|
The USA has recently seen the introduction
of the first ever multi-state video lottery
called Ca$hola. The game is operational in Delaware,
Rhode Island and West Virginia. The lottery
boasts a shared prize pool with a progressive
jackpot that will start at $250,000 and is expected
to reach around $1 million once a month.
Ca$hola is played via Video Lottery Terminals
(VLTs) which are manufactured and controlled
by different companies in each of the three
states. An existing network of VLTs exists,
but more terminals have been added to prepare
for the new wave of interest that Ca$hola is
likely to create.
Players insert coins into the Ca$hola VLT (pennies,
nickels or quarters, depending on the state
they are playing in) and there are two components
to the game. The first is a basic lottery game
with odds and payouts that vary from state to
state in order to comply with local gaming laws.
The second is the progressive Ca$hola jackpot
game which is common to all three states. The
odds of a player winning this jackpot are around
one in seven million, but players must bet the
maximum allowed - $2.25 - in order to qualify
for it.
As is common in the United States, those who
win the jackpot will be given a choice between
receiving a cash payment or an annuity which
provides a fixed income for a certain number
of years - in Ca$hola's case twenty years.
Video lottery games are very popular in casinos
and similar outlets in the States. They're convenient,
fun to play and offer the chance to win some
serious sums of money. Now that Ca$hola has
gone down in history as the USA's first multi-state
video lottery game offering potentially life-changing
progressive payouts, video lottery players in
other states will be hoping that more multi-state
video lotteries will be launched in the future.
1 August 2006
Back to news summary
• News archive
|
