LIGHTNING LOTTO winning numbers are drawn at the beginning of the day, and those numbers apply to every ticket issued throughout the day (after the draw).
EXTRA winning numbers are drawn in the evening, and apply to tickets issued during the day (before the draw).
If tickets could be purchased after the EXTRA draw, a player could end up with today’s LIGHTNING LOTTO ticket valid for tomorrow’s EXTRA draw.
By restricting sales after 9:30 pm CT, 8:30 pm MT, 7:30 pm PT, we ensure that all tickets are valid for the same day’s draw.