The Powerball jackpot ballooned to $1.9 billion in early November, the second-largest in the game’s 30-year history.
Maryland lottery players can purchase tickets at more than 4,000 locations across the state, but they still can’t buy a ticket online.
Play Powerball online with a subscription
Several states allow players to purchase lottery tickets online, but the Maryland Lottery is not one of them. Online lotteries are not prohibited in The Old Line State, per se. However, the unauthorized sale of tickets is. As such, individual online tickets cannot be legally bought at this time in Maryland.
Instead, official Maryland Lottery online retailers offer subscriptions. Residents of Maryland are permitted to take part in popular online lotteries including Lucky for Life, Powerball, Keno and Mega Millions, as well as numerous other draws and scratch-off tickets by using this method.
So, while individual tickets for lottery draws can only be bought at licensed retailers, players can become My Lottery Rewards members and purchase a subscription in order to buy a Powerball ticket online in Maryland.
In addition to Maryland, four other states also offer online lottery tickets on a subscription-only basis.
Maryland offers several popular lottery games
Lottery tickets are available on several different draws depending on which days of the week they take place. The following are some of the most popular lotteries:
- Pick 3/4/5 – Maryland Lottery Pick 3, Pick 4 and Pick 5 take place daily and are the most popular draws. Three, four or five numbers have to be matched, with top prizes ranging between $500 and $50,000. Tickets can be bought from a range of retailers.
- Bonus Match-5 – This is another daily lottery draw with the top cash prizes in the ballpark of $50,000. A sixth bonus ball is available, and players can buy tickets on seven consecutive draws.
- Multi Match – On only two days, Mondays and Thursdays, 18 numbers can be drawn and tickets cost only $2. There are four possible wins per game. The minimum jackpot of $500,000 certainly draws in a crowd.
- Mega Millions – Mega Millions takes place on Tuesdays and Fridays. Tickets are just $2, with up to $40 million in prize money. And for an additional $1, there’s a multiplier option.
- Cash4Life – Drawn each day at 9 p.m., this lottery game presents players with the opportunity to win up to $1,000 per day for the rest of their life. Players have to choose five numbers from 1 to 60, as well as a “Cash Ball” between 1 and 4. Tickets here are also $2.
- Powerball – Held three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Players pick five numbers between 1 and 69, as well as a “Powerball” number from 1 to 26. The starting jackpot is $40 million.
The range of games the Maryland Lottery offers has in the past produced many incredible prizes, with 60% of all ticket purchases in the state going toward the prize payouts. Thirty percent of all ticket sales go to state-run programs that assist in a variety of social causes. The remaining 10% goes to retailers and the Maryland Lottery.
Maryland boasts thousands of lottery retailers
There are an estimated 4,400 official lottery ticket retailers across the state. As ubiquitous as they are, players are never far from being able to buy a ticket. The Maryland Lottery website devotes a page to help players locate their nearest MD lottery retailers. Participating locations usually include:
- Convenience stores
- Gas stations
- Grocers
- Liquor stores
- Tobacco shops
- Truck stops
In the past, Maryland has had a few major winners. In January 2021, the Coney Market in Lonaconing in Western Maryland sold a winning Powerball ticket worth more than $731.1 million.
How the Maryland Lottery began
Operational since 1973, the Maryland Lottery is one of the longest-running and most popular lotteries in the country. Headquartered in Baltimore, it runs a number of state and nationwide lottery games. The lottery’s regulation falls under the purview of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Agency.
On May 15, 1973, the first game, called Twin Win, became available to players. Three years later, in February 1976, the first scratch-off games came out.
The Maryland Lottery — known to be one of the innovators of multi-state lottery games — has largely been responsible for ushering in its draw-style games. In 1996, there was the Big Game, setting the stage for Mega Millions, which debuted in 2002.
Since its inception, the Maryland Lottery has generated more than $16 billion for civic projects in Maryland and more than $25.6 billion in winnings for players.
