Ohio Pick 5
A popular Ohio game, Pick 5 offers multiple ways to play and a choice of wager amounts - depending on your wager and play type, you could win up to $50,000!
Draws take place middays and evenings at 12:29 PM and 7:29 PM respectively, seven days a week. The only exception is the Saturday evening draw which takes place around 7:45 PM as part of the Cash Explosion TV show.
How to Play Ohio Pick 5
Ohio’s Pick 5 gives you four types of bets to choose from, with two of the types have their own further options and wager amounts of $0.50 and $1
To play, you need to select five single-digit numbers from 0 to 9 and choose one of the bet types below:
Straight - You win by matching the numbers drawn in the exact order from left to right. Select any combination of numbers you like. You can wager $0.50 or $1.
Boxed - You win if your chosen numbers match the numbers drawn in any order. You can wager $0.50 or $1.
Back-Up – Combining both a Straight and a Box, this type of bet gives you the chance to win the top prize, but you still get decent odds of a smaller payout if you miss the jackpot.
Pair Bets - For a Pair play, you need to match the numbers in exact-order, but not all of them! There are six types of Pair bets:
Front Four - Match the first four numbers in exact order.
Back Four - Match the last four numbers in exact order.
Front Three - Match the first three numbers in exact order.
Back Three - Match the last three numbers in exact order.
Front Pair - Match the first two numbers in exact order.
Back Pair - Match the last two numbers in exact order.
Check the full list of odds and prizes for these play types on our Ohio Pick 5 Prizes page.
“Ways” to Play Ohio Pick 5
For the Boxed play type, it makes a big difference whether you use the same digit multiple times in your 5-number combination. This is because Boxed plays can be won by any arrangement of your five numbers. However, you can make more arrangements with the numbers 12345 than you can with 11112, and both of these are valid options.
The number of different arrangements you can make is known as the number of “Ways” to play. You can make 120 unique arrangements with five unique digits, but a number like 11112 for example, only has five different possible arrangements.
Playing a number with more Ways will give you much, much better odds of winning Boxed plays. However, the prizes for winning Boxed plays are higher if you play a number with fewer ways, so it’s all balanced. You can check the prizes and odds on our Ohio Pick 5 Prizes page.