The Colorado Lottery is run by the state government of

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. It is a 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). The Colorado Lottery began on January 24, 1983, initially selling only scratch tickets. Its first drawing took place on April 23, 1983. Colorado Lottery games include Cash 5 (with a 5-of-32 matrix), Pick 3, Colorado Lotto+,

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 ...

, and

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 ...

; it also sells scratch tickets. Colorado has offered fewer drawing games than most U.S. lotteries even though it began in the early 1980s; Powerball was not available in Colorado until 2001. Colorado joined Mega Millions on May 16, 2010 (the same day as

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

) as part of the MUSL cross-selling agreement involving both major jackpot games. Colorado joined

on July 17, 2016; as of September 2017, Lucky for Life is available in 24 states and the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

(The game began in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

in 2009, as ''Lucky-4-Life''.). Colorado Lottery revenues are directed to outdoor recreation, parks, trails, rivers, wildlife, and open space by a state constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1992. 50 percent of Lottery proceeds go to a

trust fund A trust is a legal relationship in which the owner of property, or any transferable right, gives it to another to manage and use solely for the benefit of a designated person. In the English common law, the party who entrusts the property is k ...

administered by Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO). GOCO distributes the funds through competitive grants to local governments and land trusts, 40 percent to the Conservation Trust Fund, and 10 percent goes to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. After the GOCO cap is met, proceeds fall into the BEST fund (Building Excellent Schools Today).

Current draw games

In-house draw games

Pick 3

Pick 3 began in April 2013. It draws three digits, each 0 through 9; wagers are of 50 cents to $5.00. Wager types include Exact Order, Any Order, Front Pair, and Back Pair. A 50-cent Exact Order bet can win $250.

Cash 5

Cash 5 began in 1996. Players pick 5 numbers from 1 to 32 for each $1 game played. The top prize for the game is $20,000.

Colorado Lotto+

Colorado Lotto+ replaced Colorado Lotto and had its first drawing on September 25, 2019. Colorado Lotto+ has several significant differences from the old lotto game. The price increased from $1 to $2, and the game matrix was reduced to 40 numbers, down from 42, giving players better odds. When each ticket is purchased, the computer randomly selects a multiplier that applies to that ticket only (2x, 3x, 4x, or 5x) for all non-jackpot prizes. Starting jackpots begin at $1,000,000, rolling over in multiples of $100,000 (with the potential to grow to over $25,000,000) and the drawings are held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The jackpot averages at about $3.7 million. Optionally, players can add the “plus” option for an additional $1 on each game played (for a total of $3 per game) for a chance to win prizes up to $250,000 and bigger prizes for matching 3, 4, and 5 of the winning numbers in any order. The multiplier is also carried over to multiply each secondary prize by the number given for each ticket. The largest jackpot for this game thus far to date is $25,000,000 which has occurred in January 2022.

Multi-jurisdictional games

Lucky for Life

Begun in Connecticut in 2009 as ''Lucky-4-Life'', it has changed it double matrix three times, and expanded to a regional game and then "quasi-national." It also began giving "lifetime" winners the option of cash in lieu of the annuity. Players choose 5 of 48 "white balls", and a green "Lucky Ball" from a second pool, of 18 numbers. There are ten prize tiers, including two that have a "lifetime" prize. Drawings remain in Connecticut.

Powerball

Since April 2001, Colorado has been a member of MUSL.

's jackpots begin at $40 million; it is drawn Wednesday and Saturday nights. Players pick 5 numbers from 1 to 69, and 1 number out of 26. The largest Powerball jackpot won in Colorado was $133 million in September 2017.

Mega Millions

On October 13, 2009 the Mega Millions consortium and MUSL reached an agreement in principle to cross-sell

and Powerball in U.S. lottery jurisdictions. Most lotteries with either game began selling tickets for both on January 31, 2010. Mega Millions tickets have been sold in Colorado since May 16, 2010. The Colorado Lottery has not yet had a Mega Millions jackpot winner. Originally one play was $1, or $2 with the ''Megaplier''; the latter multiplier non-jackpot prizes. Since October 2017, plays have increased to $2 each, or $3 with the ''Megaplier''.

Former games

Colorado Lotto

On January 24, 1989, Colorado Lotto began. Initially it was drawn Saturdays. On July 18, 1990, Wednesday drawings were added. Six of 42 numbers were chosen. The minimum jackpot was $1 million(annuity with cash option); games cost $1. Colorado Lotto's final drawing was on September 22, 2019, after which it was replaced by Colorado Lotto+. The largest Colorado Lotto jackpot was $27 million, won by Kim Walker of Boulder in 1992. The jackpot average for the game was about $3.4 million.

MatchPlay

MatchPlay, which ended on June 29, 2012, was drawn on Tuesdays and Fridays. Games were $2 each; each play consisted of three sets of six numbers. The first set could either be chosen by the player, or as a computer-generated "quick pick"; the other two always were quick picks. Six of 38 numbers were drawn. Prizes were won in two ways: "line play"(matching enough numbers in any of the six-number sets), or "combination play"(if enough of the 18 numbers across the three sets were matched. Some $2 plays won in both categories.) An example of a game similar to MatchPlay is

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 ''Match 6''.

References

External links

* {{authority control State lotteries of the United States State agencies of Colorado Economy of Colorado Computer-drawn lottery games