Missouri Lottery Celebrates 40 Years of Winning

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (January 20, 2026) – Since the very first “Jackpot ‘86” Scratchers ticket was sold exactly four decades ago, the Missouri Lottery has created a total of 750 millionaires. During that time, it has also provided an average of $600,000 a day – every day – to the state and public education.

“Today, we celebrate 40 years of providing entertaining games to our fellow Missourians, but we also celebrate the Lottery’s other longstanding contributions,” said Lester Elder, executive director of the Missouri Lottery. “That includes $8.7 billion in beneficiary proceeds, retailer commissions that exceed $2 billion, and more than $22 billion in prizes to our players.”

To commemorate the milestone, the Missouri Lottery recently launched a new “40th Anniversary” Scratchers ticket, with a play area featuring the original “Jackpot ‘86” game. The $20 ticket offers two top prizes of $2 million, along with two $100,000 prizes and four prizes of $86,000.

While the Lottery started with just one Scratchers game in 1986, it now offers as many as 40 unique Scratchers tickets at any given time, as well as nine different Draw Games – ranging from in-state games such as Pick 3, Pick 4 and Show Me Cash to multi-state games like Powerball and Mega Millions. Just this past September, the Missouri Lottery awarded its highest prize ever when a St. Louis player claimed an $893.7 million Powerball prize.

“Games and jackpots have certainly evolved over the years and, naturally, that has impacted proceeds generated by Lottery sales,” Elder said, noting that since FY94, 100% of Lottery proceeds have been earmarked for public education. (From 1986 to FY94, proceeds were directed to the state’s General Revenue Fund.)

The Missouri Lottery had just shy of $207 million in sales its first year, and for the last five consecutive years, sales have grown to more than $1.6 billion annually. — while operating costs for the Lottery continue to be one of the lowest in the industry at 3.9%.

“The Missouri Lottery is a self-funding agency,” Elder said. “With no tax dollars going toward our operations or staffing, the Lottery has become increasingly efficient in order to maximize the dollars we’re raising for Missouri students.

“At the end of the day, it’s definitely a team effort,” he concluded. “We are so grateful to everyone who helps us Play It Forward for education – our retail partners, vendors, legislators, Lottery commissioners and employees and, of course, the players. We look forward to seeing where the next decade takes us.”

Nov. 6, 1984	Missouri voters approve Amendment 5, which gave the Legislature the authority to establish a state lottery. Seventy percent of voters approved the measure.
Jan. 20, 1986	Missouri Lottery sales begin with the first Scratchers® game, "Jackpot '86.
Feb. 13, 1986	A player in Kansas City becomes the Lottery’s first millionaire.
Feb. 26, 1987	Pick 3 sales begin.
April 19, 1992	Powerball sales begin.
Aug. 4, 1992	Seventy-eight percent of Missouri voters approve Amendment 11 to earmark Lottery proceeds for public education.
July 1, 1993	Amendment 11 becomes effective, directing all proceeds to public education.
Oct. 30, 1993	The first $2 Scratchers game – "Bingo" – goes on sale.
Sept. 16, 1997	The first $3 Scratchers game – "Set For Life" – goes on sale.
Dec. 17, 1997	The Missouri Lottery is a founding member of the Missouri Alliance to Curb Problem Gambling (MACPG).
Nov. 2, 1998	Pick 4 sales begin.
Nov. 11, 1999	The first $5 Scratchers game – "Season's Greetings" – goes on sale.
May 28, 2002	Club Keno sales begin.
Aug. 24, 2002	The first $10 Scratchers game – "$300,000 Cash" – goes on sale.
Sept. 22, 2003	The Lottery launches the My Lottery Players Club.
July 19, 2004	Computerized drawings begin for in-state Draw Games.
July 26, 2004	Midday drawings are added for Pick 3 and Pick 4.
Jan. 26, 2008	The first $20 Scratchers game – "4 Million Dollar Cash Bonanza" – goes on sale.
Sept. 8, 2008	Show Me Cash sales begin.
Jan. 31, 2010	Mega Millions sales begin.
Sept. 10, 2012	The Play It Forward® beneficiary advertising campaign begins.
Jan. 25, 2016	The first $30 Scratchers game – "$300,000,000 Golden Ticket" – goes on sale.
Dec. 20, 2018	The Missouri Lottery achieves Level 4 certification - the highest level possible - through the World Lottery Association's Responsible Gaming Framework.
Feb. 5, 2020	The Lottery receives the highest “Sustaining Level” certification for its responsible gaming program from NCPG (National Council on Problem Gambling) and NASPL (North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries).
Aug. 28, 2021	House Bill 402, which prohibits the Lottery from publishing winners’ names without prior written approval, becomes law.
Jan. 31, 2022	The first $50 Scratchers game - "Millionaire Blowout" - goes on sale.
May 22, 2022	Cash Pop sales begin.
Aug. 22, 2022	The Lottery achieves the highest industry certification for Information Security with the World Lottery Association (WLA).
July 28, 2025	Missouri’s largest Show Me Cash jackpot – $1.228 million – is won on a ticket sold in Independence.
Sept. 6, 2025	A Powerball player in St. Louis wins $893.7 million – the largest prize ever won by a Missouri Lottery player.