MADISON, Wis. -- Tuesday's Wisconsin Lottery's Midday Pick 4 drawing of 1-9-6-1 generated $211,500 in winning tickets, far exceeding the fiscal year's average of $9,477 for a Midday draw.

Pick 4 is a daily Lotto game where players select four digits (0-9), a wager amount ($0.50 or $1), and a play type to win up to $5,000. Drawings are held twice daily, seven days a week, at 1:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:00 p.m. (Evening).

Lottery officials are wondering if the big wins were because of the lucky palindrome sequence of 1-9-6-1 or if it's because players favored it for its historical, cultural, or personal significance (i.e. birthday or anniversary). Notably, 1961 was a monumental year in history:

• Alan Shepard became the first American in space.
• Harper Lee won the Pulitzer Prize for To Kill a Mockingbird.
• Roger Maris hit 61 home runs, breaking Babe Ruth’s single-season record.

Interestingly, the current fiscal year (July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026) has seen a surge in big win totals for specific drawings. Tuesday’s big win total for the Midday drawing marks the fifth time this fiscal year that the winning total was larger than the average by at least $100,000. By comparison, during the previous two fiscal years, this payout threshold was only exceeded once per year.

The last time a Pick 4 Midday payout was well above the average payout was on April 24 when the Evening draw served up 1-2-3-4. The April 24 Evening drawing resulted in $336,200 in winning tickets.

Pick 4 maximum prizes for a $1.00 Straight play is $5,000 or $2,500 for a $0.50 play. The odds of winning the maximum prize playing Pick 4 are 1 in 10,000.