Montana Millionaire tickets went on sale on Friday, November 1st, at 5:30 a.m., and people began lining up outside of Schulte’s convenience store in Great Falls - and other lottery retailers across the state - more than an hour before that.
Wendy Haas of Great Falls was the first in line at Schulte's, and excited to get her hands on one of the $20 tickets.
“The tickets sold out so quickly in the past, and I love Schulte’s. I always get my lottery tickets here, so I had told Rory that I'd be here early in the morning. I didn’t know I'd show up that early, but I did,” Haas said.
With four million-dollar grand prizes, a drawing for $250,000 on December 2, and 2,300 tickets of $500 instant wins, and 4,500 tickets of $100 instant wins, people were eager to snatch up tickets.
Schulte’s owner Rory Schulte said, “I got here this morning at about 3:15, got things rolling, got things going, and then we started having people show up right at about 3:45 a.m. and shortly after that, there was a line around the building.”
Schulte's opened early at 5:25 a.m. just before the tickets went on sale at 5:30 a.m., and it wasn't the only packed place.
Pictures on social media show lines of people snaking through the aisles of convenience stores across the state, and in some cases long lines extending out the doors of stores.
The Montana Lottery said at 8:24 a.m. that all 500,000 tickets available this year had been sold: "Hold onto your hats (and your tickets), now! Montana Millionaire has officially SOLD OUT in less than 3 hours. We hope you were able to participate in this year’s raffle."
This year's pace out-did last year's sale, when all 380,000 tickets available sold within five hours.
Last year, there were three one-million dollar prizes - and one of them was sold at the Heidelberg Lounge on Division Road in Great Falls.
Blair Michel of the Heidelberg said on Thursday, "I feel like somebody winning locally, and especially here, makes it just a little bit more exciting and makes it feel like it's within reach for people."
The Heidelberg opened at 5:30 a.m. on Friday to serve up coffee and donuts for people who didn't want to risk missing out on a chance to buy a ticket - and the parking lot was full even before then.
Later on Friday, Montana Lottery officials noted that the very first ticket sold this year was at the Wild Hare in downtown Great Falls:
Back at Schulte's, Rory is grateful to his loyal customers and doesn’t mind getting to work at 3 a.m. for them.
“For us, it's really been very rewarding to be in the community as long as we have, and so with that, it just kind of comes with a kind of a responsibility to our customers to take care of them. and, it's why we opened early today, just like a lot of people did,” Schulte explained.
A“Quarter Million Monday” drawing for $250,000 will be on Monday, December 2, 2024; this replaces the former “Early Bird” drawings.
The drawing for the four $1M grand prizes will be on Thursday, December 26, 2024. Click here to visit the Montana Lottery site.
There are several changes for this year's Montana Millionaire.
SUMMARY OF CHANGES
- Four $1M grand prizes
- 500,000 available tickets
- 'Quarter-Million Monday'
- More instant wins
The agency is adding another million-dollar grand prize this year, bringing the total to four. This comes after last year's increase from two to three $1M prizes.
The number of tickets sold this year increased to 500,000 - up from 380,000 sold in 2023. Tickets will still cost $20. Last year, all tickets sold within five hours.
The Montana Lottery is also adding a “Quarter Million Monday” drawing for $250,000 on Monday, December 2, 2024; this will replace the former “Early Bird” drawings.
There will also be more instant win prizes: 2,300 tickets of $500 instant wins, and 4,500 tickets of $100 instant wins.
The drawing for the grand prizes will be on Thursday, December 26, 2024.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
Last year's winning $1M tickets and where they were sold:
- 299951 - Town Pump of Kalispell (2910 US 93 South)
- 315800 - Town & Country Supply (Hilltop Road in Billings)
- 346589 - Heidelberg Lounge (Division Road in Great Falls)
Previous million-dollar winners over the years include three from Butte, two from Great Falls, four from Billings, two from Columbia Falls, and one each from Winnett, East Helena, and Laurel.
In 2022, no one claimed one of the two Montana Millionaire prizes, so the money went into the State General Fund.
Due to a change in legislation, the Montana Lottery is no longer allowed to release the names of Montana Millionaire winners without their explicit consent.
WHO CAN BUY TICKETS - AND HOW MANY?
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.
If you have questions, comments, or suggestions about the Montana Lottery, here is the contact information:
Email: montanalottery@mt.gov
Phone: 406-444-5825
Address: Montana Lottery, 2525 North Montana Avenue, Helena, Montana, 59601-0598
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.
