Lottery Roundup: Illinois Experiences Rare Pick 4 Result, Pays Out $6.9 Million

Last week, when the four drawn balls in the game were 4-4-4-4, the Illinois Lottery had a very lucky Pick 4.  Two was the Fireball number.

There are several methods for players to win the Illinois Lottery Pick 4.

The highest payouts are offered for the "straight" option, which requires players to match the four drawn numbers in precisely the right order.  Each of the four drawn balls in Pick 4 has ten possible numbers, ranging from 0 to 9.

On Wednesday, August 6, the numbers that appeared in the Pick 4 drawing were quad 4s.  June 2024 was the most recent time that occurred.

"This exciting number combination sparked a statewide windfall. Nearly 3,200 winning tickets were sold for the drawing, with more than 2,700 players taking home a cool $2,500. The largest prize of $30K was won by an iLottery player,” a release from the Illinois Lottery read.

On a 50-cent play, 2,725 Pick 4 tickets selected the 4-4-4-4 straight combo.

The State-Wide Bonanza

The quad 4 results from last Wednesday produced thousands of winners.  For a number of reasons, including making their ticket players easy to remember or the straightforward superstition that the Pick 4 game would eventually bring up fours, many lottery players use the 4-4-4-4 combo.

In Pick 4, the 4-4-4-4 play is probably the most frequently used play.  2,725 tickets that played the quad 4s were instantly won by the 4-4-4-4 result; an additional 460 Pick 4 plays were won by buying the optional $0.50 Fireball.

Retailers who sell winning tickets at their location will receive a 1% commission extra, according to the Illinois Lottery.

There were 3,185 winners across all prize categories in the Pick 4 evening draw on August 6.  There were only 810 winning plays in the evening drawing on Sunday when 1-7-6-3 appeared.

A Pick 4 ticket has a one in ten thousand chance of matching the four consecutively selected numbers.

The sales cutoff timings for Pick 4, which is selected twice daily, are 12:35 pm and 9:15 pm CDT.

The Illinois Lottery was established in 1974 to fund public education in grades K–12.  Nearly 99% of the Illinois Lottery's revenues go to the Common School Fund, which is the lottery's main recipient and has received over $25 billion since 1985.

Hoping for Good Fortune 

A South Carolina woman told the state lottery that she "prayed" for a significant victory, according to other lottery news.  Her spiritual desire was granted.

"I was riding down the road, and I prayed for a lottery win,” the woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told the South Carolina Education Lottery. “That’s exactly what I got.”

According to the woman, she bought a $20 scratch-off ticket for the lottery's "$2,000,000 Millionaire" game when she stopped along Bush River Road.  She defeated the odds of winning one of the two $2 million awards, which were 1 in 1,536,000.

“It’s a dream come true,” the woman added. The City Fuel & Food gas station received a $20K commission for selling the lucky scratcher.

Big Prizes, Big Games

Since the interstate lottery game changed the basic ticket price from $2 to $5, Mega Millions has yet to win its first $1 billion prize.  The drawing on Tuesday night has a $182 million jackpot.

Tonight's jackpot in Powerball is more substantial, at $501 million.  Since May 31, the Powerball jackpot has not been won.