Fast-growing game offers four daily drawings with prizes of up to $5,000
By Kate Northrop
The Pennsylvania Lottery launched its own local Cash Pop draw game on Tuesday, offering players four daily drawings for one of the most fast-growing games in the nation.
Pennsylvania is the latest state to add the Cash Pop draw game to its lottery repertoire, becoming the 17th jurisdiction to adopt their own iteration of the game.
All it requires is picking one single "POP" number between 1 and 15 per play, and if that one number matches the winning drawn number, you win a prize. The prize is randomly assigned to your number at the time of purchase.
Pennsylvania's version of Cash Pop will offer four drawings a day according to the following schedule:
- Morning Buzz: 9:00 a.m.
- Lunch Break: 1:35 p.m.
- Prime Time: 6:59 p.m.
- Night Owl: 11:00 p.m.
Players may bet $1, $2, $5, $10, or $20 per drawing. The amount wagered determines the value of the prize, which can range from $5 to $5,000.
"The Cash Pop game is designed to appeal to both new and experienced players who enjoy quick, exciting gameplay," Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko said in a press release. "We're excited to introduce this dynamic game that provides multiple ways to win with every drawing."
Players can visit any lottery retailer to buy Cash Pop tickets. The Quick Pick option allows the lottery terminal to randomly select a number for you.
"When you play, Pennsylvania seniors win," Svitko added. "All proceeds from Lottery games such as the new Cash Pop draw game go to help pay for life-sustaining services that help our older population with meals, transportation, prescription assistance and a host of other programs."
Players may purchase plays for up to 12 consecutive drawings in advance.
The overall odds of winning are 1 in 15 if one POP is selected, with odds improving the more POPS that are played per drawing. Players may select all 15 POP numbers for a guaranteed win, the Lottery clarified.
Before Pennsylvania, Oregon was the latest state to add Cash Pop to its game offerings.
All Cash Pop winning numbers, prizes, and odds can be found on Lottery Post's Pennsylvania Lottery Results page right after each drawing.
Good luck to anyone who plays.
The Michigan version draws every 15 minutes. Do any other states draw that often or maybe even more frequently?
I played the Michigan Cash Pop a few times and the novelty wore off.
Congrats to Pennsylvania players, good luck.
1>How do I know how much I won? Only the winning numbers are posted and not the prize level based on the amount wagered.
2>How many winners were there?
Florida Cash Pop posts the numbers of winners and the amount won.
I played a $1 QP the other day. The prize amount is randomly generated based on the wager amount. In my case, the prize was $5 which is lowest possible prize. Maximum prize on a $1 bet is $250, but odds are 15,000 to 1 to get the $250 prize possibility. And then of course, your number has to hit which is 1 in 15. I did not win.
I misstated something from the PAlottery website yesterday. I said the odds of getting a possibility of a $250 prize on a $1 bet was 15,000 to 1. The odds for that are actually 1,000 to 1. When you factor in the 15 possible numbers, that's where the 15,000 to 1 comes from.
In case anybody finds this useful, here are the bet amounts and the prize ranges.
$1 bet, prize range $5 to $250
$2 bet, prize range $10 to $500
$5 bet, prize range $25 to $1,250
$10 bet, prize range $50 to $2,500
$20 bet, prize range $100 to $5,000
In each case, odds of getting top prize possibility on your ticket in any bet size is 1,000 to 1. Actual odds of winning top prize in any category is 15,000 to 1. In each bet size, odds of getting the bottom prize as a possibility on your ticket is slightly better than 2 to 1. Roughly half the tickets generated will be for bottom prize.
NJ draws it every 4 minutes.
I had another interaction with Cash Pop in Pennsylvania yesterday. I played a mix of Match6, Powerball, P3 and P4 on a vending machine. I fed my slips in and while it was cranking my tickets out, the screen pops up and says my free ticket had been generated. I didn't know I had a free ticket coming. When I sorted through the tickets after I got home, there was a Cash Pop ticket among them. I had played $4 in P3 and apparently playing a P3 generates a chance you'll get a free Cash Pop QP.
What I got was a $5 QP covering 5 numbers for the 7pm drawing. 4 of the 5 were for a $5 prize and the 5th number had a $10 prize. According to the posted odds, half of tickets generated will be for the lowest prize, but in my case 80% of the prizes were lowest. One of my numbers did hit for $5, so good news there, but if I'd spent $5 for that ticket and had essentially a 1-in-3 chance of getting my money back that doesn't sound like a risk I'd willingly take.
I get that lotteries want to add games to generate additional revenue, but this one doesn't sound like what I'm looking for. That could be why they're giving free ones away when you play P3. If anybody on here plays it and likes it, please share your stories, but I think I'm giving this one a pass.