Lucky For Life? We Have Some Answers

Hey Johnston: I enjoyed your recent article on the lottery. With this $1,000 a week Lucky for Life lottery, has anybody ever won the big prize?

Answer: We answered a bunch of questions about the state Lotto a couple of weeks ago when the prize was $26 million. That article brought in more questions about the another lottery, Lucky for Life, which we will answer now.

Since the Lucky for Life lottery started in September, three people have won the drawing. Maureen Greeley of the state lottery said all three have elected to take their year's winnings ($52,000) in one lump sum at the start of the new year.

Taxes are taken out before the yearly amount is turned over.

Hey Johnston: Regarding Lucky for Life, I was interested to see that when you die the heirs will not receive more than $250,000. My question is: If there is a 70-year-old person who buys a ticket and wins, is there anything to prevent that person from passing that ticket on to a child or grandchild who is 21 years old and likely would get a lot more for that ticket than the 70-year-old would?

Answer: As long as the ticket hasn't been signed, you can pass it along to anyone you want. The lucky child doesn't even have to be 21 to receive the winning amount. You only have to be 18 to buy a lottery ticket.

Lucky for Life has no limit on the number of weeks you can collect. As long as you are alive, you will collect $1,000 a week. As stated in the first question, all the people who have so far won the $1,000 a week are electing to collect their entire year's winnings at the start of the year and do their own investing.

Should you drop over dead after winning the Lucky for Life, your estate will get a maximum of $250,000. The state will deduct whatever you already collected from the $250,000 before passing along the check.

If you have the bad taste to drop over dead after already having collected $250,000 in winnings - that's about five years' worth - then your estate doesn't get any money.

Hey Johnston: If anybody wants to play their "lucky" number on Lotto, they should first try out their favorite numbers on a simulator to find out just how lucky the numbers are. The Web link below allows you to put in your favorite numbers and play pick-six Lotto continuously at the rate of (approximately) one drawing per second. Way cool! Enter the following: http://www.prefect.com/ java24/lottorobics.html

Answer: Mr. Johnston ran this computer program with his favorite six "lucky" numbers. It takes only a few minutes to run through seven years of biweekly drawings. Unfortunately, Mr. Johnston won just 18 times with three numbers, only one time with four numbers, and none with five and six numbers.

Thanks to this program, we decided our "lucky" numbers stink, and we will change them.

To check the lottery numbers most often selected, check out the state Web site at http://www.wa.gov/lot/home.htm

How to Just Ask Johnston: This column appears Mondays and Wednesdays in the Eastside edition. Leave your questions on Steve Johnston's voice mail at 206-464-8475. Or write: Just Ask Johnston, c/o The Seattle Times, 10777 Main St., Suite 100, Bellevue, WA 98004. The e-mail address is east@seatimes.com