The DC Lottery (official name District of Columbia Office of Lottery and Gaming) is run by the

government of the District of Columbia The District of Columbia, commonly known as Washington, D.C., has a mayor–council government that operates under Article One of the United States Constitution and the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. The Home Rule Act devolves certain pow ...

, in the United States. The DC Lottery is a charter member of the

Multi-State Lottery Association The Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) is an American non-profit, government-benefit association owned and operated by agreement of its 34-member lotteries. MUSL was created to facilitate the operation of multi-jurisdictional lottery games, m ...

(MUSL). Games offered include DC 2, DC 3, DC 4, DC 5,

Powerball Powerball is an American lottery game offered by 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and overseen by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which also manages other large jackpot games such as t ...

Mega Millions Mega Millions (originally known as The Big Game in 1996 and renamed, temporarily, to The Big Game Mega Millions six years later) is an American multijurisdictional lottery game. The first drawing took place on September 6, 1996, with six partic ...

Lucky for Life Lucky for Life (LFL) is a Lottery, lottery drawing game, which, as of June 28, 2021, is available in 22 states and the D.C. Lottery, District of Columbia. Lucky for Life, which began in 2009 in Connecticut as ''Lucky-4-Life'', became a New Englan ...

, DC Keno, Race2Riches, The Lucky One, DC Fast Play, DC Tap-N-Play, and DC Scratchers. Since its inception in August 25, 1982, the DC Lottery has awarded more than $4.4 billion in prizes to members of its community and transferred more than $2.3 billion to the district’s general fund, which supports essential services in the district. DC Lottery's licensing of charitable gaming activities has helped local nonprofits raise more than $136.5 million in support of social causes. In 2025, D.C. Lottery's operator,

Intralot INTRALOT is a Greek company that supplies integrated gambling, transaction processing systems, game content, sports betting management and interactive gambling services, to state-licensed gambling organizations worldwide. The company acts both as ...

, was fined $6.5 million for having fraudulently obtained and operated its five-year contract. All D.C. Lottery games have a minimum age of 18.

Intralot 2019-2025 operator fraud and restituation

Attorney General

Brian Schwalb Brian Lawrence Schwalb (born 1967) is an American attorney and politician serving as the Attorney General of the District of Columbia, attorney general of the District of Columbia. Prior to becoming attorney general, Schwalb was the partner-in-ch ...

announced, on January 14, 2025, that games operator

, and its subcontractor, Veterans Services Corporation (VSC), would pay restitution totaling $6.5 million for its fraudulent operation of a

shell game The shell game (also known as thimblerig, three shells and a pea, the old army game) is a public gambling game that challenges players to follow the movement of a marker hidden under one of several covers (shells). In practice, the game is almo ...

meant to deceive city officials and win the District’s lottery and sports betting contract in 2019; obtain related payments; and appear compliant with District law requiring any firm securing a large public contract to subcontract to small local businesses in order to grow the local economy. VSC was revealed to have no employees. Intralot and VSC were found to have conspired in an "elaborate scheme" to secure the contract, with VSC receiving over half of D.C.’s lottery and sports gambling contract proceeds, and then funneling funds back to Intralot, which will pay $5 million of the $6.5 million settlement.

Charitable games

The board licenses games of chance that are conducted by DC-based non-profit organizations. D.C., Virginia, and Maryland-based charities can offer raffles, with the provision that these drawings are held in the District of Columbia. Organizations seeking to conduct such fundraisers must obtain a license from the board, with D.C. Lottery employees supervising the drawings to assure fairness.

Games

Numbers draw games

DC 2

DC 2 is a two-digit game, drawn twice daily.

DC 3

DC 3 is a three-digit game drawn three times daily.

DC 4

DC 4 is a four-digit game drawn three times daily.

DC 5

DC 5 is a five-digit game drawn twice daily in the style of DC 2, DC 3, and DC 4, with straight and box wagers. It is played in the same manner as

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

's ''Pick 5'', and

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

's ''Pick 5''.

Monitor draw games

Race2Riches

Race2Riches is a horse betting type game, drawings are every four minutes, from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily. Participants bet which horse will place 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. DC Keno Drawings are held every four minutes, from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. daily. The Lucky One Drawings are held every four minutes, from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. daily.

Instant-win games

DC Fast Play DC Fast Play is an instant-style game played at any DC Lottery retailer. DC TAP-N-PLAY DC TAP-N-PLAY is an instant game played in select DC Lottery retailers. DC Scratchers DC Scratchers are scratch-and-win instant games sold at any DC Lottery retailer.

Multi-state draw games

Lucky for Life

Lucky for Life began in Connecticut in 2009; it expanded in 2015 to include the District of Columbia, and is now offered by 17 jurisdictions.

Mega Millions

On January 31, 2010, most U.S. lotteries with either Mega Millions or Powerball began offering both games. The D.C. Lottery added Mega Millions on the cross-selling expansion date. The largest Mega Millions jackpot was over $650 million. On August 8, 2023, the largest Mega Millions jackpot ever won was $1.602 billion in Florida.

Powerball

Since 1988, the D.C. Lottery has been a member of MUSL, which created

in 1992. Its jackpots currently start at $20 million. It is drawn Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday nights at the

Florida Lottery The Florida Lottery is the government-operated lottery of the U.S. state of Florida. , the lottery offers eleven terminal-generated games: Cash4Life, Mega Millions, Powerball, Florida Lotto, Pick 2, Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5, Fantasy 5, Cash Pop, ...

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Fl ...

. On September 19, 2010, the D.C. Lottery had entered the wrong Powerball numbers into its computer system. Terminals read some losing tickets as winners, and vice versa. The lottery revised its procedures to prevent such errors from recurring. On January 31, 2010, most lotteries with ''either'' Mega Millions or Powerball began offering both games. The D.C. Lottery added Mega Millions on that date. The largest jackpot in Mega Millions so far was more than $640 million.

Sports wagering

On May 14, 2018, the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

ruled that the

Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (), also known as PASPA or the Bradley Act, was a law, judicially overturned in 2018, that was meant to define the legal status of sports betting throughout the United States. This act ...

which allowed sports wagering only in the State of Nevada to be unconstitutional. This was brought forth in the case of Christie v. the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

in which then New Jersey governor

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...

( R) wanted to legalize sports wagering in his and other states and territories (Including the District) but professional sports organizations including the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA),

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

and the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

opposed such operations. Following the ruling, the District of Columbia government, which included Mayor

Muriel Bowser Muriel Elizabeth Bowser (born August 2, 1972) is an American politician who has served as the current mayor of the District of Columbia since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she previously represented th ...

( D) and the members of the D.C. City Council, began working on legalizing sports wagering within the district. On September 21, 2021 the D.C. City Council passed, and Mayor Bowser signed into law that legalized sports wagering, the D.C. Lottery was tasked with overseeing the regulation of sports wagering licenses and sportsbook facility. The D.C. Lottery began operating a wagering app which

geo-fence A geofence is a virtual "perimeter" or "fence" around a given geographic feature. A geofence can be dynamically generated (as in a radius around a point location) or match a predefined set of boundaries (such as school zones or neighborhood b ...

s customers to areas within the District of Columbia but access to certain areas of the district would be excluded including, Capitol Hill, residential areas and in and around all the federal buildings, and within 2 blocks of a brick and mortar sportsbook facility. The D.C. Lottery also began operating sports wagering kiosks (GambetDC) at authorized D.C. Lottery agents including at local bodegas, bars,

gas stations A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...

and

restaurants A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in app ...

. William Hill owned by

Caesars Entertainment Caesars Entertainment, Inc., formerly Eldorado Resorts, Inc., is an American hotel and casino entertainment company founded and based in Reno, Nevada, that operates more than 50 properties. Eldorado Resorts acquired Caesars Entertainment Corpora ...

was the first sportsbook in the District of Columbia opening its temporary sportsbook in an unused box office area of the

Capital One Arena Capital One Arena is an indoor arena in Washington, D.C. Located in the Chinatown section of the larger Penn Quarter neighborhood, the arena sits atop the Gallery Place rapid transit station of the Washington Metro. The arena was opened o ...

on July 31, 2020 and its permanent sportsbook on May 26, 2021, in the former Greene Turtle Sports Bar and Restaurant on the F and 6th Streets N.W. corner of the Capital One Arena. This was followed by BetMGM opening a sportsbook at

Nationals Park Nationals Park is a baseball stadium along the Anacostia River in the Navy Yard (Washington, D.C.), Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals. Since its completion in 2008, it wa ...

FanDuel FanDuel Group is an American gambling company that offers sportsbook, daily fantasy sports, horse racing, and online casino services. The company operates sportsbooks in a number of states including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana and West Vir ...

sportsbook at

Audi Field Audi Field is a soccer-specific stadium in the Buzzard Point neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is the home of D.C. United, DC Power FC, and Washington Spirit soccer teams, and the DC Defenders American football team. The stadium seats 20,000 p ...

and a sportsbook which will open at the

CareFirst Arena CareFirst Arena, formerly the Entertainment and Sports Arena, is a multi-purpose events facility, located on the St. Elizabeths East Campus, in Congress Heights, a residential neighborhood in southeast Washington, D.C. The arena is home to the ...

. As part of the regulations of sports wagering, the District of Columbia prohibits the betting on local college sports including athletics at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

and

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

. This is consistent with states like New Jersey which also prohibit wagering on collegiate athletics at big universities like

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

and

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

DC iLottery

The DC Lottery unveiled DC iLottery, a digital sales platform for purchasing lottery games. Players can access from their smart phone, computer, or tablet, and once registered for an account, can play DC3, DC4, DC5, DC Keno, Race2Riches games, and more while physically in the district and not within an area of the District where lottery play is prohibited. The platform uses geolocation technology to confirm a player’s location before a ticket can be purchased.

References

External links

D.C. Lottery official website
{{U.S. lotteries

District A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Government in Washington, D.C. Economy of Washington, D.C. Computer-drawn lottery games