Lottery In Minnesota

Lotteries have been legal since 1990 in Minnesota. The Minnesota Lottery offers various games, and multi-state lotteries like Mega Millions, Powerball, Hot Lotto, and Lucky for Life are also available in the North Star State. Since its inception, the Minnesota state lottery has raised more than $2.4 billion in revenue. Learn about legislation, available options, and how to play lottery games in this US state.

Legal Minnesota Lottery Draw Games

Number-draw lotteries are popular in Minnesota. To play for a chance to win, you have to choose a row of numbers from pre-determined ranges (1 to 30, for example) and buy a ticket. There are plenty of Minnesota lottery draw games that you can join anytime, some of which have jackpots worth more than $1 billion.

Multi-State Games

As they operate in various states where lotteries are legal, multi-state lotteries have the biggest jackpots. So, if you’re looking for a chance to win big, buy a ticket for the lottery draws below.

US Powerball

Powerball draws take place in the evening on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. As jackpots are usually over $40 million, it has one of the largest lottery prize pools in the world. In January 2016, three lucky winners split a $1.586 billion jackpot – the largest in state lottery history. Tickets cost $2 per game, but you can add the Power Play feature for an additional $1 per play. This option can multiply non-jackpot prizes by 2, 3, 4, 5, or 10 times. The multiplier number is selected randomly before each drawing.

Mega Millions

Mega Millions is a multi-jurisdictional lottery game. The draws for this lottery take place at 11 pm (ET) on Tuesday and Friday evenings. The minimum jackpot is $40 million, paid in 30 yearly installments that increase by 5% each year. Each play costs $2, and for an additional $1 per play, you can get a Megaplier. This feature can multiply non-jackpot wins by 2, 3, 4, or 5 times if activated. A second-prize Megaplier play can win you $5 million.

Lucky for Life

This lottery offers you two payment-plan prizes that are paid annually for the rest of your life. The first prize is $365,000, and the second prize is $25,000. If you die within twenty years of winning the prize, the yearly payments will go directly to your estate until the twenty-year time period has elapsed. To play, choose five numbers between 1 and 48 and one “Lucky Ball” number between 1 and 18. Once selected, buy a ticket for $2. Drawings take place every night, seven days a week.

Lotto America

This multi-state lottery takes place twice a week and gives you jackpots of at least $2 million. To enter, complete the playslip by picking five main numbers between 1 and 52. You can also choose whether to play the “All Star Bonus” for an additional $1 per line. If you select this option, any non-jackpot prizes you win are multiplied by a random number chosen before the draw.

Minnesota Lottery

All lottery games (including the multi-state games mentioned above) are sold by retailers licensed by the Minnesota Lottery. Currently, you can only purchase tickets for these lottery games in stores and not online. Northstar Cash is the lottery’s main jackpot game. To win this game, you have to match three, four, or five numbers selected from 1 to 31. The more numbers you match, the bigger the reward. Each play costs $1, and draws take place every day.

Also, you can buy Multi-Draw tickets for up to 14 draws at retail stores. If you buy one of these, your ticket will include a drawing date range instead of a single draw date. What’s more, The Minnesota state lottery offers you Daily 3 and Gopher 5 games. To enter The Daily 3 Lottery, which takes place twice a day, you need to pick 3 numbers from 0 to 9 on the playslip. If your numbers match the drawn numbers, you win. The Gopher 5 option works the same as the Daily 3, but instead, you have to choose five numbers from 1 to 47.

Other Lottery Games in Minnesota

Along with the lotto games mentioned above, the Minnesota Lottery gives you 30 different scratchcards options. They all work the same way: buy them and scratch them to see if you’ve won a prize. Some have huge prizes, more modest ones, or a combination of both. Additionally, you can play Print-N-Play games for a chance to win progressive jackpots. With these games, you can win a prize that increases as tickets are sold. When someone wins, the progressive jackpot resets to $5,000.

Games include Bingo, Crossword, and Slots. Buy tickets for $1, $3, or $5 for a chance to win. The more you pay, the higher the percentage of the progressive jackpot you’re eligible to win. A $5 ticket is eligible to win 100 percent of the progressive jackpot, a $3 ticket is eligible to win 60 percent, and a $1 ticket is eligible to win 20 percent.

History Of the Minnesota Lottery

• 1857 – The Minnesota Constitution is written, which prohibits the holding of lotteries in the state.
• 1945 -New legislature passes to allow charity bingo events – the first type of legalized gambling in Minnesota.
• 1957 – Minnesota makes money from gambling for the first time after the approval of a sales tax on bingo.
• 1988 – A lottery amendment is placed on a ballot. It declares that 50% of bingo revenue must be placed in an environmental trust fund- the other half goes to the Greater Minnesota Corporation.
• 1990 – The state lottery takes place for the first time in April. The distribution of revenue is amended to give 25% to infrastructure funds in Minnesota.
• 1992 – The multi-jurisdictional lottery game Powerball becomes legal in Minnesota
• 2010 – Mega Millions becomes available in the state, allowing residents to compete against other states in an attempt to win the jackpot.

What Does The Minnesota State Lottery Fund?

Since 1990, the Minnesota Lottery has generated more than $1.2 billion for local causes. The funds have helped preserve, restore and protect Minnesota’s environment in each of the 87 counties and fund state programs including education, public safety, and health & human services.

Recent Updates to State Lottery Laws

New legislation came into effect in May 2021 that automatically keeps the details of major prize winners private. The law ensures that the personal info of people who win more than $10,000 is not shared with the public. Lead sponsors — Republican Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer, of Big Lake, and Democratic Rep. Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn, of Eden Prairie — stated that the change in law protects the privacy of Powerball, Megamillions, and other lucky winners.