Montana Lottery

When it comes to playing the lottery in the United States, the Montana State Lottery is one of the oldest in the country. Montana has been a member of the MUSL (Multi-State Lottery Association) since 1989 and began playing the association’s biggest game, Powerball, in 1992.

By the way, does anyone have any idea why the Multi-State Lottery Association has MUSL as their acronym? Someone may have been a bit tipsy when they were making that one up. Anyhow, we’ll refer to the MUSL quite a few times through this review, so just be aware of what it is.

The MT Lottery has one of the largest selections of games in the country. That’s kind of surprising when you think of the fact that the state’s population is only right around a million. They combine the usual Powerball and Mega Millions with four other popular games -- the Montana Wild Card 2, the Montana Hot Lotto, the Montana 10 Spot, and finally the Montana Cash. The Montana State Lottery is also big on scratchers, as they feature multiple options for them on their website.

Montanians Have Had a Long Run With the Powerball & Mega Millions

As we mentioned above, the Montana Powerball started up in 1992, which makes it one of the oldest Powerball participants in the country. They were a part of Lotto America, which was what the Powerball was formerly known as, even earlier than that in 1989.

As is with any other state, tickets for the Montana Powerball are $2, and the drawings take place on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Ticket buyers have their option of doing a quick pick, where the computer chooses their numbers at random, or they can choose their own. Players choose five balls between 1-59 and then also choose a Powerball number between 1-35. Hopefully, if you’re playing the lottery consistently, you already knew all those silly facts about the Montana Powerball.

The Montana Mega Millions is a smaller version of the Powerball. It is also a part of the MUSL and regularly reaches jackpots over $50 Million. Players choose five numbers between 1-75 and then also pick a ‘Mega Ball’ between 1-15.

MT Lotto Provides Solid Secondary Games

The Montana Wild Card 2 and Montana Hot Lotto both provide great secondary options for those lotto players that aren’t satisfied with the long odds of Powerball and Mega Millions. The Montana Wild Card 2 is offered in three other states, making it also a MUSL run game. Players select numbers between 1-33 and then also choose a wildcard that is an actual face card from a deck of cards instead of a number. Jackpots for the Wild Card 2 generally reach into the $250,000 range.

The Montana Hot Lotto is another game played among quite a few other states, as it includes fifteen others. This is considered the third tier game by many in the country because it still regularly reaches into the $2-3 Million range, meaning winning would undoubtedly be a life changer. With the Montana Hot Lotto, players choose a number between 1-47 and then also select a Hot Ball between 1-19.

As you can see, all these games are the same, they just have different names, odds, and various ‘bonus’ balls to go along with the fact that the jackpots are quite different. Both the Montana Wild Card 2 and the Montana Hot Lotto are also drawn on Wednesday and Saturday nights, same as the Powerball and Mega Millions.

The Montana 10 Spot: Keno, Except in Montana

The Montana 10 Spot is essentially exactly like Keno, a game just about every gambler knows about. One of the great things about both the Montana 10 Spot and Keno is that you’re not playing against anyone else really, it’s just you and the numbers. There’s no one to split your jackpot with when you win.

Players choose ten numbers between 1-80, and then twenty numbers are drawn. Drawings happen twice a day at 12:30 PM and then again at 7:30 PM. Players win $25,000 if they’ve matched all 10 of their numbers with the ones that were drawn. They can also win if they match 9,8,7,6,5 or none of the numbers. Yep, you heard it right; you can win by being so terrible that you didn’t match any of the numbers. Pretty cool, huh?

The Montana Cash: A Much, Much Smaller Version of the Big Ones

The Montana Cash is one of the smallest jackpot games you’ll find, starting at only around $20,000. Drawings happen on Wednesday and Saturday as players choose five numbers between 1-37. Surprisingly, there’s no ‘bonus’ ball for this one like the others, which is probably the reason the jackpot never really jumps above $75,000-$100,000.

The real perk of the Montana Cash is that tickets are only $1 for 2, giving you the feeling that you’re getting quite a value on your purchase. If you’re a quantity player, this is your game.