4/07/2011 - 11:45 AM

$20,000 Winner Selected in Third Millionaire Bonus Raffle Drawing

The Lottery's third bonus drawing for its $10 raffle game, Millionaire Bonus Raffle, was held this morning and raffle number 162267 was randomly selected as the $20,000 winner. The ticket was sold at Thibodaux retailer, Wag-A-Pak III, which will receive a $200 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

Besides offering the best odds of winning $1 million in the May 12 finale drawing, Millionaire Bonus Raffle has two remaining bonus drawings in which players can win $20,000 if they purchase their tickets before midnight April 13. Already, more than 200,000 raffle tickets have been sold and will be entered into the remaining preliminary bonus drawings and the finale drawing.

Like a traditional raffle game, only 300,000 tickets were available for sale starting Feb. 28. As of 11:30 a.m. today, 67 percent of those have been sold.

"In celebration of our 20th anniversary, the Lottery is excited to pump up our raffle game with bonus drawings to reward our loyal players," explained Lottery President Rose Hudson. "With Millionaire Bonus Raffle, it's true the early bird does get the worm - with two additional chances to win! In the meantime, we look forward to meeting our third $20,000 winner."

Millionaire Bonus Raffle bonus drawing winners must claim their prizes at any of the Lottery's six regional offices, where they will be given an Exchange Ticket good for all remaining raffle drawings.

Remaining preliminary bonus drawings for $20,000 each will be held on April 14 and April 21. Tickets purchased before midnight the day before these drawings will be eligible for that drawing and all subsequent Millionaire Bonus Raffle drawings, including the finale drawing on May 12. In the finale drawing, one $1 million winning raffle number will be drawn from those sold, along with 20 numbers worth $20,000 each. In all, 26 players will win $1.5 million in cash prizes.

Unique raffle numbers are generated in sequential order from 000001 to 300000. Players can purchase more than one raffle ticket at $10 each, but each number will print on a separate ticket. 

"For security purposes, we strongly suggest players sign the back of their tickets immediately after purchasing and treat the tickets like cash, securing them until all drawings have been held," advised Hudson.

Raffle prizes must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing in which the prize is won.  All Millionaire Bonus Raffle prizes are subject to state and federal tax withholdings.

If all 300,000 tickets are sold for the finale drawing, the odds of winning the $1 million prize are 1 in 300,000, and the odds of winning any prize are 1 in 14,286.  For bonus drawings, the odds of winning $20,000 are dependent upon the number of tickets sold by each drawing deadline, as only those raffle numbers sold by the deadline will be included in the drawing.  

Millionaire Bonus Raffle tickets may be purchased legally only from an authorized Louisiana Lottery retailer and only by those age 21 and older. 

Complete game rules are available by clicking here.  Drawing results will also be available on the homepage of the Lottery's website and from Lottery retailers following each drawing.

As with all of its games, 35 percent of raffle sales is transferred to the state to fund K-12 public education. The Lottery cautions players to play responsibly and to know that help is available to those who may have a gambling problem by calling toll-free, 1-877-770-7867.