News writer
It was triple the fun two nights in a row for players of the Play3 game for the Connecticut Lottery.
With the triple numbers came thousands of winners and over $3.5 million in prizes.
Triple the fun
The triple digits started with the Sunday, March 17, drawing, so the luck was definitely with the Irish that night. The Play3 drawing was 1-1-1 with the Wild Ball of 1.
On Monday, March 18, the triples continued with more luck — lucky number 7. The Play3 drawing was 7-7-7 with the Wild Ball of 7.
Triple identical digits are a popular choice for Play3 players, as the drawings resulted in over $3.5 million in prizes for over 13,000 lucky players.
Claiming your prize deadline
While most players normally turn in their winning tickets as soon as possible, there are some players who wait. The Connecticut Lottery is reminding players that they have 180 days from the date of the drawing in order to collect their winnings.
The Connecticut Lottery encourages all winners to sign the back of their ticket. The original winning ticket is the only valid receipt to claim a prize. Putting your signature on the ticket indicates that you are the owner.
The Lottery also encourages winners to redeem their tickets promptly.
Most popular Connecticut Lottery games
These triple-digit wins happened to come on one of the state's most popular lottery games. The Connecticut Lottery announced they sell approximately 1.5 million tickets every day for the Play3 and Play4 games.
The Wild Ball is an add-on feature for both the Play3 and Play4 games. Players who add the Wild Ball feature can use it to replace one of the numbers drawn by the Lottery, which helps boost their chances of winning.
For example, if the Play3 number was 1-2-3 and the Wild Ball was 8, that means players that chose the Wild Ball option could win on 1-2-3, 8-2-3, 1-8-3, or 1-2-8. By adding the Wild Ball option, players are boosting their chances of winning a prize.
Where does the money go?
The Connecticut Lottery Corporation is a quasi-public state agency. Their mission is to generate revenue for Connecticut that is consistent with the highest standards of good public policy and social responsibility.
Where does that revenue go in the state? For fiscal year 2023, players in the Connecticut Lottery won more than $1 billion in prize money. Of that money, 67% went to prizes, 24% went to payments for state funds, 5% went to retailer commissions, and 4% went to administrative and operating expenses.
The CLC announced they returned more than $404 million to the state's General Fund, which supports valuable services and programs, including public health, public safety, libraries, education, and more.
The contributions to the General Fund since the Lottery began in 1972 through June 30, 2023, have been more than $11 billion, and more than $22 billion has been handed out to winners.
Enjoy playing the Connecticut Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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