Director and StaffCommissionersHistoryRegional OfficesFacts

A Brief History of the Ohio Lottery

1971 -- Ohio State Senator Ron Mottl spearheaded a campaign to create a lottery in Ohio.

1973 -- State Issue 1, the creation of the Ohio Lottery Commission, was approved by voters by better than a 2 - 1 margin.

1974 -- The Lottery's first game, Buckeye 300, went on sale in August. Omar Watts was the first Ohio Lottery millionaire.

The Lottery originally had a five-member board, who oversaw all Lottery operations, but now has a nine-member Commission that serves in an advisory capacity.

1983 -- The Ohio Legislature, in July, earmarked Lottery profits to Education.

1987 -- Voters approved a constitutional amendment to permanently earmark Lottery profits to education in November.

1988 -- House Bill 789 was passed in March, creating the Lottery Profits Education Fund. This allowed for a clear separation of Lottery revenue from the State's General Revenue fund.

1992 -- The Lottery launches Buckeye 5, a 5/37 mini lotto game.

1998 -- The Lottery transferred a record $723 million to the Lottery Profits Education Fund (FY '98).

1999 -- The Lottery's first midday draw takes place on August 16th. Lottery runs first Pick 3 Red Ball promotion, providing Pick 3 winners a prize boost of about 20 percent when the "red ball" is drawn after the Pick 3 drawing.

2000 -- Lottery runs second Pick 3 Red Ball promotion, providing Pick 3 winners a prize boost of about 20 percent when the "red ball" is drawn after the Pick 3 drawing.

2002 -- Ohio Lottery joins the multi-state lottery game Mega Millions. First tickets in Ohio sold on May 15th, with the first drawing held on May 17th.

2003 -- Since the Lottery's inception in 1974, the Lottery has contributed more than $13 billion to education in Ohio. While this is a significant amount of money, the State of Ohio has more than 600 school districts and the statewide education budget in Fiscal Year 2003 was $14.9 billion, according to the Ohio Department of Education.

All Lottery profits are earmarked for education by the Ohio Constitution, but Lottery profits alone cannot support Ohio’s schools. For this reason, the Ohio Lottery urges Ohioans to learn about the schools’ needs and get involved.

The first Mega Millions winner, Rebecca Jemison claims the $162 million jackpot drawn on Dec. 30th.

2004 -- The Lottery holds the $5 Million Top Prize Drawing Show.

Leilani Barrett and Michell Duda join the Lottery as the new hosts of the Cash Explosion Double Play game show.

The Pick 3 Red Ball promotion is back.

The Ohio Lottery celebrated its 30th Anniversary with promotions and media across the state.

The Play it Again feature for on-line games was activated on October 3rd. This feature allows retailers to create a new ticket with identical wager information off another ticket by scanning its Play it Again barcode.

The Lottery releases Rolling Cash 5, a new mini lotto game, on October 3rd. The first drawing was held Oct. 4, with jackpots starting at $100,000 and increasing by at least $10,000, based on sales. The game replaced the Buckeye 5 game.

2005 -- The Ohio Lottery introduces the new lotto game Lot 'O Play, replacing Super Lotto Plus. With 12 ways to win, Lot 'O Play is the first game of its kind in the U.S.

2006 -- Another successful Pick 3 Red Ball promotion, providing Pick 3 winners a prize boost of about 20 percent when the "red ball" is drawn after the Pick 3 drawing.

The Ohio Lottery conducted the first Raffle To Riches promotion on September 4th. 500,000 tickets sold during the months of Aug. and Sept. 509 winning raffle ticket numbers were drawn with 4 top prizes of $1 million dollar prizes.

2007 -- The largest jackpot in U.S. history was the March 6, 2007 Mega Millions jackpot of $390 million. Two winners from New Jersey and Georgia claimed the top prize.

The second Raffle to Riches promotion ran from February 18 to April 16, 2007.

Sunday Drawings begin May 20, 2007.

Partners in Education began in August 2007 with Academic All Stars and Teacher of the Month programs.

Ten-OH! launched on August 4, 2007. Players choose 10 numbers out of 80. The Lottery chooses 20 numbers. Players win by matching 5 to 10 numbers or no numbers at all.

New Year’s Raffle held December 31, 2007. Four- $1 Million prizes, Two- $100,000 cash prizes, 500 prizes of $500, and 5,500 instant win prizes of $100.

2008 -- February 1, 2008. Pick 3 Redball promotion returned for the fifth time! This popular promotion gives Pick 3 players a prize increase of approximately 20%.

April 14 - EZPLAY Games launched. EZPLAY Games are instant play-style games generated through Lottery terminals. The first two games were $1 Tic-Tac-Toe and $2 Bingo, later followed by $1 Fish Finder and $3 Poker.

August 5 - KENO is introduced to Ohio. Players can win up to $100,000 on a $1 wager, matching up to 10 of their numbers to 20 winning numbers, drawn from a pool of 80. Players can wager up to $20.

September - Ten-OH! Bonus Days promotions was launched. On every Tuesday and Friday during the month of September, all prize values increased by approximately 50%.

New Year’s Raffle held December 31, 2008. Four- $1 Million prizes, Two- $100,000 cash prizes, 500 prizes of $500, and 5,500 instant win prizes of $100.

2009 -- March 1, 2009. Pick 3 Redball promotion returned for the sixth time!