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After the California Lottery Act passed, California started their own state lottery, "SuperLotto Plus", in 1984. The act states that 34 percent of the lotteries earnings must be given to educational programs.
Previously called California Super Lotto, the SuperLotto Plus has been administered by the California State Lottery since 2000, and now draws are held on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 7:57 p.m. To play, you choose five numbers between 1 and 47 and a Mega Number between 1 and 27.
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Though most California lotteries use random number generators, SuperLotto Plus uses traditional drums that hold rubber balls with numbers painted on them. One drum has balls numbered from 1 to 47, while the other has balls numbered from 1 to 27.
To insure randomness in SuperLotto Plus, inspectors calibrate the balls once a month to an accuracy of .001 grams. They also run test draws regularly, analyzing the results, comparing them to regular draws. Another precaution they take is to select the balls that will be used randomly, as well as which machines to use. Those that conduct these test are independent contractors to make sure SuperLotto Plus is always a fair game and to make it difficult for insiders to cheat. Besides, there are strict laws against cheating that would make most people not even attempt it because they wouldn't wish to end up in prison.
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There are nine ways to win SuperLotto Plus, but only the jackpot banks in the millions. They start out at $7 million, and in order to win the jackpot, you must pick all the winning numbers. To win the lowest prize, you only need pick the correct Mega Number. Unclaimed jackpots, which must be claimed in 180 days, are given to educational programs.
If you win the jackpot, you can choose to receive your prize as a lump sum, which amounts to about 50 percent of the total, or to receive it in yearly payments, which increases in size yearly. You now have 60 days to make this choice.
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- The highest jackpot in 2002 was $195 million, which was split between three winners.
- The highest jackpot ever paid out was $315 million on November, 2005, which was split between seven people.
- In August, 1995, 56 people shared a winning ticket. It was the largest group to ever win. They split $18 million.
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