Lottery In Mississippi

Mississippi is one of the most recent states to have a legalized lottery, with the first tickets going on sale on November 25th, 2019. Despite lottery games running from 1867 in the state, the lottery was prohibited a few years later in 1869. Since then many attempts to legalize a lottery in the state were made since 1990, with Governor Phil Bryant eventually passing laws in August of 2018 that allowed the formation of the Mississippi Lottery Corporation.

Legal Lottery Options in Mississippi

There are nearly 2,000 retail locations across the state of Mississippi where you can get hold of draw tickets and instant win games. You can make use of the locate a retailer tool on the official Mississippi Lottery website to find your nearest store where you can play various games.

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

Mississippi Multi-State Games

Mississippi was late to the party when it came to offering multi-state games. They became the 45th state to offer multi-state games like Powerball and Mega Millions in 2020. These games whilst offering long odds to win have some insane prize money up for grabs, so if you’re feeling lucky, grab a ticket for one of these draws.

US Powerball

Originally created in 1988, the US Powerball has been available in the state since
January 2020. You can purchase tickets for $2 and get a chance to win a huge payday with jackpots starting at $20 million and regularly getting up to the hundreds of millions.

Draws are every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday night and you also have the option to boost your non-jackpot winnings by a random multiplier when you add PowerPlay for an extra $1 per ticket.

Mega Millions

Another huge multi-state game that you can play in Mississippi is the Mega Millions draw. This game has paid out the largest single jackpot win in lottery history, when a South Carolina player won $1.537 billion in October 2018.

Tickets first went on sale in Mississippi for Mega Millions in January 2020 and these days you can purchase tickets state-wide for $2, with the addition of the Megaplier option for an extra $1, with draws every Tuesday and Friday.

Mississippi Exclusive Lottery Games

Mississippi has a modest selection of in-state games available, with a fairly small population in the grand scheme of the United States, and a lottery that is only just starting out, we can expect more games to be added, but it’s unlikely to see these prizes get too huge.

Match 5

Cash 3

This is a daily draw game where you can win up to $500 by selecting just 3 numbers. Tickets start from just $0.50 but you can play multiple games per ticket if you wish, which will give you a better chance to win but cost a little extra.

Additional Games

On top of these draw games, can also grab a selection of scratch-off games from retailers all over Missippi from just $1, ranging up to $20 at the high end. The largest prizes you can claim with these instant wing games are $500,000 and if you don’t manage to win the first time with your ticket you can enter your non-winning tickets online for a chance to win cash prizes.

Mississippi State Lottery History

• November 1890 – The Mississippi Constitution is updated containing a ban on lottery from July 1870 act ‘An Act enforcing the provisions of the Constitution of the State of Mississippi, prohibiting all kinds of lotteries within said State, and making it unlawful to conduct one in this State’
• June 1990 – Mississippi Governor Ray Mabus proposed changing the constitution to repeal the lottery ban to raise funding for education reform in the state, the appeal was rejected in the Senate by a vote.
• November 1992 – Lawmakers finally repealed the constitution’s lottery ban, which meant bills could be introduced to form a lottery in the state, lotteries themselves would remain illegal due to section 97-33-31 of the legal code that remained in place.
• August 2018 – Governor Phil Bryant called a session to vote on the introduction of a state lottery. The bill was defeated at the first House vote but passed in a do-over just 24 hours later. A bill would be signed on August 31st with the intent to raise funds for local infrastructure and education.
• November 2019 – The Mississippi Lottery launched on November 25th, introducing multiple scratch-off tickets with jackpots of up to $100,000.
• January 2020 – The state joins the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) and begins to sell Powerball and Mega Millions tickets on January 30th.
• September 2020 – Mississippi introduces the Cash 3 game.

What Does the Mississippi State Lottery Fund?

The lottery in Mississippi was primarily founded to benefit the infrastructure within the state, helping to fund roads and bridges. However, the state also planned to help out the education system too with excess funds going towards schools and colleges from the Education Enhancement Fund.

Each year the first $80 million in revenues generated is paid to the State Highway Fund, after those initial $80 million dollars the excess proceeds go towards the Education Enhancement Fund.

Where Can You Play the Lottery in Mississippi?

There are nearly 2,000 lottery retailers within the state of Mississippi at this point. You can visit these stores to play the various multi-state and in-state draw games, or just buy scratch-off tickets.

There isn’t an option to buy lottery tickets online right now within Mississippi, however, you can use the apps and lottery website to enter your non-winning tickets into second chance draws.

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.