Dover, DE -- The Delaware Lottery helped many players cure their holiday blues this January by handing out some hefty helpings of cash. The DELAWARE RAFFLE kicked things off over New Year’s by awarding $250,000 to a Middletown man, along with five $25,000 prizes. A trio of POWERBALL® players celebrated the calendar change in style by claiming combined winnings of $100,000, while a ticket worth $10,000 has yet to be claimed. The Delaware Lottery also paid several Instant Game top-prizes and introduced HOT LOTTO® to take the chill out of winter’s coldest month.

“December and January were excellent months to play the Delaware Lottery,” said Wayne Lemons, Delaware Lottery Director. “The DELAWARE RAFFLE rewarded players with its prize payouts, POWERBALL® was popular as always, and lottery gamers are already flocking to the new HOT LOTTO® offering.”

During the month of January, POWERBALL® drawings yielded 54,508 winners. There were also 227,989 instant game winners last month.

An anonymous winner who purchased just one ticket took home the RAFFLE’s quarter-million-dollar top prize (minus Federal withholding taxes), while five separate $25,000 first prizes were won by two friends from Wilmington and Rising Sun, eight New Castle county coworkers, a 42-year-old Elkton, Md., man, a Newark woman who only plays the RAFFLE, and one anonymous winner.

The Delaware Lottery also introduced HOT LOTTO® in January. A Lotto-style game with guaranteed estimated annuity jackpots of at least $1 million, ticket sales for the $1 game began Jan. 28 around the First State, and the first drawing was held Jan. 30.

“We’ve heard the call for a game with larger top-prizes than MULTI-WIN LOTTO and better odds than POWERBALL®,” said Lemons. “HOT LOTTO® fills this niche and offers players a better shot to take home estimated annuity prizes in the $1 million to $20 million range.”

The Delaware Lottery reminds players that prizes must be claimed within one year from the date of the drawing.