The Massachusetts Lottery has been around for more than 50 years, providing players with all kinds of ways to win. They’ve also been giving the state plenty of lottery funds for the different communities to allocate for public safety projects, education, and more. There are 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts and funds go to all of them.
Since the first ticket was sold in 1972, the Massachusetts Lottery has paid out nearly $110 billion in prizes and continues to find new games and exciting promotions to offer. And the best part is that it is very easy to play.
Players 18 and over can buy tickets from approved retailers, create playslips on the Mass Lottery App to save time at agent locations, or through third-party online sellers like Jackpocket and Jackpot.com.
Massachusetts Lottery Games
Massachusetts offers more than 130 draw games and instant-win opportunities. The Massachusetts Lottery does offer both Powerball and Mega Millions for the big multi-state drawings, as well as Lucky For Life. Massachusetts also has a few state-specific draw games, including Mass Cash, Megabucks, and The Numbers Game.
Instant-win scratchers range from $1 to $50 and prizes can be as high as $25 million on those tickets. Pull Tabs and Charitable Games are also part of the equation.
Massachusetts Lottery Draw Games
Powerball
Massachusetts adopted Powerball on February 3, 2010, a few days after nine states added the game. Powerball plays cost $2 and there is an optional $1 add-on for the Power Play option. Players pick or have the computer pick five numbers between 1 and 69 and then a Powerball number between 1 and 26.
The Jackpot starts at $20 million and grows with each successive drawing if nobody matches all six numbers. Drawings are held on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET and ticket sales are cut off at 9:50 p.m. ET.
Mega Millions
Massachusetts was one of the Original Six for Mega Millions back in 1996, along with Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, and Virginia. Each play costs $2 with Mega Millions as well, with a $1 optional Megaplier add-on to multiply non-Jackpot prizes.
Five numbers from 1 to 70 plus a Mega Ball from 1 to 25 are drawn with this game on Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 p.m. ET, with ticket sales cut off about 15 minutes prior to the draw.
Lucky For Life
The Massachusetts Lottery is one of the states to participate in the Lucky For Life drawing, where the top prize is $1,000 a day for life. It takes all six numbers for that, with balls ranging from 1 to 48 on the main draw and 1 to 18 on the Lucky Ball. Each play is $2 with no multipliers or optional add-ons.
The drawing for this game is 10:38 p.m. ET every day. As mentioned, the grand prize is $1,000 a day for life, but players that match all five regular numbers win $25,000 a year for life.
The states that participate in Lucky For Life are Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming.
Megabucks
Not to be confused with Tri-State Megabucks in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire, Megabucks is a Massachusetts-specific lotto game. Each play costs $2 and six numbers are drawn from 1 to 44. There are no add-ons or multipliers for this game.
Megabucks is drawn on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 9 p.m. and ticket sales end just before the drawing.
The minimum Jackpot is $500,000 and grows, with just under 62% of the money wagered added to the prize pool if a grand prize winner is not picked.
Mass Cash
Mass Cash is a five-number lotto draw on a daily basis. Numbers from 1 to 35 are picked and each play costs just $1. The top prize for this drawing is $100,000 for matching all five numbers. Players get $250 for matching four and $10 for matching three in order.
Drawings are at 9 p.m. ET every night and sales cut off just before the draw.
The Numbers Game
The Numbers Game is a fancy way of saying Pick 4. This is the Massachusetts Lottery version of drawing four numbers ranging from 0 to 9 for a draw that takes place daily at 2 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET.
Each play can be purchased for as little as 25 cents, but the cost of the ticket goes up based on the number of winning combinations played. The top winning prize based on a $1 wager is $5,014.
Keno
Massachusetts has also been one of the adopters of Keno across the state. Players can pick up to 12 spots out of 80 numbers and there is a 20-number draw that takes place every three minutes from 5:04 a.m. ET to 1:01 a.m. ET.
Each drawing costs anywhere from $1 to $20.
The Wheel of Luck
Massachusetts has something of a roulette variant called The Wheel of Luck, which is drawn every four minutes from 5:02 a.m. ET to 12:58 a.m. ET. Players can pick exact numbers, Odd/Even, or Red/Black and there are wager ranges for each type of bet.
For an exact number, wager amounts are $1, $2, or $5. Bet sizes for Odd/Even or Red/Black are $2, $4, or $10.
The number matches only pay 25/1, much worse than casino roulette odds. Odd/Even and Red/Black pay 1.5/1.
Massachusetts Lottery Scratch-Offs
The Massachusetts Lottery offers upwards of 125 different scratch-off games with denominations ranging from $1 to $50. Plenty of popular games like Monopoly and Cashword are grouped with several different holiday themes given the time of year and there are all sorts of different cash prize amounts.
Massachusetts, unlike most states, does not offer Fast Play games, which have been compared to “scratchless scratchers”. It’s old school in that regard and you have to respect it with so much technology involved in lotteries these days.
The Mass Lottery website shows the remaining top prizes and rules on how to play for all of their games.
Massachusetts Lottery Pull Tabs
Despite being a northeastern state, Massachusetts embraced its inner Midwest by offering Pull Tabs. However, as of November 2024, the Massachusetts Lottery was no longer offering them outside of the current inventory.
Massachusetts Lottery Charitable Games
The Massachusetts Lottery can help nonprofits host Charitable Gaming Nights by providing Bingo, Raffles, and Casino Nights. Any nonprofit, club, or organization that fits within Massachusetts law can be a charitable gaming agent as overseen by the Massachusetts Lottery.
The Mass Lottery App
Players cannot purchase tickets on the Massachusetts Lottery App, but they can check to see whether or not they have won tickets. They can also claim prizes up to $5,000 to get a direct deposit through the app. Past results and drawings are also visible on the app, which is available through the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.
While players cannot purchase tickets, they can put together a playslip and have it scanned at an approved Massachusetts Lottery retailer and have the ticket printed there.
It is worth noting that Massachusetts does partner with online third-party lottery sellers Jackpocket and Jackpot.com, so tickets can be purchased through those platforms.
How To Claim a Massachusetts Lottery Prize
As mentioned above, prizes up to $5,000 can be claimed via photo uploads and direct deposit info in the Mass Lottery App.
Prizes up to $600 can be claimed at any approved retailer, Lottery Office, or by mail.
Prizes up to and including $50,000 can be claimed by mail. Prizes between $601 and $103,000 can be claimed at a Lottery Office location.
Prizes over $103,000 must be claimed at the Lottery Headquarters in Dorchester.
Prizes over $600 are subject to a 5% state tax withholding.
Massachusetts Lottery Frequently Asked Questions
Can Massachusetts Lottery Tickets Be Purchased Online?
Yes, but only through approved third-party sellers Jackpocket and Jackpot.com. The Massachusetts Lottery does not directly sell lottery tickets through its app or website.
How Many Massachusetts Lottery Retailers Are There?
There are more than 7,500 approved lottery retailers in the state of Massachusetts.
How Old Do I Have To Be To Play The Massachusetts Lottery?
Players must be 18 years of age or older.