THE LOTTERY: CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH

The California Lottery’s newest game, “California Gold Rush,” will include “instant” payoffs of up to $50,000--twice as much as the previous game. It will begin officially on Monday.

How to Play: Players scratch off a latex covering on the card. If three of the words under the covering match, the player wins.

Instant Prizes: Instant prizes are $2, $4, $100, $200, $500, $1,000, $25,000 and $50,000. Players who have the word “Entry” printed three times on the card are eligible for the grand prize drawing. In addition, players who have a nugget symbol and two numerals win double that amount. For example, two $100 symbols and a nugget will be a $200 winner.

Grand Prize: Five grand prize finalists will be drawn periodically from a drum containing the names of 6,250 “Entry” winners. Grand prize finalists will spin a lottery wheel for a top prize that will start at $3 million and increase by $65,000 each time a finalist spins the wheel but fails to win it.

The Odds: In Gold Rush, the approximate odds of getting a $2 instant winner are 1 in 10; a $4 winner, 1 in 30; an “Entry,” 1 in 2,000; a $100 winner, 1 in 6,840; a $200 winner, 1 in 18,455; a $500 winner, 1 in 59,980; a $1,000 winner, 1 in 119,961; a $25,000 winner, 1 in 961,538; and a $50,000 winner, 1 in 961,538. The odds of buying a ticket that ultimately will pay $3 million or more are 1 in 83 million.