Results and Games of the Massachusetts Lottery

Since the first state lottery game was held in 1972, the Massachusetts Lottery has been a hugely popular pastime for locals and visitors alike. Operated by the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission, the lotto has generated billions of dollars in state revenue that is used to fund unrestricted local aid.

To provide the best review of the Massachusetts lottery, we’ve undertaken thorough research into every aspect of the games. First, we’ve provided a look into what types of games are on offer and what the pros and cons of each game are. We’ve then provided a playing schedule! to ensure you never miss a draw.

After providing a description of the different games and their odds, we’ve looked into the availability of scratch cards in the state and which ones have the best odds and prizes. Of course, it’s always best to know the legality and background of the games you are playing, so we’ve also provided some insight into each.

The Various Massachusetts Lottery Games are Available

There are two types of lottery games offered in Massachusetts. The first are draw games, which are held at various different scales and offer different prizes and odds. The state offers both the huge-jackpot Powerball and Mega Millions national lotteries as well as smaller daily lotteries like Mass Cash.

The other kind of lottery game that is offered is instant scratch tickets. These range in different prices between $1 and $30, though the more money you spend, the higher the potential reward and return to player rate. Below, we’ll discuss both lotteries in further detail to give you a better understanding of how to play.

Draw Games: Massachusetts Lottos with Huge Jackpots

A lottery draw game asks players to select or take at random a set of numbers that will be printed on a ticket. Then, depending on what game you have chosen, a limited set of numbers will be drawn at random. If you match your numbers to the drawn numbers, you should be entitled to a prize depending on how many you match.

In the case that you match all of your numbers with the drawn numbers, you can win the jackpot prize. Of course, the chances of winning these jackpot prizes are incredibly small, but this is how some of the major jackpots grow to be so large. Below, we’ve provided the drawing schedule of some of the state’s most popular games.

As the schedule shows, players in Massachusetts have plenty of options to choose from to play the lotto. It’s worth knowing that you don’t have to watch games drawn live in order to claim your prize. Most lotteries allow for players to claim prizes months or even a year after the draw was held.

In our next section, we’ve looked into the specifics of the different offerings of MA lotto games. We recommend reading each brief description for a chance to understand what makes each game special and to learn about the odds of winning for each type.

Mega Millions: A Brief Look

Launched by the commissioners of the Illinois Lottery and Michigan Lottery as the Big Game in 1996, the Mega Millions has since grown to be offered in 45 states across the United States. It costs $2 per ticket to play and there is no limit to how many tickets can be bought.

Of the total revenues, 60% are returned to players in the form of prizes. Draws happen twice a week, which can see the jackpot prize climb to huge degrees if winning combinations are hit. In fact, the largest single jackpot prize ever awarded to one ticket holder was the Mega Millions jackpot of $1.537 billion!

Powerball: Rules and Odds

Just like the Mega Millions draw, the Powerball lottery is a national draw game that is held in 45 states across the nation. It is also held twice a week and tickets cost $2 or $3 with the Power Play option. Power Play multiplies lower-tier winnings by up to 10 times but is only playable when the jackpot is below $150 million.

The Powerball draw is also known to offer massive jackpot prizes. The largest-ever jackpot prize offered in the world was a Powerball prize of $1.586 billion, which was split between three lucky winners across the country. Of course, the odds of winning this are small, but as this graph shows, it certainly isn’t impossible!

Lucky for Life: A Quasi-National Game

Lucky for Life was first introduced in Connecticut in 2009 and has since grown to be offered in 25 states across the country. Like Powerball and Mega Millions, five balls are selected from a larger pool of numbers before a sixth and final ‘Lucky Ball’ is selected that can boost your wins by a huge degree.

There are particularly interesting prizes for the higher tiers of winning the Lucky for Life game that, as the name suggests, look to reward players for life. The second-highest tier awards players $25,000 a year for life while the highest awards $1,000 a day for life!

Mass Cash Lotto: $100,000 Up for Grabs

Mass Cash is a daily draw game that sees players select five numbers between 1 and 35. There are only three tiers of winning opportunities available, with 3 out of 5 earning $10, 4 out of 5 earning $250 and all five numbers awarding the highest jackpot prize of $100,000.

Unlike the major national lotteries, Mass Cash does not have a progressive jackpot. Tickets are cheaper however at $1 per game. This is a particularly profitable draw game for the MA lottery, with only 56% of sales revenues going to the prize pool. In the chance of a win, players have 1 year to claim their prize.

All or Nothing: All Day Play

All or Nothing is a lottery game that is played every 4 minutes daily and offers a maximum jackpot of $100,000. The game asks participants to select 12 numbers from a pool of 24. Games payout different tiers if 0-4 numbers or 8-12 numbers are matched.

It costs $1 per game to enter, though players can double their wager and choose to play the bonus game. This will see your prizes be multiplied if a multiplier number (3, 4, 5 or 10) is drawn and will multiply your winnings by that amount. All or Nothing has a particularly generous prize payout of 70.27%.

Megabucks Doubler: Jackpot Starts at $500,000

The Megabucks Doubler is drawn twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It requires players to select from six numbers between 49 in a chance to win a minimum jackpot of $500,000. It costs $1 to play a game, though if you play for $2 you can buy a doubler ticket which will double the non-jackpot prize.

Wins can be awarded from matching 3 numbers and up, and increase by large margins with every extra matching number. The average jackpot of the Megabucks Doubler is around $3.12 Million, though in 1989 one lucky winner took home over $21 million from the jackpot prize.

Top Scratchers: MA Lottos with Best Odds

Scratch cards a beloved pastime in Massachusetts, with players having plenty of different local cards to play. In fact, Massachusetts became the first state in the country to sell instant lottery tickets, as opposed to weekly jackpot games. This was launched in 1974 with The Instant Game, a scratch card with a jackpot prize of $10,000.

Now scratch card prizes can be even higher than draw lotteries, with the highest Massachusetts scratch jackpot being $10 million! Below, we’ve listed five of the best scratchers in the state which have the best prizes and decent odds to win.

1. $10,000,000 Bankroll (Odds: 1 out of 5,040,000)
2. $4,000,000 Black Diamonds (Odds: 1 out of 5,040,000)
3. $1,000,000 Bonus Play (Odds: 1 out of 5,040,000)
4. $100,000 Silver (Odds: 1 out of 3,360,000)
5. Electric Eights (Odds: 1 out of 1,008,000)

As you can see, the major jackpot cards all share the same odds of hitting the jackpot, while lower-tiered prizes offer smaller odds. Each ticket also has a different price, with Electric Eights costing $1 per card and the $10 million Bankroll costing $20. In addition to this, cards have different return to player rates that tend to increase with the reward.

Unique Massachusetts Lottery Games

While the best Massachusetts lottery games in terms of the prizes that can be won are the Mega Millions or Powerball draw games, the state still has a number of unique games that can only be played by players in-state. One of these is The Numbers Game which was first launched in 1976.

The Numbers Game is played twice a day. To play, players select the number of draws they want to play and at which time they want to play. There are two slips that can be played, the first being a 1 and 2 betting slip and the next being a 3 and 4 betting slip. Players need to select which slip to play and their numbers. Then the numbers are drawn.

Depending on what slip is chosen and how much they have chosen to bet, players can win different prizes for their winning combinations. The game has a pari-mutuel payout system, which means the more players that play, the bigger the reward. The pot is made up of 60% of the total money bet for the day.

Important Laws Regarding Massachusetts Lotteries

Whether you’re living in Massachusetts or interested in traveling here to play the lottery, keep in mind that every state has different regulations governing gambling. This means that what may be legal in one state may not necessarily be legal in another, so it’s a good idea to do your research about this.

Below, we’ve listed some important information about the different regulations as set by the Massachusetts Lottery Commission that covers the legal playing age to whether players can wager online legally.

As is the case with most states, players must be 18 years or over to participate in the lottery, whether that’s scratch cards or draw games. However, Massachusetts differs from most states by charging a 5% tax on all winnings over $600, while most states hold 5% on winnings over $5,000

The state also doesn’t allow for winners to remain anonymous in the case they win jackpots, though it is possible for winners to remain anonymous if they set up a trust and recruit a representative to collect the earnings. This can be helpful as sometimes public winners can become targeted by criminals. There is also no online lottery.

Overview of the Massachusetts Lotto

The Massachusetts Lottery was first established in September 1971 after gambling was legalized in the state. In April of the next year, the first draw game, The Game, kicked off what has become a long and profitable enterprise for the state.

The state government established the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission to regulate the games and distribute the funds to the commonwealth’s 351 towns and cities. The state’s treasurer is always the chairperson of the commission, who leads a team of five to make recommendations to the Director of the Lottery.

The revenues that the lottery generates have become a reliable source of income for the state, with the net profits for 2019 being over $1 billion. This money is used by the towns in Massachusetts as they see fit, and may fund everything from education, road improvements, elderly programs, parks and recreation projects and more.

Conclusion

Overall, Massachusetts is a quite a gambling-friendly state, with the state’s lottery being a particularly popular activity for players of all ages. The Bay State has one of the most storied lotto histories of any American Lottery states, and was a trail-blazer at introducing states to scratch ticket games.

As we have shown, there are many different options of games to choose from that we have explored. For this reason, we remind you to check here regularly for updates on the latest winning numbers and any other information about changes coming to the MA lotto.

Common Questions that People Also Ask

Do you have any more questions about what the Massachusetts lottery is and how you can play it? Below, we’ve answered some frequently asked questions about the games to ensure that you are as informed as possible before you buy your ticket.