About the Illinois Lottery

The Illinois (IL) lottery has been making lotto millionaires ever since 1974, when the first results draw took place on Thursday, August 8, at the Springfield State Fair. Just two months later, the Illinois Lottery turned Irene Halley into its first million dollar winner. Then, in December of the same year, the lottery launched, sold its 100millionth ticket and a year later (in 1975), the state introduced its first instant style lottery games.

In January 2010, the state added Powerball to it's selection of six lottery games, providing IL lottery players with four more weekly chances to win huge jackpots, alongside the current lottery games (such as Mega Millions) already available in Illinois. The state's biggest individual game is the Illinois (IL) Lotto, which was first introduced in February, 1983 and rewards winners with a guaranteed jackpot of at least $2 million, provided they've matched all six winning numbers on their ticket.

Like other states, Illinois also runs daily picks in the form of the Daily 3, Daily 4, Little Lotto, Midday 3 and Midday 4. In terms of the money raised by these lottery games, 30 cents of every dollar spent on lottery tickets goes to the Illinois Common School Fund, which, in 2009, totaled an impressive $625 million. However, the goodwill doesn't end there, as the Illinois lottery has also previously run special instant games to highlight specific causes, such as the veteran support programs available in the Prairie State.