Hot Lotto

Hot Lotto is a multi-state lottery game administered by the Iowa-based Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which is best known for operating the Mega Millions and Powerball games. Hot Lotto is available in 14 states.

Hot Lotto began sales on April 7, 2002; its first drawing was on April 10. Hot Lotto gives smaller lotteries the opportunity to create the "middle-sized" jackpots that are commonplace in single-state games which serve a sizable population base, such as Florida Lotto and California Super Lotto Plus.

Hot Lotto drawings are held Wednesday and Saturday at MUSL's headquarters in West Des Moines, Iowa. Normally, the Hot Lotto drawing is immediately following the 9:59 p.m. Central Time Powerball drawing. Unlike Mega Millions or Powerball, the Hot Lotto drawings are not televised; its drawings use a random number generator (RNG), instead of ball-drawing machines.

Hot Lotto drawings have been recorded and shown online since early 2006. While Powerball drawings moved to Florida in 2009 with the Florida Lottery joining that game, the Hot Lotto drawings (and MUSL headquarters) remained in Iowa. (Mega Millions is drawn in Georgia.)

The Sizzler option, which triples non-jackpot prizes, was added in 2008. The basic game, $1 per play, was unchanged until 2013, when the advertised jackpot changed from the annuity value (25 equal yearly payments) to cash, and "taxes-paid"; the annuity option was eliminated, as winners almost always chose cash instead of the long-term payout.

A player pays $1 (or $2 for the Sizzler option; see below) and picks five numbers from 1 through 47, plus one additional number (the “Hot Ball”) from 1 through 19 drawn from a second, separate pool, or asks for terminal-selected numbers, known by various lotteries as "easy pick", "quick-pick", etc., for the five white numbers, the "Hot Ball", or all six. (The "Hot Ball" can be a duplicate of one of the five "white" numbers.)

Hot Lotto has an option called Sizzler (in North Dakota, Triple Sizzler), where players can win triple the normal amount of a non-jackpot prize; for example, second prize (see below), usually $30,000, is tripled to $90,000 if the player activated the Sizzler option.

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