Lottery In Maryland

The state of Maryland legalized the Lottery in 1972 when they approved a new constitutional amendment in favor of this type of gaming. The first lottery draw would be on January 2, 1973. Over 50 years later and Maryland has earned over $17.9 billion in revenues from the lottery and now since 2008, they operate 15,000 video lottery terminals within state lines.

Legal Lottery Options in Maryland

You can participate in the Maryland Lottery by going to one of the 4,800+ retail locations that can be found via the official lottery website for Martland. Alternatively, you can play online through a subscription service that’s active for the Mega Millions, Powerball, Multi-Match, and Cash4Life.

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

Jackpot Games

These are the biggest of all the lottery games around. With huge prize pools that are added to by players from multiple states, these games are where you can get not only life-changing money but Forbes list kinds of wealth.

All of these games are playable in Maryland from both retail locations as well as having the ability to sign up for a subscription service online, so you never forget to play.

US Powerball

With a jackpot that starts at $40 million and is regularly in the hundreds of millions, this is the world’s largest lottery. In fact, in January 2016 three lucky winners split a record-breaking $1.586 billion jackpot.

The game is drawn three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday night, and tickets are $2 per game. You can also add Power Play to your ticket for an extra $1, this feature doubles your winning potential on non-jackpot wins.

Mega Millions

This is probably a close second for the largest lottery around. Mega Millions paid out a single ticket to the tune of $1.537 billion on October 23rd, 2018, making a resident of South Carolina the wealthiest lottery winner ever.

The draw costs $2 to enter and takes place every Tuesday and Friday night. You’ll also have the option to play with the Megaplier for an additional dollar, this can increases the payouts on any non-jackpot wins by a multiplier.

Multi Match

This is straight out of Maryland, which hosts its own jackpot game with multiple ways to win. The jackpots start at $500,000 and regularly make millionaires from the state. You can participate in the draw every Monday and Thursday for $2 a ticket.

Cash For Life

Yet another multi-state lottery, this is a draw with a difference. You can get paid $1,000 a day for the rest of your life if you win this jackpot. Just match five numbers and the cash ball and you’ll never be waiting for another payday again. Tickets cost $2 and drawings are every single day.

Daily Draw Games

These games are limited to being played in retail locations only, the good news is there are nearly 5,000 of them within state lines, so you won’t have to travel too far to take part.

5 Card Cash

This fun game gives you the thrill of a draw game and an instant win all in one. Each day 5 cards are picked out of a regular 52 deck of cards, match just two of these and you’ll win, match all five and you win the jackpot. The second part of the ticket is if you get a pair of Jacks or Better with your hand, you’ll instantly win.

Pick 3 & Pick 4

These lucky number games have multiple daily draws where you can choose different betting combinations on your ticket. Tickets start at just $0.50

Bonus Match 5

Select 5 numbers and a bonus ball with this daily draw game and you can win up to $50,000. Tickets start at $1 and there are plenty of options for upgrading your ticket to give you more winning possibilities.

Additional Games

It’s not just draw games that are available in Maryland, you can also play monitor games and instant win games. In many restaurants, convenience stores, and retail locations you’ll find game monitors with Keno draws and virtual horse racing action. Grab a ticket and you can win up to $100,000 from a single ticket.

You will also find a wide selection of scratch-off games available with prizes of up to $2 million to be won. You can buy tickets ranging from $2 up to $30.

Maryland State Lottery History

• 1791– The first lotteries took place as part of the charity betting conducted by local churches in Maryland.
• 1973 – Maryland voted to approve an amendment to the constitution that would allow the sale of lottery tickets and in January the first draw was held.
• 2007 – A Bill is passed to allow thousands of video lottery terminals in casinos in the state.
• 2011 – The Department of Justice allows online gambling on sports, betting and lottery, Maryland reacts by adding online lottery subscriptions.
• 2012 – A Maryland resident wins a share of a $656 million jackpot.
• 2021 – Record-setting $731 million lottery win on the US Powerball in Maryland.

What Does the Maryland State Lottery Fund?

The lottery earns around $500 million a year currently from roughly $1.5 billion in ticket sales. This revenue has been put to good use in the state, with recent projects including paying off the Orioles and Ravens stadiums that are located in Baltimore. The lottery will also spend $20 million a year to finance a $1 billion Baltimore school construction program that will be completed within 6-7 years. The fund also pays towards government operations and programs.

Where Can You Play the Lottery in Maryland?

There are over 4,800 retail locations where you can play draw games, instant win games, and the monitor games Keno and Racetraxx.

You can also subscribe online to play the major draw games that include the Mega Millions, Powerball, Multi-Match, and Cash4Life. At this time there are no options to purchase single tickets or instant win tickets online though.

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