Choosing Louisiana Lotto numbers in the official mobile app can save time at the counter. It does not, by itself, buy your entry. The app creates a playslip code that you take to a retailer, where the purchase produces the printed ticket.
That distinction matters if you save a set of numbers, watch them appear in a drawing and then discover that you never completed the purchase. Treat the app selection as your instruction to the retailer. Treat the issued Lotto ticket as the entry you need to inspect and keep.
Complete the step after choosing your numbers
Louisiana Lotto costs $1 for one selection in one drawing. Choose six different numbers from 1 through 42, or request Quick Pick. You can use a paper playslip, the official app's digital playslip code or an authorized retailer's terminal entry process.
With the app route, take the code to the retailer and complete the purchase. Then compare the printed game, numbers, dates and amount with the request you prepared. A code saved on your phone is convenient preparation; it is not a substitute for the printed game ticket.
The current play directive identifies the official ticket as the proof used to claim a prize and states that Lotto tickets cannot be canceled. Reading the paper at the counter therefore deserves as much attention as picking the numbers on a screen.
Six selections, no separate bonus ball
The main field is 1 through 42, and each Lotto selection contains six different values. Order does not affect the match count. A generated set containing a seventh special ball describes another format.
For a worked check, suppose you played 5, 12, 19, 28, 36 and 42. A result of 5, 12, 19, 28, 33 and 40 gives four matches. The fact that 36 is near 33 does not add anything, and the result of another selection on the ticket cannot fill in the missing numbers.
Record each selection's count separately. If one has four matches and another has three, evaluate both in their respective categories. Do not join their matches into a larger count for a single row.
Use the current prize schedule
The current Lotto chart and April 2025 play directive provide $3 for three matches, $50 for four and $1,000 for five. Matching all six qualifies for the jackpot. One selection receives its highest qualifying category, rather than accumulating smaller awards beneath it.
The example above therefore qualifies for $50 under the current four-match schedule. It does not add another $3 for its three-number subset. A second independently winning selection can earn its own award, which is a different calculation.
Some older descriptions of Lotto discuss variable lower-tier payments. Use the current directive and the official results for the actual drawing, rather than applying an old payout example to a new ticket.
Read the cash jackpot as a shared pool
Lotto's jackpot starts at $500,000 cash and grows when it is not won. It is paid in a single lump sum, with equal division among jackpot-winning selections when more than one qualifies.
If a hypothetical $800,000 jackpot has two winning selections, each share is $400,000 before applicable deductions. The headline does not promise $800,000 separately to both winners. A cash jackpot also should not be confused with a larger advertised annuity total from a different game.
One six-number selection has a 1 in 5,245,786 chance of matching all six. The jackpot growing across several drawings does not reduce that denominator. The possible payment changes; the selection still covers one combination in each drawing entered.
Replay repeats the purchase, not the old entry
Presenting a previous ticket for Instant Replay can repeat its numbers, number of drawings and game options. It is a new purchase for new drawing coverage. Read the resulting dates and price instead of assuming you are merely rechecking or reactivating the earlier paper.
Multiple-draw options include two, three, four, five, ten or twenty consecutive drawings. Two selections for ten drawings cost $20. Because Lotto normally draws Wednesday and Saturday, ten drawings cover several weeks rather than ten consecutive days.
If you redeem an early prize while dates remain, the Lottery says you receive an exchange ticket for the outstanding drawings. Keep that replacement as the active document, and compare its remaining coverage before leaving.
Finish the retail purchase before the cutoff
The official game page instructs players to buy by 9:30 p.m. Louisiana local time on drawing nights. Purchases afterward are valid for the next drawing or drawings. A mobile playslip prepared before the cutoff does not complete a sale that happens after it.
Check the actual printed date, store the original ticket securely and validate a potential win through the Lottery's authorized process. The Louisiana lottery directory provides the other game formats if you need a comparison. For Lotto, keep the sequence clear: select the numbers, complete the retail purchase, inspect the issued entry, then check the correct drawing.
Official sources
Rules checked 2026-10-19. Use the operator for current prizes, deadlines and ticket validation.