News writer; Opinion columnist
The California Lottery is giving players new ways to win by introducing four brand new scratcher games for January. Each game offers a different way to play, and one even includes a super-sized jackpot of $7,000,000.
Crossword Extreme
Crossword Extreme is the biggest of the new games in terms of price and total prizes. While it costs $30 per ticket, it also offers players the chance to win a $7 million jackpot.
Players must first uncover their twenty letters at the top of the ticket. Then, they must match their letters to the words in the three crossword grids on the ticket or to the six bonus words.
Matching three words in the same grid means winning another ticket to play, but if you match ten, you take home the grand prize. You can't combine words from different grids to win a bigger prize.
If you don't match any words, you can still win $500 instantly if you find 500 in the bonus spot. You can also increase your prize by uncovering the multiplier associated with each grid.
Red Hot Cash
Red Hot Cash offers some red hot awards with a total prize pool worth $77 million and a top prize of $1 million. Tickets cost $10 each.
Players have twenty-two numbers to play, each representing a chance to win. Uncovering a $$ symbol means you win the prize in that square. Revealing a 5X symbol multiplies your prize by five, and finding a 10X symbol multiplies it by ten.
If you really want to heat up your prize money, you'll need to find the HOT symbol on your ticket, and you'll win all 22 prizes in the grid.
And just in case you need even more ways to win, if you uncover a 50 in either of the two bonus spots, you automatically win $50.
Deuce$ Wild Poker
If you want to combine your passion for poker with your love of the lottery, then Deuce$ Wild is for you. Players need to beat the house with the strongest hand to win this game.
Players must first uncover the “dealer's” five cards to reveal the hand they need to beat. They must then uncover their six hands; if any of them are higher than the dealer's cards, they win the associated prize.
Each hand plays separately, which means players have six opportunities to win on every ticket.
Uncovering the bonus chip will reveal a multiplier number that you can increase your prize by.
You can also win $50 instantly by uncovering 50 in either of the FAST $50 CHIPS areas.
Tickets cost just $5 to play and feature a grand prize of $75,000.
$200 Frenzy
For those looking for low-stakes fun, $200 Frenzy offers a chance for anyone with an extra $2 in their pocket a chance to play.
The game is simple and easy to play. Players only need to match any of their ten numbers to any of the three winning numbers to collect the associated prize.
There are no bonus instant win spots or multiplies, so the prize you see is the prize you get as long as your number matches a winner.
The game's top prize is $200, and its lowest cash prize is $3. However, unlike most other scratchers, more top prizes are available to collect than every other prize combined.
And just in case you can't find enough words, match the numbers, or beat the dealer, every one of these games offers the opportunity to enter a second chance drawing with a $100,000 prize pool.
