MO Lottery Blog

Winning big with Powerball

There were a couple of big winning tickets in Powerball over the weekend. 

• $200,000 winner sold at A-A Little Country Store in Cadet
• $10,000 winner sold at C&R Supermarket in Boonville

By the way, the Powerball jackpot for April 2 is an estimated $46 million.  It may not be the largest jackpot ever, but it's still a lot of money.  Plus, the Powerball Power Play 10X promotion is underway.  It might be a good time to pick up a ticket. 

Multiply your winnings!

There is a feature in Powerball that allows winners to multiply their prizes between $3 and $200,000.  For an extra dollar at the time of your purchase, you can select the Power Play option.  The Power Play number is drawn from a pool of 16 - four 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s.  If you select the Power Play option and win a prize other than the jackpot, your winnings will be multiplied by that number.  A recent winner from Kansas City turned their $200,000 winning ticket on March 1 into $800,000 with the Power Play option. 

From March 30 through April 30, Powerball is turning up the power with the Powerball Power Play 10X promotion.  One of the 5s in the Power Play matrix will be removed and replaced with a 10.  That means a $10,000 prize could become $100,000 and a $200,000 win could turn into $2 million!  The 10 is guaranteed to come up at least once during the promotion, and if it doesn't, 10X will continue until it does. 

The next time you play Powerball, consider turning up the power with the Powerball Power Play 10X promotion. 

The Viper!

Our new TV commercials for the spring "Muscle Up" promotion will soon be hitting the airwaves.  Check out the first spot here. 

To celebrate, we have some limited-edition "Team Viper" T-shirts that we'll be giving away to the first 50 people to enter the promotion on-line through their MyLottery accounts.  You can enter starting at 8 a.m. on March 29.  The first 50 individuals will get a shirt mailed to your registered address.  Only one per account.  Good luck! 

Where's the Lottery money?

One of the frequent questions we get is, "Where is all that Lottery money going?"  There is a detailed listing of all the programs that are funded by Lottery proceeds each year on our Web site.  But what is implied by these statements is, "If the Lottery is raising money for education, how come the school is in such disrepair?"  Or, "Why does the band have to hold a fundraiser for new uniforms?  I thought the Lottery money was oging to fix all that." 

The Lottery does generate money for public education in Missouri.  Through the patronage of citizens, the Missouri Lottery will contribute more than $250 million for public education this year.  That's a lot of money, right? 

It is a lot of money, and they are funds that would have to come from higher taxes or cuts in other programs if the Lottery wasn't helping generate proceeds.  But it's important to keep that in perspective. 

According to the Office of Administration, the current budget being considered by Legislature will appropriate nearly $6.5 billion for elementary, secondary and higher education next year.  That's nearly one third of the entire state budget.  Most of that funding comes from sources like the federal government, other state revenues and local property taxes.  So while the Missouri Lottery's contribution to public education is important funding, it's a small percentage of the necessary funds required to house and educate the next generation of citizens. 

We're proud to be part of that effort, and we take the job of creating fun and exciting games, while maximizing profits for education, very seriously.  Thank you for your part in making Missouri a little richer for everyone. 

Muscle Up!

Here's your chance to "Muscle Up" for Spring.  You could win a Dodge® Viper®, a beach vacation or $500 cash during our second-chance "Muscle Up" Scratchers promotion.  There will be three separate drawings during this promotion - May 1, May 22 and June 19.  In each drawing, one lucky player will win a 2008 Dodge® Viper® SRT 10 Coupe plus $500, five different players will win a beach vacation of their choosing plus $500 in spending money and 30 players will win $500.  To enter the promotion, players can mail, drop-off or enter on-line $10 worth of eligible Scratchers tickets.  There are three games that qualify for this promotion - $5 Game 694, "Big Money," $2 Game 695, "Winning Fever" and $1 Game 696, "Cold Hard Cash." 

For more information, visit the "Muscle Up" promotion Web page here. 

Back to work

Lottery Post has picked up a story about a UK lottery winner who is back on the job at McDonald's.  The money line... "To be honest, there's only so much relaxing you can do." 

The truth to take away from this story is that it's important to do what you love, and that money can't buy happiness.  Our own research shows that a lot of winners do continue to work, but we aren't sure about the motivation.  What do you think?  Would you still go to work every day if you hit it big? 

While we were away

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but I caught that little bug that is going around and they had to switch to another ball set while I was down.  There's a lot of stuff on the horizon, so stay tuned as I'll be back with a fury this week.  In the meantime, we've released another list of all the winners from February, and it's impressive.  Think no one ever wins?  Pull up a chiar and check this out, but be warned - it might take a while. 

One ticket, but eight winners

There was one winning ticket sold in West Virginia for the $276 million Powerball jackpot.  As it happens, we already know that eight office workers will claim the prize.  Things sometimes move fast with this kind of win - a big one. 

In Missouri, two players matched four white-ball numbers and the Powerball to win $10,000.  Those tickets were sold at...

• Mattingly's Inn in Florissant
• CFM on Clayton Road in Chesterfield

Remember to check your tickets closely.  By simply matching the Powerball, you win $3.  Congratulations to the winners, which unfortunately can't include everyone.  However, the Powerball resets to $15 million for March 19, which most people would admit is more than enough.  If that sounds good to you, it's a great time to get in the game.  Good luck.      

Winners 2X2X4

No one matched the Powerball jackpot on March 12, but we did have a few big winners in Missouri. Two players matched all six Lotto numbers to split the $1.7 million jackpot. The winning tickets were sold at…

• Casey’s on N. St. Joe Dr. in Park Hills
• Casey’s on Range Line St. in Columbia

Two players matched all five white-ball numbers in Powerball to win $200,000. Those tickets were sold at…

• Country Club Express in Chesterfield
• Wise Stop in Neosho

Finally, four players matched four white-ball numbers and the Powerball number to win $10,000. Those tickets were sold at…

• Fast Lane McStop In Kingdom City
• Schnucks Market on New Halls Ferry Road in Florissant
• 7-Eleven on Union in St. Louis
• Teacher’s Billiards in St. Peters

Even if you don’t shop at any of these locations, be sure to check those tickets closely as there are lots of ways to win. Good luck.

Jackpot Alert!

The Powerball jackpot for March 15 is an estimated $275 million! Although that's a ton of money, please play responsibly.  It only takes one dollar to win.  Good luck.