Shutterstock/zentilia “Instant draw” lotteries may be a bit of an oxymoron, but that hasn’t stopped them from becoming popular in some states. Illinois was one of the more recent states to adopt them, just last year, and has now brought them online. The new online version of the games went live on Nov. 15 without much fanfare.
The Land of Lincoln was the first state to pass an online lottery bill, but has recently found itself behind the times because of its decision to limit online sales to draw tickets only. Lawmakers drafted the law in question in 2009, though it took until 2012 for online draw sales to begin. Georgia likewise started online draw sales the same year, but added instant games just three years later. Michigan had already done so in the meantime, introducing both draw and instant online games in 2014.
As of last month, there were seven states with full-featured online lotteries (plus D.C. ) and another seven, including Illinois, doing draw sales only. Creating this new category of “instant draw” games may have been Illinois’ way of catching up with the pack, without the need to formally change its policies.
According to the lottery’s press release, the retail versions of these games have collectively generated $48.3 million in sales since their launch 14 months ago. As with traditional draw lotteries, some of the games feature only fixed payouts, while others have a progressive jackpot as the top prize. How do ‘instant draws’ differ from regular instants?
Traditional retail instants are fairly distinct from instant draws. The difference gets fuzzier online, however.
Traditional retail instants come on pre-printed scratch or pull-tab tickets. Instant draws are printed on demand from the same machine as draw tickets. The difference from traditional draws is that the results of the “instant draw” are generated at the same time and printed on the same ticket.
Online, however, both types of games are generated on the fly by the software. There’s no difference in where the ticket “comes from.”
There is also a bit less of an interactive element for the instant draws. The retail […]
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