Kentucky 5 ends with an unclaimed jackpot — here's where the money goes

After two years of daily draws, the Kentucky Lottery saw the final draw for Kentucky 5 over the weekend, and the game ended with no jackpot winner. So, what happens now to that money?

The final Kentucky 5 draw

In October, the Kentucky Lottery announced the final draw for Kentucky 5 would be taking place on November 2, 2024. The first Kentucky 5 drawing took place on November 21, 2022, after tickets for the new daily game, at the time, went on sale on November 20, 2022.

Now after two years of drawings, the final draw was held with the winning numbers being 9, 13, 22, 23, and 35. With those numbers, lottery officials announced that no ticket matched all five of the numbers to win the final jackpot of $260,000.

What happens now to that jackpot money?

Since there was no jackpot winner to hand that money over to, we were wondering what would happen to that $260,000. As it turns out, it looks like it will be going to Kentucky students.

According to the frequently asked questions pages on the Kentucky Lottery website, any money that is unclaimed goes into an unclaimed prize pool. This unclaimed prize pool then goes to the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship (KEES) reserve fund.

The state lottery has been doing this with unclaimed funds, and since Fiscal Year 2003, there has been almost $119 million in unclaimed prizes added to this fund to help ensure the financial stability of the program.

Kentucky 5 history

For those unfamiliar with Kentucky 5, this was a daily draw game offered exclusively in Kentucky. Ticket sales for Kentucky 5 started on November 20, 2022, with the first drawing taking place the following day.

Players of the game would pick five numbers from 1 to 39, and each play would cost $1. For an additional $1, players could choose the Xtra Multiplier option and multiply their non-jackpot prizes by 2, 3, 4, or even up to 5 times.

The starting jackpot prize was $40,000, and drawings were held daily at 11:00 p.m. CT.

During the two-year run of the game, the biggest jackpot grew to $678,000. This jackpot was won on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. The average jackpot for the game worked out to be $275,338.

Kentucky 5 winnings can still be claimed

Even though the game has come to an end, if you happened to win money before the final drawing took place, you still have time to claim your prize.

In Kentucky, players who win prizes in the draw games have 180 days from the date of the draw to claim their prize. If you do have a winning ticket, follow these instructions to claim your prize:

• Immediately sign the back of your winning ticket.
• If your prize is under $600, you can head to any Kentucky Lottery retailer to claim your prize. For any prize over $600, you must submit a claim form.
• Download, complete, and print the Prize Claim form from the Kentucky Lottery website.
• Your claim location depends on the prize amount. For any prizes over $600, the winner can visit an Authorized Cashing Agent or Super Cashing Agent. However, for any prizes over $5,000, the winner must go to an Authorized Super Cashing Agent or the Kentucky Lottery headquarters in Louisville.

Enjoy playing the Kentucky Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.