Lottery games have been popular in Puerto Rico since the times of the Spanish Rule. Over the last few decades, the games have evolved to meet the different needs and tastes of the local citizens, and today make Puerto Rico one of the most complete jurisdiction in terms of the games that it offers. Puerto Rico also has a surprising densitiy of winners for the national lottery, the Power Ball, with multiple winners just over the past five years. Below are what we consider to be the top lottery games in Puerto Rico:
Powerball – Powerball has been available in the United States for many years, but only recently has become available in Puerto Rico. It has become inmensely popular since, and incredibly, Puerto Rico has already produced a number of winners of this game, despite the incredibly low odds of success when playing this game. Powerball has also produced the largest prize ever for a lottery in the United States, clocking in at $1.586 million when three winning tickets claimed the prize in Jan. 13, 2016. Each ended up receiving a total prize of $533 million before taxes as an annuity if they did not elect the $328 million lump sum.
Electronic Lottery (Loteria Electronica) – When people in Puerto Rico talk about the “Loto”, this is usually the game they’re referring to. Prior to Powerball being available in Puerto Rico, the electronic lottery had the biggest prizes, consistently paying out multi-million dollar prizes to its players. The electronic lottery is played by picking a combination of six numbers. Traditionally in Puerto Rico, this type of lottery is purchased at convenience stores, gas stations, and supermarkets.
Traditional Lottery (Loteria Tradicional) – The oldest game in Puerto Rico, the traditional lottery is typically sold by senior citizens as part of a special incentive program setup by the government. The traditional lottery is the most complex of all the current games, as every day a long list of numbers is published, in which a multitude of different combinations can result in different prizes depending on how many numbers you match and in what order.
Pega 3 – Pega 3, and its variations, Pega 4 and Pega 2 are possibly the most common and popular games in Puerto Rico. What makes Pega 3 special is it has just the right combination of odds and prizes. For getting a 3 number combination, the player will receive the decent sum of $500. In the case of Pega 4, the prize is $5000, and in Pega 2 it is a mere $500. An user will win if they actually match their picked combination with the combination drawn as the winning numbers. This type of game is also typically bought at gas stations and convenience stores.
Those are the top lottery games being played in Puerto Rico, and any newcomer should become familiar with the rules of each game before picking one and playing. It is important to note that all lottery games have a very low probability of winning, and you are much more likely to lose money than to make any money when playing any of these games, no matter how long you play them. Never the less, they are still very popular among the population, and many citizens enjoy the game for the sake of entertainment, even if they know the probability of receiving an actual cash payment is not very high.
