State Specific Rules
To play Powerball in Minnesota, just pick up a playslip from any licensed lottery retailer, then choose five main numbers between 1 and 69, and one Powerball from 1 to 26. The following conditions also apply to players in the North Star State:
- You must be at least 18 years of age to buy lottery tickets or claim prizes.
- You can play up to 14 consecutive draws in advance.
- Powerball tickets can be bought up to 9:00pm CT on the night of each draw, and sales reopen for the following drawing shortly after the winning numbers have been confirmed.
- A state tax of 7.25 percent is applied to all prizes over $5,000, in addition to federal taxes.
How to Claim Prizes
Prizes up to $599 can be claimed from any lottery retailer in Minnesota. If they do not have the funds available to complete the payout, you may be required to claim the prize at another location.
Prizes from $600 up to and including $50,000 can be claimed from any of the Minnesota Lottery’s offices. You will need to complete a claim form, including your social security number, and present it along with the winning ticket at one of the locations below. The headquarters in Roseville is open from 8:00am-5:00pm CT Monday through Friday, and all other offices are open between 8:30am-12:00pm and 1:00pm-4:00pm CT.
| Location | Address | Telephone Number: |
|---|---|---|
| Roseville (HQ) | 2645 Long Lake Road Roseville, MN 55113 | (651) 635-8273 |
| Owatonna | 205 Cedardale Drive Owatonna, MN 55060 | (507) 444-2400 |
| Detroit Lakes | 1641 Highway 10 W Detroit Lakes, MN 56501 | (218) 846-0700 |
| Virginia | 130 Chestnut Street E Virginia, MN 55792 | (218) 748-2450 |
| Marshall | 750 West College Drive Marshall, MN 56258 | (507) 537-6041 |
Prizes over $50,000 must be collected from the lottery’s headquarters. You can also claim any prizes up to and including $50,000 by mail. You must sign your ticket and complete a claim form, and send both documents to:
Minnesota State Lottery,
P.O. Box 131000,
Roseville, MN 55113
You are advised to use registered mail, as the Minnesota Lottery is not responsible for any tickets lost in transit. Do not mail winning tickets to the office addresses in the table above, as this may delay the processing of your claim.
Claiming With a Lottery Pool
When claiming a prize as part of a lottery pool, each member of the group must complete a claim form, paying attention to item 19, regarding the sharing of prizes. You must state in this section how many people will be claiming the prize in total and how much of the prize money you are entitled to. All of the claim forms must be received by the lottery and all must be in agreement for the money to be paid out.
Claim Period
You have one year from the date of the winning draw to claim your prize. If the one-year deadline falls on a weekend or public holiday, you have until the end of the next business day to claim. Any prize money left unclaimed after this period goes into the General Fund to improve public services in Minnesota.
Going Public
You no longer have to go public in Minnesota if you win a lottery prize worth more than $10,000. A bill allowing anonymity for big winners was signed into law from the start of September 2021, so your personal information will remain private unless you give the Minnesota Lottery your written consent to release those details. If you win an amount of up to $10,000, your name, city and the prize value are still public information.
Lost and Damaged Tickets
The Minnesota Lottery treats Powerball tickets as bearer instruments, meaning that whoever is in possession of one has the right to claim a prize with it. However, if there is a name written on the back of the ticket the lottery will only pay out prizes to that person, so you should always write your name on a ticket after purchasing it. That way, if your ticket is lost or stolen, no one else will be able to claim a prize with it. If a ticket is too damaged to be validated, prizes may not be paid out.
Where Does the Money Go?
Over half of the money generated through the sale of lottery tickets in Minnesota is given back to players as prize money. After retailer commissions and game costs are covered, the remaining revenue is used to protect the state’s wildlife and natural resources, and to improve public services. You can see exactly how revenue is split in the table below:
| Area of Spending | Percentage of Revenue |
|---|---|
| Prizes | 62.2% |
| General Fund | 13.3% |
| Costs and Expenses | 7.5% |
| Environment & Natural Resources Trust Fund | 6.4% |
| Retailer Commissions | 6.0% |
| Natural Resources Fund | 2.3% |
| Game and Fish Fund | 2.3% |
Minnesota’s General Fund receives the biggest proportion of revenue, after prizes are paid, and this money is used to improve a wide range of public services, including K-12 education, public safety, and healthcare. A portion of this money is also set aside to help combat problem gambling.
A significant proportion of the lottery’s revenue is allocated to the Environment & Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF), which since 1991 has provided more than $900 million to preserve and enhance Minnesota’s wildlife and natural resources. Proceeds from the lottery have contributed to over 1,000 projects, such as one to reintroduce bison to Minnesota’s state parks after a 150-year absence, and another to help preserve endangered plants, including the Showy Lady Slipper, Minnesota’s state flower.
The remaining money is transferred to the Natural Resources Fund and the Game and Fish Fund, which both help to protect Minnesota’s wildlife and its trails, parks, and zoos.
Minnesota Powerball Winners
Paul White from Ham Lake in Anoka County was one of three winners of a $448 million Powerball jackpot in August 2013. White, who worked as a project engineer at Elliot Contracting in Minneapolis, had an inkling that his numbers were due to come up. At a press conference held to announce his win, he said: “I feel like it's almost been coming.” His share of the jackpot was worth $149 million as an annuity, but he opted to take a pre-tax lump sum worth $86 million. When asked what he was going to spend the money on, he said he was eyeing up a few cars, including a 1963 Chevrolet Impala, which was the first car his father ever bought.
Tom Morris and his wife Kathleen came forward to collect a $228 million Powerball jackpot in August 2011 and they were already looking forward to their retirement when the Minnesota Lottery announced them as the winners. “Things didn’t look real promising”, Kathleen said, “so I told Tom the only way we will retire is if we win the lottery, and he said, ‘Well, you need to buy a ticket’.” Tom took his own advice and bought some tickets from a Super America store, one of which turned out to be the winning one. The jackpot was Minnesota’s biggest ever since Powerball began in 1992.
