Cash 5 with Quick Cash recently hit its first major milestone: It’s been one year since the PA Lottery added the instant win component to the daily draw game. Quick Cash is a separate instant win ticket that prints out with every Cash 5 ticket purchased, offering a chance to win a prize of $2 or $6 instantly.
To come up with the new concept, the PA Lottery worked with Scientific Games, a third-party lottery game developer that works with various lottery jurisdictions, helping them create and tailor PA Lottery games to meet their needs and requirements.
Everyone loves the instant win
At a time when trends showed terminal-based instant games gaining steam and Cash 5 sales declining, the PA Lottery decided it was time to refresh the traditional PA Lottery draw games.
The verdict? Sales of the game increased 52% in the first year after the Quick Cash addition.
Lottery industry magazine LaFleur’s recently talked with Leslie Badger, VP of Lottery Content at Scientific Games. Badger worked with the PA Lottery’s product team, and explains more about revamping the game:
“Cash 5 has been around since 1992 in Pennsylvania. It’s an important staple in most lotteries’ draw game portfolios, and there have been tweaks and matrix changes to invigorate the product over the years. One thing we know for sure is that [players] all value the instant win experience.”
Some states that have added an instant win offer to their Cash 5 game have made it optional. For example, a $1 base ticket with the option to pay another $1 for the instant game. The PA Lottery chose to include Quick Cash with all Cash 5 tickets at a price point of $2. To add value, the Lottery also raised the starting jackpot from $125,000 to $150,000.
This PA Lottery game update was a game changer
PA Lottery’s Director of Product Development Kara Sparks explained to LaFleur, “We listened to our players and we heard what they wanted: more chances to win and higher jackpots.”
And it seems like they were on to something. The game performed incredibly well after the change. Sparks continued, “We anticipated a 20% increase in sales. Cash 5 with Quick Cash exceeded our expectations.”
Any increase in Lottery revenue means more money goes to fund benefits and social programs that benefit older Pennsylvanians. In the 2020-21 fiscal year, the Pennsylvania Lottery generated $1.3 billion to benefit seniors in the state. In addition, traditional game-winners took home a record of more than $3.5 billion in prizes.