Many lottery operators, in an effort to increase ticket sales or to generate revenue for a specific organization or event, sometimes create temporary special lotteries or draws that offer winnings not normally provided for in their regular lottery draws.
This gives the opportunity for the operator to provide extra prizing in a special draw within a specified time limit, in the hope it will encourage more players to purchase tickets before that time limit expires. It is also an opportunity to promote and advertise an event or celebration, with the lottery operator often collaborating with or endorsing the company being celebrated.
There can be annual lottery draws that take place to commemorate specific anniversaries or seasonal events.
The anniversary of the lottery itself is one such draw opportunity celebrating the first year or a yearly milestone for the draw. For instance, a tenth anniversary celebration draw to win $10 million, or a summer draw that is drawn on June 21st of each year to celebrate the arrival of summer.
Sometimes, there can be monthly draws for the same reasons. Full-moon draws happen on each full-moon night.
Birthday draws are those in which getting the numbers for your day, month, and year of birth may net you $1 million or a First of the Month Draw where you can win $50,000 for matching the numbers drawn on the first day of the month.
And there can also be special draws for holidays such as Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and Easter. As an example, you could win $10,000 and be on the float with Santa at the local parade, or win $250,000 and a paid night out on New Year’s Eve, including the cost of the hotel room.
Other draws may take place to commemorate moments in history that are significant to the country and state/province running the draw.
Centennial celebrations are a good example of this; if your country is turning 200 years old, you could win two $200,000.
Your own country may be hosting the Olympics or a special international festival sometime soon.
To help promote that event, you may need to buy the tickets at the event itself from only those lottery terminals that are at the event, as they will be the only ones with the software to buy a valid ticket for that special draw.
To celebrate the 2016 Olympics, the National Lottery in the UK held a special draw on Saturday 27th August, 2016, where the operator handed out 27 £1-million prizes to match the number of gold medals the Great Britain team had won. This kind of reactive thinking is very common in the lottery sphere, and it often paves the way for a large buzz of both excitement and profit.
So, outside of the regular draws an operator conducts, you can also buy tickets for special draws.
Odds on these draws, as well as prizes, can vary widely. But, special draws give you an extra chance to win money, and perhaps more importantly, they give you the opportunity to support something special for your country, state, or local community.