Guide to Wisconsin Lotto Results & WI Lottery Games

Hello bettors and players, here you’ll find all the essential information you’ll need to play the Wisconsin Lottery – all the game types and their odds and prizes, the Wisconsin Lottery winning numbers and results, and some interesting facts about the history of the Wisconsin Lotto, and how some of its most important laws came to be. Did you know the WI Lotto has generated over $4.6 billion in property tax relief for the state’s residents? That’s why we play the lotto – to win big and support our glorious Badger State.

On this page you’ll find out everything you need to know about the Wisconsin Lotto, and you’ll be able to capitalize on every opportunity out there in order to win big. We’ll take you through the best Wisconsin Lottery games, from the popular Draw Games with their huge jackpots and nightly draws, to the extensive range of Scratchers, as well as all those alternative lotteries that are unique to the state. We’ll also take you through some of the important state laws specific to Wisconsin, as well as some history of how those laws and the state of the lottery today were shaped.

The Various Wisconsin Lottery Games On Offer

To kick things off, we’ll take you through our breakdown of the best Wisconsin Lottery games, starting with the first of the two major categories of game: the humble Draw Game. These big swingers tend to be national lottos, but the WI Lotto has a nice selection of local spins on the old format, offering uniqueness and variety for your dollar. Scratchers are the other half of the whole, and they’re all unique to Wisconsin, bringing you instant wins and exciting typologies. The real weird and wonderful unique lottery games appear between these two categories, and Wisconsin has some gems, with pull tabs and raffles making an appearance.

Draw Games: WI Lotteries with Massive Jackpots

You’re bound to be familiar with Draw Games – they’re arguably the most popular form of lottery out there, and feature huge jackpots that can become the talk of the town. You basically select a set of numbers from a wider range, and then tune in at a later time to see another official set of numbers drawn, either by a computer or the old-fashioned way, from a tombola of rolling balls. The range of numbers can be pretty high, and therefore the odds of winning the jackpot are too, but some Draw Game Lotteries have some solid odds for some mid-range prizes.

We hope you can see from the Wisconsin Lottery drawing times schedule that there are a heap of opportunities to watch your favorite numbers be drawn, and you’ll never have to wait too long between drawings to win. The big boys, Powerball and Mega Millions – the multi-jurisdictional lotteries that have huge jackpots – have bi-weekly drawings, as does Wisconsin’s own challenger, Megabucks. The rest of the Draw Games have daily drawings, at either 9:00 PM or 6:00 PM, meaning that you can have up to 7 drawings to keep track of on some nights!

Powerball: Record Breaking Jackpots

The multi-jurisdictional heavyweight Powerball has been a feature of the Wisconsin Lottery roster since the games inception in 1992. In that time, there have been 7998 Powerball winners coming from The Badger State, across all prize amounts. But guess what? In that time, there have not yet been any winners taking out the jackpot, or the next two prizes down. You could be the first, and if you’re lucky take out a jackpot like the history making $1.56 billion in 2016. It’s a simple enough game, match five from 69 and one from 26, and cross your fingers and toes at draw time, on Wednesday and Saturday nights.

Mega Millions: The Big Game

Mega Millions is the other major multi-jurisdictional Draw Game, along with Powerball. It’s had a shorter history in Wisconsin that its counterpart, only joining the state’s repertoire of lottery games in 2010, when the two big draw games agreed to cross-sell across all the lottery states. Similar to Powerball, there have been no big winners hailing from Wisconsin, and the state is surely due a winning ticket soon. On a $2 ticket, select 5 numbers from 70, and a further Megaball number from 25, and tune in to the draws on Tuesdays and Fridays to see if you’ve won.

Megabucks: Wisconsin’s Own

Like the previous two Draw Games, Megabucks is a bi-weekly number, with draws occurring on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Unlike those other games, which are played almost everywhere across the US, Megabucks is Wisconsin’s own and premiere Draw Game. It’s a six/49 game, with tickets costing $1, but you get to play two panels for that price, increasing your odds. You can also pop another $1 on to that ticket price for an EZ Match, increasing your odds of winning and giving you some instant wins if you match any numbers.

All or Nothing: Upside Down

All or Nothing is a quite the special game – it flips the concept of the Draw Game on its head. You can win the jackpot by matching all the numbers that are drawn in the official draw, and that’s expected. What makes it so unique is that you can win the jackpot by matching no numbers. That’s right, select eleven numbers from 22, and you have the same odds of matching all numbers as matching no numbers, meaning you’re really playing two games for the price of one $2 ticket. It’s a game for the unlucky ones, find out if you are every day at 9:00 PM.

Badger 5

Badger 5 is a simple match 5 Draw Game with a daily draw. Most states have their own spin on the match 5 game, and for good reason – they offer rolling jackpots, and a simple structure that is clear and easy to understand. Badger 5 is no exception, dishing up decent jackpots that build and build after each non-jackpot winning draw, for some decent odds. Select five numbers from a range of 31 on a $1 ticket, and tune in at 9:00 PM each night to see if your numbers come up.

Supercash!

Supercash is a little like Megabucks in its structure. You can select six numbers from 39, and each $1 ticket gets you in play for two panels on the ticket. This offers better odds that its counterpart, due to the reduced range of numbers to draw from. There is a big feature that makes this game its own though. When a 1/7 Double Feature is drawn at the time of drawing, 9:00 PM each night, every single winning ticket, apart from the top prize, is doubled instantly. Your $500 can become $1,000, in the blink of an eye.

Pick 3: Many Ways to Play

Pick 3 is another lottery standard that appears in different forms from state to state. It’s simple upon first glance, but its complexity is revealed in its multitude of ways in which you can play the numbers and construct your bet. First, select three numbers from 0-9, and then choose how you want to play them – ‘straight’, for an exact match, ‘box’ for a match in any order, selecting 2 of the same numbers or all different, or a combo of the two, for lesser prizes. This one’s drawn in the evenings at 6:15 PM, and tickets go for either $0.50 or $1.

Pick 4: More ways to Play

Pick 4, like Pick 3, is a classic variation of an American Lottery standard, and like that game this one offers a heap of ways to play your numbers, only by selecting four numbers instead of 3, you can play a lot more combinations. You still go for either straight or box matches, but by having four numbers to play with, you can bet three of the same numbers out of four to be the same for 4 combinations, two sets of two for 6 combinations, two of the same number for 12 combinations, and all different numbers for 24 combinations.

The Best Wisconsin Scratchers with the Best Odds

In Wisconsin, you can find Scratch Off tickets aplenty, and there are a lot of opportunities to be had for instant wins. There are also instant wins in the form of Pull Tabs, and we’ll go through them in the next section, but when it comes to Scratchers Wisconsin’s repertoire is fun and unique. Scratchers are for when you can’t wait any time to see if you’ve won. Bare in mind, you can’t use any of your favorite numbers, as the cards are predetermined and you scratch away at the symbols to reveal prizes, but there are still some pretty great odds. We’ve compiled a list of the best games in the state below.

1. Crossword Forecash (Odds: 1 out of 3.10)
2. Roaring 20’s (Odds: 1 out of 3.10)
3. Gold Star Crossword (Odds: 1 out of 3.20)
4. Super Charged Crossword (Odds: 1 out of 3.20)
5. Crossword Boss (Odds: 1 out of 3.20)

Take a look at those Scratchers. Apart from almost all being crossword-themed, they also all have great overall odds of returning a cash prize to the pocket of the ticket buyer. The thing is with Scratchers, is that to get the better odds, you have to buy to more expensive tickets, and these ones range from $10 to $20. Thankfully, these also tend to be the one with the biggest prize pools and top prizes, so you can rest assured knowing that your money will return to you through overall odds or in a big windfall.

Alternative Wisconsin Lottery Games

Sometimes the classics just don’t do it. Draw Games take too long and get too repetitive, Scratchers are also much the same and don’t offer that big of a prize. Between these two juggernaut categories of lottery is where the alternative games lie. Most states have a nice selection of alternative games on offer that bring some relief to the big lotteries, and in Wisconsin’s case they take the form of Pull Tab games.

These are kind of like Scratchers – they bring instant wins to ticket buyers, and they come in all kinds of prices, odds and prizes. Instead of scratching away at symbols to reveal prizes, you can save your nails and pull at tabs on the ticket to find the prizes. If the anticipation before a Draw Game is more your thing, the Wisconsin Lottery offers Raffles, Draw style games that have one set drawing date and time. They come in a few different sizes: Holly Jolly Raffle has a top prize of $100,000, and State Fair 50/50 Raffle has a lower top prize of almost $10,000. Take a look at the games themselves to see which one is for you!

The Most Important WI Lotto Laws

Before jumping into the Wisconsin Lottery, or any game for that matter, it’s important to have a solid grip on the state specific laws and regulations that enable the lottoto exist. All states have their own spin on how to go about the lottery, based upon some historical and cultural precedents, so you’ve got to be precise about the ones pertinent to Wisconsin. They can have a deep impact on the way you can bet, and the conditions on how you can win. Check out the table below for the breakdown of the Wisconsin Lottery laws.

Wisconsin has been dealt a pretty standard hand when it comes to the state-specific laws that govern how the lottery is handled in the state. If you win, you’ll be taking a little less than your compatriots across the border in Michigan, due to an above average state tax. Anonymity is unfortunately the standard too, as most of the states publish their local winners’ names and amounts in public record, Wisconsin included. 18 is the average legal age to place a wager, and 6 months is the average limit on claiming winnings. It’s a good idea to wait for all the commotion to die down as much as you can before collecting!

History of the Wisconsin Lottery

Wisconsin has had lotteries for a fair while, making dreams for residents and generating revenue for the state since the late 1980’s. In that time, the Lottery has dished out over $8.7 billion in prizes to winners, or 56.8% of the total revenue generated from ticket sales. The most notable Wisconsin winner to take some of that prize revenue is undoubtedly Manuel Franco, the third-largest winner in lottery history, who took out a $768.4 million win on a Powerball ticket in 2019.

While the majority of the revenue generated by the Wisconsin Lottery must go out to the public in the form of prizes, a substantial amount is directed back to government coffers. Never fear, it doesn’t stay there too long: a small proportion of the revenue goes to Wisconsin Lottery providers in the form of Retailer Compensation, while a larger chunk goes directly to Wisconsin residents, helping them settle into new homes in the form of Property Tax Credits.

Conclusion

As far as Lotteries go, we think the Wisconsin Lottery is a fine example of what they can achieve – from Draw Games on the small scale to the big, Scratchers of all shapes and sizes to suit all budgets, and those pull tabs and raffles that fill out the rest of the roster. Money is carefully managed and put back into the hands of Wisconsin residents, through tax credits or big prizes. Don’t forget to check back here for all the recent winning numbers and results and remember to check out any other state you might like over in our main overview.

Common Questions that People Also Ask

Before you go, spend a little more time checking out the most frequently asked questions regarding the WI Lotto in the breakdowns below. You might’ve missed something above, or maybe you’ve come straight here from the beginning of the page, wanting to cut to the chase and answer something specific. Regardless, an educated and well-informed bettor is a winning bettor, so read on!