Lottery In Colorado

Lottery games have been legal in the state of Colorado since 1983 when the state sold its first scratch tickets and earned $137 million in income in the first six months. Since launching the Centennial State has invested over $3.7 billion in lottery revenues back into nature conservation efforts all over.

Legal Lottery Options in Colorado

There are around 3,000 retail locations where you can buy all kinds of various lottery tickets within Colorado. If you want to find your nearest store, you can use the Locate A Retailer page on the Colorado Lottery website.

Below we take a look at all the draw games you can play from Colorado.

Colorado Multi-State Games

The state of Colorado has offered locals the chance to participate in multi-state lottery games since August 2001 when they launched the Powerball. These games whilst offering the longest odds boast the biggest possible prizes, with tickets starting at $2.

US Powerball

Bursting onto the scene in 1988, Colorado would join the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) after voters approved Referendum E in November of 2000 and the first Powerball available for Coloradoans would be held in August 2001.

These days you can still play this massive lottery game and regularly have the chance to win hundreds of millions of dollars. Tickets are on sale all over Colorado for $2, with the option to boost non-jackpot winnings by adding the PowerPlay feature for an extra $1. Draws are held every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday night.

Mega Millions

This is another huge prize pool lottery game that once paid out one lucky South Carolina player a massive $1.537 billion back in October 2018. Colorado would offer this game as of May 16, 2010, the same day that South Dakota joined forces with the MUSL.

Tickets are on sale in Colorado stores for $2, again with a non-jackpot multiplier available for an extra dollar known as the Megaplier. Draws are held every Tuesday and Friday for the Mega Millions.

Lucky For Life

With this game, you can get a payout of a different nature, with jackpot winners getting $1,000 a day for the rest of their lives. If you come close but only manage to win the second place prize, you’ll still get annual paydays of $25,000 a year for the rest of your life. Tickets are on sale for $2 and winning numbers are drawn every evening Sunday through to Saturday.

Colorado Exclusive Lottery Games

Colorado is the 20th most populous state in the country, with 5,893,634 residents by 2021 polls. Therefore they have some pretty juicy in-state games on offer too. There have been hundreds of millionaires made with these games and your odds are much better than if you were to play multi-state games.

Colorado Lotto +

Cash 5

This is another nightly draw game that offers some good odds of a return, just pick five numbers and if two or more are selected you’ll get a prize. The Jackpot is set at $20,000 for all five balls selected correctly and tickets are on sale for just $1. There’s also the option to include the instant win game EZ cash with this draw game for an extra $1, with this you can win up to $500 on the spot.

Pick 3

This is the most affordable game with the best chance of a return of a relatively small prize in the grand scheme of the lottery world. Tickets start at $0.50, and you can win prizes of up to $2,500 with this three-number game, with draws being held twice a day.

Additional Games

You can also purchase anywhere from 40 to 50 scratchcards at any one time in Colorado, with tickets starting at $1 and ranging up to $50 a ticket. You can play all kinds of game types and win up to $3 million instantly with these tickets. You can also enter any non-winning tickets into the app or lottery website for a second chance at winning a prize.

Colorado State Lottery History

• July 1982 – The Colorado General Assembly passed Senate Bill 11 implementing a state lottery that will support local parks, recreation, and space projects.
• January 1983 – The state sells its first instant win ticket. By June sales had reached $137 million.
• January 1989 – Colorado introduces the first jackpot game ‘Lotto’ and on April 22, 1989, Albert Tecci and Cheryl Penney would win the first Lotto jackpot of $7,090,700.
• March 1989 – The state introduces the Quick Pick option to randomly assign numbers.
• September 1996 – The state lanches the Cash 5 game.
• November 2000 – The state approved legislation that allowed them to join the MUSL to offer more games.
• August 2001 – Coloradoans could now play the Powerball game.

What Does the Colorado State Lottery Fund?

The state of Colorado has given billions of dollars back to the land so far, with millions contributed each year to parks, trails, pools, open space, ranches, schools, and many other important projects.

You can explore the various projects that Colorado is invested in via the official Colorado Lottery website, Giving Back section you can even take virtual tours and see them for yourself from the comfort of your chair.

Where Can You Play the Lottery in Colorado?

There are over 3,000 retail locations where you can play all kinds of lottery games within the state of Colorado, so whether you want to play multi-state games, in-state games, or just get some instant win scratch tickets you can do so.

Sadly there are no options to purchase tickets online in Colorado right now, whilst you can enter second chance draws with your non-winning tickets online and get plenty of other perks with the mobile apps and website provided by the state lottery, buying anything online is just not catered for right now.

Ciaran McEneaney

Ciaran has been working within the Gambling Industry as a deep analyst since 2019. His deep knowledge and understanding of all the gambling regulations, and processes makes him a true asset, and an always valuable point of view for Gambling Industry News, allowing us to cover every topics from a brand new perspective.