The Maryland Lottery is an independent agency of the Maryland government. Its games include Mega Millions, Powerball, Multi-Match, Keno, Bonus Match 5, and numerous scratch tickets. The Maryland Lottery is headquartered in Suite 330 at 1800 Washington Boulevard, in Montgomery Business Park, Baltimore. The minimum age to buy Maryland Lottery tickets is 18; for video lottery, the minimum is 21. Winning Maryland Lottery numbers are shown on Baltimore television station WBAL-TV. Maryland's largest Mega Millions jackpot winner was for the March 30, 2012, drawing, which produced the then-world's-largest jackpot, approximately $656,000,000. A ticket sold at a Baltimore County 7-Eleven won a one-third share of the jackpot. As with the other two sets of winners in that drawing, the ticket holder chose the cash option, rather than the 26 yearly payments.
History
In 1972, citizens of Maryland approved a constitutional amendment to begin a government-run lottery. The Maryland Lottery began on January 2, 1973. The Lottery opened its doors for the very first time with 94 employees to handle operations, 3,800 sales agents to sell tickets and 51 banks to distribute tickets to agents and handle deposits. Approximately 60% of sales are returned to players, 30% is used for state-funded programs, 7% is used for commissions to retailers, and 3% is given to the Lottery for operating expenses. The first game Twin Win went on sale on May 15, 1973, and the first drawing was May 24, 1973. Scratch-offs, now the Lottery's best-selling game, became available on February 10, 1976. Pick 3 was introduced in July 1976. In April 1983, Pick 4 began. Keno, initially played only at Lottery retailers equipped with monitors, began in January 1993. In September 1995, Maryland introduced Bonus Match 5. In 1996, Maryland help launched The Big Game, which became Mega Millions in 2002. In March 2012, a Maryland player won a one-third share of the then largest jackpot in American history, $656 million. In November 2005, the Maryland Lottery signed an $81 million deal with Scientific Games. As a result, Racetrax began in August 2006. Racetrax a Tabcorp International product, is a thoroughbred horse racing game. Racetrax became Racetrax Bonus in August 2009. Maryland Lotto was replaced by Multi-Match in 2006. Maryland, as part of the January 2010 cross-sell expansion, joined Powerball. In 2007, the Maryland government passed a bill allowing 15,000 video lottery terminals in five locations throughout Maryland. The following year, voters passed the referendum; Maryland's first casino opened in 2010. As of June 2012, video lottery terminals at the three casinos had generated over $297 million in revenue. Of that revenue, 49.25% is given to education, 33% is given back to the casino operators, 7% is used for horse racing purses, 5.5% is used for local impact grants, 2.5% is used to help renew the racetracks, 1.75% is given to the Lottery for operational expenses, and 1.5% is given to small businesses.
Drawings
§ Maryland joined the multi-state Cash4Life on January 26, 2016. ‡ Drawing takes place on Livestream.
The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission serves as an advisory board to the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency. The Commission is made up of seven members who are appointed to four-year terms by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. In November 2008, the Commission assumed responsibility for regulating the operation of video lottery terminals in Maryland.
