4/21/2011 - 10:57 AM

Fifth Millionaire Bonus Raffle Drawing Results in $20,000 Winner

The Lottery's fifth bonus drawing for its $10 raffle game, Millionaire Bonus Raffle, was held this morning and raffle number 126644 was randomly selected as the $20,000 winner. The ticket was sold at Baldwin retailer, One Stop Convenience, which will receive a $200 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

Already, more than 227,000 raffle tickets have been sold and will be entered in the May 12 finale drawing where 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. 

Like a traditional raffle game, only 300,000 tickets were available for sale starting Feb. 28. As of 10 a.m. today, 76 percent of those have been sold. Millionaire Bonus Raffle tickets will remain on sale until all tickets have been sold or until midnight on May 11.

"In celebration of our 20th anniversary, the Lottery anxiously awaits our finale drawing to unveil Louisiana's newest millionaire," said Lottery President Rose Hudson. "In the meantime, we look forward to meeting the winner of our fifth Millionaire Bonus Raffle bonus drawing."

Millionaire Bonus Raffle featured five preliminary bonus drawings for $20,000 each, which were held on March 24, March 31, April 7, April 14 and April 21. Tickets purchased before midnight the day before these drawings were eligible for that drawing and all subsequent Millionaire Bonus Raffle drawings. They're also good for the finale drawing on May 12. 

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 remaining raffle drawings.

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 be printed on a separate ticket. 

"For security purposes, we strongly suggest players sign the back of their tickets immediately after purchasing and treat the tickets as 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 were 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 on the Lottery's website. Drawing results will also be available on the Lottery's website and from Lottery retailers following the finale 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.