The Illinois Lottery has been raising funds for homelessness prevention and assistance programs for years. Now they are introducing a new game to get residents involved in helping out a good cause.
This year’s tickets are called “Blackjack.” A ticket costs $2 and is available statewide at more than 7,000 Illinois Lottery retailers. With its casino-themed design, the Blackjack instant ticket should make for a fun time for customers.
How the Blackjack instant ticket game works
The Illinois Lottery‘s Blackjack Instant Ticket game works like any other scratch-off game. Of course, it has its own set of rules. However, it can also make you feel like you have an Illinois casino right in the palm of your hand.
The ticket shows a blackjack table with seven hands plus the dealer’s hand. You’ll then scratch off the hands to reveal what cards each player is holding. If any of the player’s hands beat the dealer’s hand, you will win the prize shown for that hand. If that hand reveals a blackjack or 21, you will win double the prize shown for that hand. Also, if the dealer’s hand reveals a ‘bust,’ you will win all seven prizes.
Players can win up to $20,000.
Profits from Blackjack instant ticket will go to the Homeless Prevention Revenue Fund
In 2019, the Illinois Lottery launched the Instant Ticket program to raise money for agencies and organizations that support people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity throughout the state. The Illinois Lottery gives 100% of profits to the Homeless Prevention Revenue Fund, which the Illinois Department of Human Services will use.
The department’s homeless prevention program provides rental assistance, utility assistance and support services for individuals and families who are currently homeless or in danger of eviction, foreclosure or homelessness. It also helps people spend less time in shelters and helps them find affordable housing. So far, the program has raised around $4.7 million to help some of Illinois’s most vulnerable residents.
In January 2020, the Department of Housing and Urban Development published its 2019 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress. They found that around eight out of 10,000 people living in Illinois were experiencing homelessness, of which 18.5% were unsheltered at the time.
Right now the Illinois Lottery believes that raising funds through the Lottery’s homelessness specialty ticket is as vital as ever. To learn more about the Blackjack instant ticket game or any of the other specialty tickets and how your play can make a difference, visit the Illinois Lottery website.
