More than 117,000 already sold

BATON ROUGE, La. — Besides offering the best odds of winning $1 million in the May 12 finale drawing, the Louisiana Lottery's newest $10 raffle game, Millionaire Bonus Raffle, is giving players five more chances to win $20,000 if they purchase their tickets before midnight March 23.

By Monday morning, more than 117,210 raffle tickets had been sold and will be entered into all five of the game's preliminary bonus drawings as well as the finale drawing. The first bonus drawing is Thursday, March 24.

"In celebration of our 20th anniversary, the Lottery is excited to pump up our raffle game with bonus drawings to reward our loyal players," explained Lottery President Rose Hudson. "With Millionaire Bonus Raffle, it's true that the early bird gets the worm — with five additional chances to win."

The previous two raffle games conducted by the Lottery sold out. The Lottery is expecting the same success with Millionaire Bonus Raffle because of the bonus drawings.

Like a traditional raffle game, only 300,000 tickets were available for sale starting Feb. 28. As of 10:00 a.m. Monday, 39% of those had been sold.

Preliminary bonus drawings for $20,000 each will be held on March 24, March 31, April 7, April 14, and April 21. Tickets purchased before midnight the day before these drawings will be eligible for that drawing and all subsequent Millionaire Bonus Raffle drawings, including the finale drawing on May 12.

All bonus draws, as well as the finale drawing, are highlighted on Lottery Post's Event Calendar, so players can check the calendar as a reminder.

In the finale drawing, one $1 million winning raffle number will be drawn from those sold, along with 20 numbers worth $20,000 each. In all, 26 players will win $1.5 million in cash prizes.

Unique raffle numbers are generated in sequential order from 000001 to 300000. Players can purchase more than one raffle ticket at $10 each, but each number will print on a separate ticket.

"For security purposes, we strongly suggest that players sign the back of their tickets immediately after purchasing and treat all tickets like cash, securing them until all drawings have been held," advised Hudson.

Raffle prizes must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing in which the prize is won. Bonus drawing winners can claim their prizes immediately after the drawing at any Lottery office, where they will be given an Exchange Ticket good for any remaining raffle drawings. All Millionaire Bonus Raffle prizes are subject to state and federal tax withholdings.

If all 300,000 tickets are sold for the finale drawing, the odds of winning the $1 million prize are 1 in 300,000, and the odds of winning any prize are 1 in 14,286. For bonus drawings, the odds of winning $20,000 are dependent upon the number of tickets sold by each drawing deadline, as only those raffle numbers sold by the deadline will be included in the drawing.

Millionaire Bonus Raffle tickets may be purchased legally only from an authorized Louisiana Lottery retailer and only by those age 21 and older.

Drawing results will  be available on Lottery Post's Lousiana Lottery Results page following each drawing.