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Mar 15, 2008 10:04 am US/Central
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Good Question: Your Lottery Questions Answered
(WCCO)
Where does the lottery money go?
According to the Minnesota State Lottery, for every $1 spent:
59 cents goes to players as prizes
6 cents to retailers for selling tickets
8.6 cents to operating expenses for the Lottery
26.4 cents goes to the state of Minnesota
Of that money that goes to the state, 58 percent goes to the general fund, 26.5 percent goes to the Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund, and 17.4 percent goes to two other environmentally-related funds.
"Over the past 18 years, we've turned over about $1.6 billion to the state," said Clint Harris, executive director of the Minnesota Lottery.
About $448 million has gone to the Environmental Trust Fund; $972 million to the General Fund; and $180 to other funds.
How much of lottery winnings is taken out in taxes?
For all Minnesota Lottery winners of more than $5,000, the Lottery is required to withhold 32.25 percent: 25 percent for federal taxes, 7.25 percent for state taxes. But, winner could end up a higher tax bracket, and the federal rate could rise to 33 percent, so it's possible a big winner would pay 40 percent in taxes.
Is there a luckiest number in Powerball? According to the Powerball organization, white ball number 30 has been drawn most often since Minnesota started participating in the multi-state lottery, 33 times. 19 and 54 have come up 32 times, 2, 35, and 43 have been drawn 31 times.
When it comes to the red Powerball, #14 has come up 13 times, #37 was drawn 11 times.
Do you have better odds playing the computer quick pick or picking your own numbers? "It doesn't matter," according to Harris, "The odds are the same regardless of which way you do it."
According to the Lottery, 80 percent of the tickets purchased are computer picks, and a similar percentage of winners are computer picks.
What are the most popular numbers played? According to the Lottery, it's combinations like, 1-2-3-4-5 and 6 as the Powerball. Or "5's", as in: 5-10-15-20-25 and the Powerball 30. Also, multiples of 7 are very popular: 7-14-21-28-35 with a Powerball of 42.
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