Hot Lotto Exposed — Growing Official Lottery

Hot Lotto Review

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Powerball, the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) kicked off Hot Lotto in April 2002. While Powerball moved to Florida, Hot Lotto remained at its home in Iowa. It’s not a lottery that will grow huge fast as it does have a fixed rollover amount. What does make this an attractive lottery to play is it pays down nine tiers right to only guessing the ‘hot ball.’

The Game at Hot Lotto

Players at Hot Lotto choose 5 numbers from 1 to 47 for the main or white balls and then 1 number from 1 to 19 for the ‘hot ball.’ Winning the big jackpot means choosing the correct 5 white balls plus the ‘hot ball’ drawn. There are nine prize levels, including the ‘hot ball’ down to pick the ‘hot ball’ alone.

Play Sizzler

Hot Lotto added a new option in May 2013, where for an additional $1 per ticket line, a player triples the non-jackpot prizes. The second-tier prize is $30,000, so with ‘the Sizzler,’ this prize is $90,000.

The Fire in Hot Lotto

Hot Lotto is a mid-range lottery that starts at US 1 million and grows by $50,000 each rollover. It’s played Wednesday and Saturday weekly. Jackpots are paid in cash as there isn’t an annuity option.

The Smoke in Hot Lotto

There is an interesting little caveat in Hot Lotto’s rules and regulations where they say that if the entries (sales generated) do not equate to a specific percentage, the prizes might be smaller than the published amounts. They provide the example of the second-tier prize in that it ‘could’ be only $27,000 for a flat lottery line win or $81,000 for a ‘sizzler’ add-on. It doesn’t appear this has happened – yet.

Who Can Play Hot Lotto

Currently, Hot Lotto is offered in 16 jurisdictions and through lottery service providers. There are no restrictions on nationality to play though players must be 18 years of age or older (21 years of age in Iowa).  There is a claim form that must be completed for wins over $100.

Hot Lotto and the Tax Man

Hot Lotto takes withholding taxes off the top of all jackpots. This ranges from 5% to 6% for state tax and 25% (US citizens) or 30% (foreigners) for federal tax. State and federal taxes are applicable for all prize levels over $600.

Customer Service at Hot Lotto

The Iowa Lottery hosts hot Lotto’s home site. They offer snail mail and phone numbers for their headquarters and four other offices in Iowa and an email address. There is no live chat, but then again, I can’t see many reasons to contact these folks. This is a straightforward lottery with obvious rules and regulations.

Challenges at Hot Lotto

Interestingly, there is a current investigation going on regarding a ticket bought in Iowa in December 2010. A claim was made for the winning ticket by a lawyer out of New York on behalf of what he said was a trust based in Belize. The claim was made literally hours before it would have expired, 365 days after the draw. Keep in mind; we’re not talking about small changes here. Though the draw was still under the original annuity rules and regulations, the approximate value was $16.5 million. It appears the claim was withdrawn, and the jackpot pool returned to each of the Hot Lotto jurisdictions proportionally (about what they put in). As of January 2013, this was still an ongoing investigation with all kinds of ‘suspicions’ on who actually owned the ticket.

The Bottom Line at Hot Lotto

Hot Lotto is a middle-range lottery that does grow, but it isn’t going to happen overnight. It does have a nine-tiered prize package plus add ‘sizzler’ and each of the tiers excluding the jackpot triples.

Why You Should Play Hot Lotto

Pros:

Lump-Sum Cash Prize

Twice A Week

Nine-Tiers of Prizes

Why You Shouldn’t Play Hot Lotto

Cons:

Taxed Lottery

Foreigners Taxed More

Small Rollovers

Hot Lotto gets a thumbs up in general. The fact it has a cash payout and isn’t an annuity with an undetermined percentage that they will payout is good. The fact that is withholding tax is applied is not.