Millionaire Raffle Tickets On Sale

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Millionaire Raffle – a popular offering from the Pennsylvania Lottery – is back.

Friday is the first day you can buy a ticket and the odds are good that tickets will sell out before closing date.

Tickets for this popular raffle went on sale Friday morning at all lottery outlets.

It's the 11th such raffle since 2005 and every one of them has sold out the tickets before the drawing date.

There's one reason that's true. This raffle offers the best odds of making you a millionaire.

At The Laundry Basket Laundromat in Dormont, Liberty DiGiacomo is a regular lottery ticket buyer -- and Friday was no exception as tickets went on sale for Pennsylvania's Millionaire Raffle.

"I always buy those. I always do. I buy more than one," says DiGiacomo.

DiGiacomo laid out her $20 for her single raffle ticket -- a ticket that could bring her a million dollars if her number is drawn on New Year's Day.

"I've won on the three digits, the four digits, and like I said that $1,000," says DiGiacomo.

But this time, she hopes to be one of the four millionaire winners. She's not alone, but only 500,000 tickets will be sold statewide.

"They love it a lot because it's the best chance of becoming a millionaire. People love it," says The Dormont News owner Mike Dean.

Dean says the $20 is a little steep, but people like the odds of winning.

"When you tell the customer that the odds of becoming a millionaire are far greater than playing the Powerball or Mega-Millions, that perks their interest and usually they come up with that $20," says Dean.

Your odds of becoming a millionaire in the Powerball is one in 5 million, in Mega Millions, one in 3.9 million.

But in the Millionaire Raffle, you have a one in 125,000 shot of winning.

And because of the other prizes, you actually have a one in 83 chance of winning at least $100.

Some already know what they would do with a million dollars.

"I probably would definitely give it to people that really are down and out and definitely need it," says Lori Raab of Robinson.

Helping others is a good way to spend that million.

During the last raffle, two of the four millionaire winners came from this region -- one from Allegheny and one from Westmoreland.

But, first to win, you have to buy a ticket. The drawing is on January 1.