Frequently Asked Questions

The Maryland Lottery offers a diverse range of games to suit all types of players. Descriptions and rules are available in the Games section of mdlottery.com.

There are more than 4,400 Lottery retailers across the state in venues of all types and sizes, including convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants, bars, bowling alleys and grocery stores. Check our Retailer Locator to find a location in your area.

Click here for a list of ADA-compliant retailers.

All Maryland Lottery retailers are authorized to redeem winning tickets up to and including $600. Use the Find a Retailer page to search for retailers by ZIP code.

Winning tickets up to and including $5,000 can be redeemed at any Maryland Lottery Expanded Cashing Authority Program (XCAP) retailer. A list of the Lottery’s approximately 400 XCAP locations is available on the How To Claim page.

Winning tickets of any amount can be redeemed at the Lottery office at 1800 Washington Boulevard in Baltimore. Tickets valued at more than $25,000 must be redeemed at the Lottery office. All claims at the Lottery office are by appointment only – no walk-ins. Schedule an appointment here.

Please allow at least 15 business days for processing any winning tickets with a value of more than $25,000.

Winning tickets up to and including $25,000 can be redeemed at the cashiers’ windows at Maryland’s casinos. Visit the How To Claim page to view casino locations.

Prizes of any value can be claimed by mail. Instructions for claiming by mail and a copy of the claim form can be found on the How To Claim page.

When claiming any prize of $601 or more, you must show proof of your Social Security Number or Tax ID Number and a photo ID that proves you are at least 18 years old. A list of acceptable forms of identification is available on the How To Claim page.

Yes. You’ll need to print a claim form to fill out and send in with your tickets. The claim form, mailing address and additional information are available on the How To Claim page.

Winning tickets for draw games (Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5, Bonus Match 5, Multi-Match, Powerball, Mega Millions, Keno, Cash4Life and Racetrax), must be redeemed within 182 days from the drawing dates. Winning FAST PLAY tickets must be redeemed within 182 days of the date they are sold.

The last dates to claim prizes on scratch-off tickets vary for each ticket and are available in the scratch-off section of mdlottery.com. If a scratch-off ticket does not have a last date to claim listed, it means none has been established yet. Last dates to claim on scratch-off tickets are always announced with 182 days’ notice.

For prizes of $601 to $5,000, taxes are not deducted before you receive your winnings, however these prizes are taxable and must be reported when winners file their tax returns. For information on Lottery prizes and State or Federal tax obligations, visit marylandtaxes.gov or irs.gov, or consider speaking with a qualified tax professional.

For prizes of $5,001 or more, the Lottery is required by law to deduct the following taxes from your winnings:
• 24% federal tax;
• 8.95% state tax if you are a Maryland resident, or;
• 8% state tax if you are not a Maryland resident.

In addition, Lottery winnings must be reported as income when you file your tax return. In many cases, this will have a significant impact on your tax situation. Tax laws are complex and constantly changing. We strongly recommend that you consider seeking tax and financial advice from experienced professionals.

Ask the retailer to print a receipt showing what happened when your ticket was scanned. Keep that receipt and your ticket in your possession. Call Lottery headquarters at 410-230-8800 and ask to speak with our Security Division, which handles questions that deal with validating and redeeming prizes on tickets.

No. If you receive an error message from the Lottery terminal, you will need to contact the Lottery’s Security Division to resolve the issue. Call 410-230-8800.

If you receive suspicious contact from someone claiming to represent the Maryland Lottery, please feel free to contact us by calling our Baltimore headquarters at 410-230-8800 or send us an email at [email protected].

The Maryland Lottery will never ask for your bank information or Social Security number over the phone, nor will we ever require you to pay a fee or make special additional purchases in order to claim a prize.

The Maryland Lottery will contact you if you’ve won a prize in one of our promotional or second-chance drawings run through the My Lottery Rewards program, or if you are a Mega Millions, Multi-Match, Powerball or Cash4Life subscriber who has won a prize.

If you did not enter a Maryland Lottery second-chance contest through My Lottery Rewards, or if you are not a subscriber, you will not receive calls, emails or letters from the Maryland Lottery telling you that you’ve won.

Winning numbers are published on mdlottery.com and available at all Lottery retailers.

Call 410-230-8830 for our automated winning numbers line.

Download our free Maryland Lottery app, available for iPhones and Android phones.

The only official winning numbers are those that are actually drawn. Information available from any of these sources should always be verified before it is used in any way.

Click here to view a schedule of drawing times and ticket sales cutoff times for each drawing.

Winning numbers have always been – and will continue to be – purely the luck of the draw and a matter of random chance. Every time a number is drawn is an independent and unique event. The result of each drawing is completely unaffected by the result of any previous drawing. In addition, each number has the same exact chance of being drawn as any other number at any point in time.

Random drawings do occasionally produce unusual results. Because of this, there may appear to be patterns or sequences emerging from time to time. But these are simply the results of random chance. Our drawings are overseen by multiple witnesses, and we have significant safeguards and procedures in place to ensure that our games are conducted with honesty, integrity and transparency.

There is no way to predict where a winning ticket will be sold. Statistically speaking, there are likely to be more winners from more densely populated areas of the state because more tickets are being sold in those areas. In the winners’ stories section of our website, you’ll see that we have winners from all over the state.

In addition, high-population areas with large numbers of players, such as Baltimore, cover a wide geographical area. According to the U.S. Postal Service website, Baltimore is covered by 60 different zip codes throughout the Baltimore metropolitan area. For example, a winner from zip code 21286 may be listed on our website as a resident of Baltimore, but addresses in that zip code may also be located in Loch Raven or Towson.

Yes, subscriptions are available for Mega Millions, Multi-Match, Powerball and Cash4Life through the My Lottery Rewards website. You must have a Maryland mailing to purchase a subscription from the Maryland Lotteryfor the Maryland Lottery.

Mega Millions, Powerball and Cash4Life are available in multiple states and jurisdictions.

Mega Millions and Powerball tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball tickets are also sold in Puerto Rico. Cash4Life tickets are sold in nine states.

Winning tickets for Mega Millions, Powerball and Cash4Life must be cashed in the state/jurisdiction where they were sold.

There are other states that have Keno and Racetrax, however each state conducts separate drawings in those games. Our results for Keno and Racetrax are exclusive to Maryland.

Winners are able to name a beneficiary when claiming an annuity prize. Before you claim your prize, please be aware that there may be tax and/or estate consequences related to how a Lottery prize is claimed and whose name(s) appear on the ticket and claim form. We recommend speaking with a licensed financial advisor before submitting your claim form.

Yes, you can. When we meet with winners who claim prizes at our Baltimore office, we encourage them to embrace the moment and celebrate by posing for a photo that we can publish. However, anyone who wins a prize on a Maryland Lottery draw game ticket, FAST PLAY ticket or scratch-off ticket has the right to remain anonymous. We do not release any such winner’s name or photo unless the winner has specifically given us written consent to do so.

Please note that this anonymity protection does not apply to second-chance and Points for Drawings contests run through the My Lottery Rewards program. Those contests are run as promotions for the Lottery. As such, they are operated under a different set of rules than our draw games and scratch-off games. The rules of participating in our second-chance and Points for Drawings contests state that winners’ identities are published.

The Lottery is a game of chance and meant only as a form of entertainment and recreation. No one should depend on the Lottery to supplement their income or pay bills. If you or someone you know may have a problem with gambling, resources are available from the Maryland Alliance for Responsible Gambling (MARG). Maryland residents are eligible for free problem gambling assessment and treatment. For information and confidential assistance, please call 1-800-GAMBLER.

My Lottery Rewards is a free player loyalty program that allows you to redeem Lottery tickets for points that you can use to acquire items or enter prize drawings. The Lottery also runs second-chance promotional contests through My Lottery Rewards. Visit the Promotions page to see the current second-chance contests and drawings.

Non-winning Maryland Lottery scratch-off tickets and all Maryland Lottery draw game tickets (winning and non-winning) can be entered into your Rewards account. Visit the How It Works page and the FAQ page on the Rewards website for more information on the program.

My Lottery Rewards is also the portal for purchasing subscriptions to Mega Millions, Powerball, Multi-Match and Cash4Life.

Call the Rewards Player Services staff at 1-800-201-0108, or submit the details about the problems you’re experiencing directly to the Player Services team by using the help form on the My Lottery Rewards website.

Visit the Contact Us page of our website to send us a message, or send an email to [email protected]. Call Lottery headquarters in Baltimore at 410-230-8800. We are always happy to hear from our players and will do our best to help you in any way possible.

Visit the Casinos page or the Sports Wagering page of mdgaming.com.

Visit mdgaming.com to find member bios and records of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Commission’s meetings.

Visit mdgaming.com to find forms and information on licensing.

Yes. Visit mdgaming.com to find information on the ancillary forms of gaming that Maryland Lottery and Gaming regulates, including the Instant Ticket Lottery Machine (ITLM) program for veterans’ organizations; skills-based amusement devices; electronic instant bingo machines in Anne Arundel and Calvert counties; and online fantasy competitions.

Visit mdgaming.com to find information on eMaryland Marketplace’s current and closed RFPs.