To play Pick 3 in Virginia, you must select numbers from 0 to 9. There are also a few more decisions to make, including your play type and how many draws to enter.
Drawings are held at 1:59 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. every day, and you can fill out a playslip at any VA Lottery retailer, or take part online. Follow the steps below to play.
Decide whether to pay $0.50 or $1 per play. The prize you can win depends on how much you wager, so the payouts for spending a dollar are worth double.
You’ll find five play types to choose from on your slip - Exact Order, Any Order, 50/50, Combo or Pairs (find more information about each one lower down).
Pick three digits from 0 to 9, one from each line on your playslip (or two if you are playing a Pair). Alternatively, ask for an Easy Pick to get a random set.
Select the Fireball option if you want to improve your chances of winning. Adding the Fireball doubles the cost of a play.
Choose whether to play the next Day draw, Night draw, or both. You can also enter your numbers into multiple consecutive drawings. A playslip allows you to enter up to seven drawings in a row, or you can select the 8+ box and then specify to the retailer how many you want, up to a maximum of 91.
Buy your tickets before the cut-off time of 1:53 p.m. for a Day draw, or 10:45 p.m. for a Night draw. The total cost depends on how many draws you have entered, your play amount and whether you added Fireball.
There are also a few other playing options. If you are planning ahead for a particular date, you can take advantage of the Future Play option to specify when you want to play without having to also enter every intervening draw.
A Repeat Play allows you to have the same numbers printed on more than one ticket (up to a maximum of 20).
Once you have bought your tickets, wait for the draw to take place and find out which numbers are drawn.
The Fireball number is drawn immediately after the winning three-digit combination is selected. If you’ve added the Fireball option to your ticket, you can replace any of the three main numbers with the Fireball to give you more chances to win. Go to the Fireball page for more information.
Each play type offers something a bit different. The way you play determines how you can win, and how much you can receive. Find out more below.
Sometimes called a Straight, this is where you pick three numbers and must match each one in the correct position to win.
You win a prize if all three of your numbers are selected. The order is irrelevant, so if you pick 123 and the numbers are drawn as 321, you still win.
Split a $1 play in half, with $0.50 spent on an Exact Order match and $0.50 on Any Order. You’ll win both parts of the prize if your numbers appear in order, or just the Any Order payout if they are selected in a different arrangement.
This type of play covers every possible combination of a three-digit number. A separate Exact Order play is entered for each one, so you just have to pay for each one.
Pick two numbers instead of three and match them both in exactly the correct positions to win. You can decide to play a Front Pair (first two numbers), Back Pair (last two numbers) or Split Pair (first and last numbers).
For Any Order, 50/50 and Combo plays, the combination of numbers you pick makes a difference to how much you can win (or how much you have to pay for a Combo). It depends whether you play a 3-Way or a 6-Way.
A 3-Way play is any number combination which includes just one unique digit, while the other two are identical. For example, 112, 343 or 566. There are just three ways in which a combination such as this can be ordered (e.g. 112, 121 and 211).
If you pick three different numbers, such as 789, there are six ways they can be ordered (e.g. 789, 798, 879, 897, 978 and 987). This makes a 6-Way easier to win than a 3-Way.
The most you can win in Pick 3 is $500 - for a $1 Exact Order play. Go to the Prizes and Odds page to see exactly how much you can win for each play type, along with your chances for each one.
