HELENA — The Montana Lottery will add 120,000 more tickets and a fifth million-dollar prize for the 2025 Montana Millionaire. The Montana Lottery Commission approved the changes on Thursday for the popular lottery program.
For 2025, the lottery will sell 620,000 tickets, offer five $1 million grand prizes (up from four last year), more instant-win prizes, and a “Quarter Million Monday” drawing for $250,000 on December 1.
Tickets cost $20 each, and they will go on sale on Saturday, November 1, 2025 at 5:30 a.m.
Last year’s Montana Millionaire tickets — 500,000 in total — sold out in less than three hours. Lottery officials said they were surprised by the quick sale of all tickets, since they had increased the number by 120,000 that year.
Tickets sold out in record time in 2024:
"We've listened to our players and sales agents and combined their feedback with our team's knowledge to responsibly enhance the 2025 Montana Millionaire after last year's surprising sell-out," commented Montana Lottery director Bob Brown.
MONTANA MILLIONAIRE FAQ
The Montana Lottery has provided responses to several frequently-asked questions:
- Why don’t you limit Montana Millionaire to Montana residents only? The Montana Lottery is available to everyone of legal age, whether resident or visitor. Limiting the sale of a product to some people while excluding others is discrimination. It would also be contrary to our mission and place an undue burden on our retailers.
- Why don’t you limit the number of Montana Millionaire tickets someone can buy? The mission of the Montana Lottery is to maximize revenue for the State of Montana. Our proceeds fund Montana’s STEM/Healthcare Scholarship Program and contribute to the General Fund. To limit sales of our products would be contrary to our mission and result in less positive impact for the residents of Montana.
- Why don’t you offer Montana Millionaire or another raffle game more than once per year? The Montana Lottery has a large selection of games available every day of the year. We believe Montana Millionaire is special and successful because it’s exclusive. While it is not impossible that we may introduce other raffle games in the future, currently we have made this strategic business decision based on detailed market research and analysis.
WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?
Money generated from the lottery is used in several ways.
“The lottery exists to generate revenue for the State of Montana. Most sales go towards paying prizes, operations, and essentially whatever is left at the end of that is what goes back to the state. That’s determined by state legislative action and the beneficiary, as we call it, has changed a number of times,” Montana Lottery content manager Dan Iverson told MTN News several months ago.
Currently, the first $2.25 million goes to the Montana Stem/Healthcare Scholarship Program, operated by the Office Of The Commissioner Of Higher Education and the Montana University System. Whatever is left goes to the state's general fund, which is dictated by the legislature.
2024 WINNING TICKETS
In 20224, Montana Millionaire featured 500,000 tickets; all of the tickets sold out within three hours.
The four grand prize winning tickets were drawn on Thursday, December 26, 2024. The winning tickets and where they were sold:
- 021333 – Cranny’s Club Tavern & Casino in Dillon
- 077800 – Super 1 Foods in Great Falls
- 143115 – Grand Slam Casino in Great Falls
- 416013 – Beartooth Harley Davidson in Billings
PREVIOUS WINNERS
Since the Montana Millionaire began, the following towns have sold winning tickets: seven in Great Falls; seven in Billings; three in Butte; two in Columbia Falls; two in Dillon; and one each in Winnett, East Helena, Kalispell, and Laurel.
Previous winners of the Montana Millionaire grand prize include:
- 2020: Megan Thorstenson, Butte
- 2019: Casey Petero, Columbia Falls
- 2018: Richard Mai, Billings
- 2017: Amy Lambert, Butte
- 2016: Daniel Thompson, Great Falls
- 2015: Jack Barisich, Winnett
- 2014: Jeffrey Fallang, East Helena
- 2013: Russell Miller, Columbia Falls
- 2012: Sam Polesky, Laurel
- 2011: Vern & Mara Wallace, Billings
- 2010: William Morse, Billings
- 2009: Dana Delguerra, Great Falls
- 2008: Mike & Carole McGivern, Butte
- 2007: Gary & BJ Klipstein, Billings
Due to a change in legislation in 2021, the Montana Lottery is no longer allowed to release names of Montana Millionaire winners unless the person gives consent.
In 2022, no one claimed one of the two Montana Millionaire prizes, so the money went into the State General Fund.
