

By Pennsylvania law, at least 40 percent of Lottery proceeds are required to be paid as prizes, with another 27 percent towards funding programs. Currently, the Pennsylvania Lottery exceeds these requirements, as 60.9 percent is paid as prizes, 29.9 percent to programs, 6.7 percent is paid as retailer and vendor commissions and 2.5 percent is consumed as operating expenses.
For the 2009–2010 fiscal year, approximately $3.065 billion in gross revenue was acquired through proceeds and interest. Approximately $1.87 billion was paid as prizes, $915.7 million to programs, $207 million was paid as retailer and vendor commissions, and $76.6 million was paid to advertising and operations. The gross revenue for fiscal year 2009–2010 represented an increase of approximately 59 percent in sales over fiscal year 2001–02.
The Pennsylvania Lottery is the only US lottery that targets all of its proceeds to programs for its elderly residents. Since the beginning of the Lottery in 1972, more than $20.1 billion has been contributed to programs.
In 2017, following a revenue decrease exceeding $75 million for the fiscal year 20162017, Pennsylvania passed a gaming expansion bill that authorized the sale of online lottery products. Governor Tom Wolf's budget plan for 2018 said that he and the state would use new revenues to "re-establish a $75 million reserve fund".

Pennsylvania-only draw games

Pick 2

Pick 2 is a two-digit game which debuted on January 27, 2015. Pick 2 is drawn twice daily, seven days a week. The minimum play is $1, and tickets can be purchased up to seven days in advance.
Pick 2 can be played in four basic ways:

Pick 3 (formerly ''The Daily Number'')

Pick 3 debuted on March 1, 1977, as The Daily Number. It is a three-digit game, drawn twice a day, seven days a week. Single tickets can be purchased in increments of 50¢, up to $5.00. Tickets can be purchased up to seven days in advance.
Pick 3 can be played in five basic ways:

Way to play	To play	To win	Payout
Straight	The player chooses any three digits.	If the three digits, and their order, match the winning number drawn, the player wins.	500 to 1
Boxed	The player chooses any three digits.	If the three digits, regardless of their order, match the winning number, the player wins.	80 to 1
Boxed	The player chooses any three digits.	The payout differs if a winning boxed number includes two of the same digit.	160 to 1
Front Pair	The player chooses any two digits.	If the two digits, and their order, match the front two digits of the winning number, the player wins.	50 to 1
Back Pair	The player chooses any two digits.	If the two digits, and their order, match the back two digits of the winning number, the player wins.	50 to 1
Super Straight	The player chooses any three digits.	The online system plays all six possible combinations of the number. Consequently, tickets cost six times the normal price of a ticket. A win is, therefore, treated like a Straight win.	500 to 1
Super Straight	The player chooses any three digits.	If a Super Straight number includes two of the same digit, the cost is three times that of the regular cost, since there are only three possible winning combinations.	500 to 1

Pick 4 (formerly ''Big 4'')

Pick 4 debuted on November 22, 1980, as Big 4. It is a four-digit game, drawn twice a day, seven days a week. Single tickets can be purchased for the same amounts as in Pick 3, up to seven days in advance.
Pick 4 can be played in two basic ways:

Way to play	To play	To win	Payout
Straight	The player chooses any four digits.	If the four digits, and their order, match the winning number drawn, the player wins.	5,000 to 1
Boxed	The player chooses any four digits.	If the four digits match, regardless of their order, match the winning number, the player wins.	200 to 1
Boxed	The player chooses any four digits.	A winning boxed number including three of the same digit.	1,200 to 1
Boxed	The player chooses any four digits.	A winning boxed number including two pairs of digits.	800 to 1
Boxed	The player chooses any four digits.	A winning boxed number including one pair of digits.	400 to 1

Pick 5 (formerly ''Quinto'')

Pick 5's first drawing was on August 26, 2008, under the name Quinto. It is a five-digit game, drawn twice a day, seven days a week. The minimum play in Pick 5 is $1. Players can purchase tickets up to seven days in advance.
Odds and payouts for Pick 5 are as follows:

Wild Ball

The Wild Ball is an add-on to the Pick 2, Pick 3, Pick 4, and Pick 5 games introduced on September 13, 2016. Activating the Wild Ball doubles the cost of the play.
Before the Pick games are drawn, one digit from 0 through 9 is drawn and designated as the Wild Ball number. The Wild Ball number may then be used by the player to replace any one digit in any of the Pick games. For instance, if the player selects 123 in the Pick 3 game, and the number actually drawn is 124, but the Wild Ball is a 3, the player may replace the 4 with a 3 to create a winning combination.
Because the Wild Ball creates additional ways to win, a win using the Wild Ball generally pays a lesser amount than a win using the base play, however, a player can win both from the Wild Ball and from the base play if the Wild Ball matches one of the digits naturally.
Payouts using the Wild Ball are as follows:

Pick 2

Pick 3

Pick 4

Pick 5

Treasure Hunt

Treasure Hunt's first drawing was on May 8, 2007. It involves selecting five numbers from 1 through 30. It is drawn daily at 1:10 p.m. ET, and the results are released at 1:35 p.m. ET on the Lottery's website. It is the Lottery's only game held exclusively during the non-televised midday drawings, as well as its only game always selected via a computer instead of printed balls. The minimum jackpot is $10,000, although sales often allow the actual prize level to be higher. Prizes are also won by matching four, three, or two of the winning numbers. Treasure Hunt has a payout percentage of 58%.

Numbers matched	Probability	Payout
5 of 5	1:142,506	Jackpot
4 of 5	1:1,140.05	$100
3 of 5	1:47.5	$6
2 of 5	1:6.2	$1

Overall odds of winning are 1 in 5.45.

Cash 5

consists of picking five numbers from 1 through 43. It is drawn during the live televised nighttime drawings at 6:59 p.m. ET, seven days a week. Games cost $2 each ; tickets can be purchased up to seven days in advance. The minimum jackpot is $150,000, increasing until there is a 5-of-5 winner. Cash 5 jackpots also are always paid in lump sum. This game began on April 23, 1992 as a weekly game. It gradually expanded in popularity.
Cash 5 has four available prize amounts:

Numbers matched	Probability	Payout
5 of 5	1:962,598.00	Jackpot, divided among all 5-of-5 winners.
4 of 5	1:5,066.30	Fixed at $200
3 of 5	1:136.90	Fixed at $10
2 of 5	1:11.40	Fixed at $2

Starting on March 23, 2021, the price per play increased to $2, and all second through fourth-level prizes became fixed amounts. Concurrent with this change, a “Quick Cash” feature was added, in which a second ticket, similar to a Fast Play ticket would be printed with one play of Quick Cash given for each play of Cash 5 purchased. Matching any of five “winning numbers” to any of five “your numbers” in the same play, wins the prize of either $2 or $6.

Match 6

Match 6 consists of picking 6 numbers, from 1 through 49. It is drawn during the live televised Lottery drawings at 6:59 p.m. ET. Nightly Players get three sets of numbers for each $2 game played ; betters can play in increments up to 26 drawings. The jackpot begins at $500,000; it always is paid in a lump sum.
Players automatically receive two free "quick picks" for each $2 played; unlike the former game Super 6, the automatic quick-picks are necessary. This is because, in addition to winning in the normal fashion, a player also can win by matching enough numbers on all 3 lines. In "combined play", the 18 numbers across the three lines often repeat. Only when there are enough "repeats" across the three lines is it possible to win the highest possible prize in the "all three lines category".
Match 6 has 11 available prize amounts:

Numbers matched	Probability	Payout
6 of 6	1:4,661,272.3	Jackpot amount
5 of 6	1:18,067.3	$1,000
4 of 6	1:344.5	$20
3 of 6	1:19.2	$2
10+ of 18	1:597,302.6	$2,500
9 of 18	1:45,267.4	$1,000
8 of 18	1:4,440.4	$50
7 of 18	1:590.9	$25
6 of 18	1:106.7	$10
5 of 18	1:26.4	$5
4 of 18	1:9.1	$2

The overall probability of winning on a $2 play is approximately 1 in 5.9.
Match 6 originally ran from January 28, 2004, to March 10, 2009. The final jackpot of this run was $900,000, and was won by one set of six numbers. The jackpot would have rolled down if there had been no winner. Match 6 was replaced by the revival of Super 7, which in turn was retired on April 27, 2010, due to poor sales.
On June 1, 2010, however, Match 6 returned, this time replacing Mix & Match. Match 6's gameplay did not change from the previous version, although the drawing days are different from before. It was formerly drawn on Mondays and Thursdays, and also formerly Tuesdays and Fridays. It also has an average payout of 57.95%, up from 53% in the previous version. This extra money goes into the jackpot, as the lower tier prize amounts did not change.
On August 28, 2017, Match 6 increased the frequency of drawings to seven nights per week. This made Pennsylvania one of the few lotteries to have all of its draw games held daily.