MO Lottery Blog

Mega Millions!

Sales of Mega Millions begin Jan. 31.  You now have your choice of playing both Powerball and Mega Millions in Missouri.  Check out this video from producer Frank Finley on the debut of this game, how it works and how to play.  Good luck. 

Where it's at

There are a few big winners to talk about this week.  Although no one hit the Powerball jackpot, two winners in other states used Power Play to win $1 million.  In Missouri, one player matched four white-ball numbers and the Powerball to win $10,000.  That ticket was sold at Shop 'n Save on Lindbergh in St. Louis.

There was also another Show Me Cash winner last night.  The 72nd jackpot awarded in this game goes to a player who buys tickets at QuikTrip, 1128 NW Woods Chapel Road, in Blue Springs.  The jackpot ended up at more than $208,000. 

The Show Me Cash jackpot for tonight resets to $50,000.  The Powerball jackpot for this Saturday is an estimated $90 million! 

New $20 Scratchers game

There's a new game available now at thousands of Missouri Lottery retail locations.  "$5,000,000 Cash Extravaganza" features the largest prize ever offered in a Missouri Lottery Scratchers game.  For the purchase price of $20, you could win one of 13 prizes from $1 million to $5 million! 

Players who win one of three $5 million top prizes can choose to receive their winnings as a lump sum of $3.1 million, or as an annuity paying $250,000 a year for 20 years!

Players who win one of 10 $1 million prizes can choose annuity payments of $50,000 over 20 years, or a lump sum of $620,000! 

The game has more than $120 million in total prizes, including more than 200,000 prizes of $100. 

Click here to learn more about this new game from the Missouri Lottery.  "$5,000,000 Cash Extravaganza" replaces the $20 game "$200,000 A Year For Life," which was discontinued because all of the top prizes have been claimed in that game. 

Look for "$5,000,000 Cash Extravaganza" anywhere Missouri Lottery Scratchers products are sold. 

New poll

There's a new poll along the sidebar.  We understand that the winning numbers are one of the most important things people want to know - did I win tonight?  There are lots of ways to get those winning numbers, but are you getting them the way you prefer?  If you'd like a text message or want to see them on your Twitter feed, take a moment to voice your opinion in the poll.  Check all that apply.  If you have another idea, please share it in the comments below. 

You should know that you can already get the winning numbers via text message or e-mail - just sign up for free My Lottery account and we'll deliver the results as soon as they happen.

UPDATE:  If you select other, please leave a comment and let me know what. 

Trips

Pick 3 players had a big day on Monday.  The Pick 3 Midday winning combination was 8-8-8.  We paid out prizes totaling more than $293,000, which was about 422 percent of sales.  Interestingly, triple 8s was the seventh most popular combination of straight numbers played for that drawing.  Players were betting on 7s, 3s, 2s, 5s, 6s and 4s before hitting paydirt with triple 8s.  That's the fourth time this fiscal year players have gotten lucky with a combination of triples.  We've seen 1s, 4s, 0s and now 8s this year. 

What will be the next set of numbers to come up, and when will we see them again? 

Where it's at

There were a few big winners over the weekend.  Two tickets matched four white-ball numbers and the Powerball to win $10,000.  Those tickets were sold at the following locations:

• Circle K, 1435 Kirkwood Road, in St. Louis
• Mobil, 15961 Manchester Road, in Ellisville

There was also a big Club Keno winner.  A player who buys tickets at Dirty Sally's Saloon in Brunswick won $5,602. 

The Powerball jackpot for Wednesday night is an estimated $76 million! 

Plotting the winners

Just to show what random distribution looks like, I plotted the winners from draw #3 of the "Holiday Magic" second-chance promotion.  Keep in mind that this is only one of the three drawings, and cities that don't have any winners might have been represented in the first two drawings.  These exercises remain consistent - the winners are spread around the state with slightly higher concentrations in our major population centers. 

We had more than 480,000 entries during the course of this promotion. 

View Holiday Magic Draw #3 in a larger map

Wheel of Fortune

The first drawing in the "Wheel of Fortune®" second-chance promotion is complete.  The unofficial winners list is posted here.  In each drawing, one player will be selected to win a trip to Hollywood for a chance to audition for the TV game show, while three other players will receive cash prizes. 

In this first drawing, we had more than 60,000 entries, of which, nearly 90 percent were entered online.  The second entry deadline is 5 p.m. on Feb. 16. 

Where it's at

No one hit the Powerball jackpot, but a player in another state did win $1 million with Power Play.  There was one player in Missouri who matched four white-ball numbers and the Powerball to win $10,000.  The winning ticket was sold at QuikTrip, 14800 Manchester Road, in Ballwin. 

There was also a big Club Keno winner last night.  A player who buys tickets at the American Legion in Union won more than $6,000. 

The Powerball jackpot for Saturday has climbed to $65 million! 

Where it's at

What a weekend for Missouri Lottery players.  We had a player match four white-ball numbers and the Powerball to win $10,000.  That ticket was sold at The Store, 1906 Truman Blvd., in Caruthersville. 

There were three big winners in Show Me Cash.  Two winning tickets were sold for the $95,700 jackpot Sunday night.  Both tickets were sold at Casey's General Store on Highway 54 in Hermitage.  It will be interesting to see who's holding the tickets. 

On the heels of that big win was another jackpot winner last night.  The 71st jackpot awarded in this game is $50,000 to a player who buys tickets at Evans Kwik Stop in Bakersfield.  Congratulations to all the winners. 

Tonight's Show Me Cash jackpot resets to $50,000.