Illinois Lottery Pick 3 General Information and Links

How to Play Illinois Pick 3 Lottery

From a Illinois Lottery retailer (a gas station, a convenience store, a food store, etc. which plays IL Lottery) get a Pick 3 playslip. A playslip contains five different play areas. Each play area represents a different Pick 3 play.

Each Pick 3 play area contains three colums of the digits 0 to 9. Mark the first digit of your number on the first column, the second digit on the second column, and the third digit on the third column. So, if you want to play the number 409, then 4 will be marked in the first column, 0 in the second column, and 9 in the third column. Next select and mark the amount (50 cents or $1), then select the type of play - Straight, Box, Straight/Box, or Combo.

If you are playing Front Pair, mark only the first two coluns of the digits and leave the last one blank, then mark "Front Pair". If you are playing Back Pair, mark only the last two coluns of the digits and leave the first one blank, then mark "Back Pair".

The numbers you are playing are valid only for the next draw. You may specify either the day or evining draw, or both. In fact, playing both draws doubles the price.

Next, present the completed playslip to the lottery retailer to receive your printed ticket. Check your ticket immediately to ensure that the numbers, dates, and play type match your request.

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Play Types and How You Win the Illinois Pick 3 Lottery

There are six ways you can play and win the Illinois Pick 3 game - four basic types and two shortcuts of the basic types. These types together with how much is paid for a winning Illinois Pick 3 game type are listed below.

The basic Pick 3 play types are:

1. Straight: You win by matching the winning Pick 3 number in the exact order drawn. For example, if you play the Pick 3 number 409 as Straight, you'll win only if the winning number is exactly 409; you don't win anything if the winning number is 049 or 408.

   The prize of Illinois Pick 3 Straight game is $500 for a $1 game and $250 for a 50 cents game.

2. Box: You win by matching the winning Pick 3 number in any order. For example, if you play 409 as Box, you'll win if the Pick 3 winning number contains the three digits 0, 4, and 9 in any order, such as 049 or 940; but not if any one is missing like 408.

   The prize of Illinois Pick 3 Box play depends on whether one of the digits is repeated or not. A number such as 409, where none of the digits repeats is called a 6-way box and pays $80 for a $1 game and $40 for a 50 cents game. If one of the digits is double, like 007, then it is called a 3-way box and pays $160 for a $1 game and $80 for a 50-cents game. There is no Box play for numbers with all three identical digits such as 777. These Pick 3 numbers can only be played straight.

3. Front Pair: Just select the first two digits to win $50 for a $1 game and $25 for a 50-cents game. For example, if you play the front pair 40 (i.e., 40X), you'll win as long as the first two digits of the winning number are 40 in exact order. So, you'll win with 400, 401, etc., but not with 940 or 049.

4. Back Pair: Just select the last two digits to win $50 for a $1 game and $25 for a 50-cents game. For example, if you play the back pair 09 (i.e., X09), you'll win as long as the last two digits of the winning number are 09 in exact order. So, you'll win with 009, 109, etc., but not with 490 or 094.

And the shortcut play types are:

5. Straight/Box: is simply a combination of a 50-cent Straight play and a 50-cent Box play. This play type is designed simply to save you time; it is a shortcut of playing one game of straight and another game of box of the same number. That is, instead of filling one panel for 50-cents Straight and another panel for 50-cents box, of the same number, you might as well fill out just one panel and mark it as Straight/Box. Note that the minimum amount for a Straight/Box game is $1.

The prize of a Straight/Box play is the sum of a 50 cents Straight game and a 50-cents Box game. For example, if you play 409 as Straight/Box, and if the winning number is 409, then you'll win $290 ($250 for the Straight part + $40 for the Box part). If the winning number is 490, you'll win only $40 for the box part since you did not match it Straight. How much do you win with Straight/Box of the number 007? (Answer)

6. Combo: This is the same as playing Straight all possible combination of the selected number. For example, if you want to win $500 on the number 409 in any order, then you have to play all the possible combinations, namely, 049, 940, 094, 409, 490, and 904, at a price of $6 ($1 for each). The shortcut is simply to fill out 409 and mark Combo for $1; you'll still pay $6. A $1 combo play of double numbers such as 007 costs $3 since there are only 3 possible combinations(007, 070, 700).

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Prizes and Odds of Illinois Lottery Pick 3

How much does Illinois Pick 3 pay for Straight or Box? The following is a summary of winner prize payouts and the odds of winning.

Note that a 6-way Box is a number with three non-identical digits, a 3-way Box has one of the digits doubled. Pairs are printed on your ticket with X representing "any", e.g. front pair 40X and back pair X09, which means that X can be any digit.

For Illinois Lottery general rules and how to claim prizes, please see Illinois Lottery general info page.

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Links to some Pick 3 pages of the Illinois Lottery Official Web Site

Although we have tried to cover all the pertinent information of the Illinois Pick 3, we recommend that you also look at the following pages at the Illinois Lottery official web site.

• Illinois Lottery Pick 3 game information
• Illinois Lottery Game Rules

Illinois Pick 3 at US-Lotteries.com

The main purpose of this web site (US-Lotteries.com) is to present a well formatted latest and past results; analysis and statistics of past winning numbers, digits, pairs, triads; search to see if your favorite numbers have ever won or have come close to winning the jackpot; mathematical tools such as combinations generators and wheels. The complete list of all Illinois Pick 3 pages of this web site are listed below.

• Illinois lottery Pick 3 summary of page contents with latest and recent results
• All past winning numbers of the Illinois lottery Pick 3 displayed on a monthly calendar
• Search for the past performace of any Illinois lottery Pick 3 with full or partial match
• Yearly Illinois lottery Pick 3 winning numbers on a calendar for printing
• Classification and history of Illinois lottery Pick 3 Boxes(Combos)
• Data on Illinois lottery Pick 3 triple-digit numbers
• Frequency and last appearance of Illinois lottery Pick 3 individual digits
• Illinois Pick 3 exact order statistics with least and most frequently drawn, never drawn numbers
• Illinois Pick 3 any order (box) statistics for the different groups
• Frequency and last appearance of Illinois lottery Pick 3 front, back and split pairs
• Statistics of Illinois lottery Pick 3 sum of digits
• Generate Illinois Pick 3 combinations from a number with 2 or more digits

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