The Vermont Lottery began fiscal operations as an enterprise fund in October 1977, following a 1976 referendum, and the enactment of Public Act No. 82 by the 1977 General Assembly. It is run by the Vermont Lottery Commission headquartered in Berlin

Berlin, Vermont

Berlin is a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,864 at the 2000 census. Being the town between Barre, Vermont and Montpelier, Vermont, the two largest cities in the region, much of the commercial business of the region can be found in Berlin, including parts of...

. Along with Maine

Maine Lottery

The Maine Lottery is run by the government of Maine. It is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association , whose flagship game is Powerball....

 and New Hampshire

New Hampshire Lottery

Begun in 1964, the New Hampshire Lottery is the oldest US mainland-based lottery. New Hampshire's games include Mega Millions, Powerball, Hot Lotto, and numerous scratch tickets.New Hampshire is part of the Multi-State Lottery Association , which it joined in 1995...

, it is a member of the Tri-State Lottery.

February 1978 (Green Mountain Game)

Green Mountain Game was the lottery's first game, with weekly drawings.

June 1978 (Scratch 'N Match)

Scratch 'N Match was the lottery's first instant game. Hundreds of games have been produced, with multiple games available.

November 10, 1980 (Pick 3)

Pick 3 began as the Lottery's first on-line game (i.e., a game offered through the Lottery terminals). Draws were held nightly.

September 3, 1985 (Tri State Megabucks)

Sales began for TSM; its first draw was held on September 14, 1985. The partnership with Maine

Maine Lottery

The Maine Lottery is run by the government of Maine. It is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association , whose flagship game is Powerball....

 and New Hampshire

New Hampshire Lottery

Begun in 1964, the New Hampshire Lottery is the oldest US mainland-based lottery. New Hampshire's games include Mega Millions, Powerball, Hot Lotto, and numerous scratch tickets.New Hampshire is part of the Multi-State Lottery Association , which it joined in 1995...

 began.

June 28, 1995

Pick 3 and Pick 4 became Tri-State games, with Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

 and New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

 players also taking part.

June 28, 1995 to September 5, 1997

5 Card Cash replaced Tuesday's Cash 5 and Friday's Lotto Vermont.

September 6, 1997 to February 26, 2002

WinCash, with Tuesday and Friday drawings, replaced 5 Card Cash.

February 27, 2002 to November 14, 2003

Cash Lotto, with Tuesday and Friday drawings, replaced WinCash.

July 1, 2003

The Lottery began selling Powerball tickets for its drawing held on July 2. (New Hampshire joined Powerball in 1995.)

November 16, 2003 to June 25, 2005

Heads or Tails, with daily drawings, replaced Cash Lotto's Tuesday and Friday drawings.

June 26, 2005 to January 12, 2007

Triple Play, with Tuesday and Friday drawings, replaced Heads or Tails.

Finances

Money from the Lottery supplied about 2% of the annual expenditures for education in 2007, contributing $23 million, of the $1.3 billion of school spending. Prior to July 1, 1998, profits from the lottery went to the state government's general fund, but since then all profits are required to go to the Education Fund.

Games

Gaming products are available to players age 18 or older. The portfolio includes scratch

Scratchcard

A scratchcard is a small card, often made of thin paper-based card for competitions and plastic to conceal PINs, where one or more areas contain concealed information which can...

 tickets, games of the Tri-State Lottery, and Powerball

Powerball

Powerball is an American lottery game sold in 44 jurisdictions as a shared jackpot game. It is coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association , a non-profit organization formed by an agreement with lotteries. Powerball is a game whose advertised jackpot starts at $20 million and can roll into...

. Drawings are held on the following schedule (Eastern Time Zone):

Game	Purchase Cutoff	Draw Schedule
Megabucks†	7:50 PM	Wednesday & Saturday, 7:59 PM
Pick 3 & Pick 4†	1:00 PM & 6:45 PM	Daily, 1:10 PM & 6:55 PM
Powerball††	9:50 PM	Wednesday & Saturday, 10:59 PM
Weekly Grand†	6:45 PM	Tuesday & Friday, 6:50 PM

†Tri-State games are always drawn in New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

.

††Powerball is usually drawn in Florida

Florida Lottery

The Florida Lottery is a government-run organization in Florida, USA. With numerous on-line and scratch-off games available, players have a wide variety of prize levels to choose from. Since it began, the Florida Lottery has continued to add variety to its portfolio of games...

; its home base was Iowa

Iowa Lottery

The Iowa Lottery is run by the government of Iowa. It is a charter member of, and home to, the Multi-State Lottery Association , which administers its games on behalf of the member lotteries...

 until January 2009.

Pick 3

Pick 3 is a daily game drawn in New Hampshire and is also played in Maine. Pick 3 draws twice a day, seven days a week. Prices, prizes and options vary.

Pick 4

Pick 4 is also drawn in New Hampshire. Pick 4 draws two times a day, seven days a week. Prices, prizes and options vary.

Weekly Grand

Weekly Grand also drawn in New Hampshire. It uses a 4+1 matrix (Mega Millions and Powerball use a 5+1 matrix). Players choose from two sets of numbers; 4 out of 35 in the "white pool", and 1 out of 35 in the "Lucky Ball" pool. Matching all five numbers wins $1,000-a-week for 20 years; there is a cash option. Prizes include an "instant" $5 winner. Weekly Grand features fixed payouts (e.g. matching four white ball numbers wins $5,000; three white balls and the Lucky Ball $500) except for the top prize, which is parimutuel. Drawings are Tuesdays and Fridays.

Weekly Grand will be ending in March 2012.

Megabucks Plus

Megabucks Plus is a numbers game which replaced the original Megabucks on July 26, 2009. Megabucks Plus also uses a 5+1 matrix. Megabucks Plus draws 5 of 41 balls plus one Megaball from a separate set of balls numbered 1–6. Tickets are $2 per play. The jackpot starts at $1 million and increases if there is no grand prize winner.

Hot Lotto (multi-lottery game)

Hot Lotto, a MUSL game, is currently played in 15 member lotteries and is drawn Wednesdays and Saturdays. Hot Lotto

Hot Lotto

Hot Lotto is administered by the U.S.' Multi-State Lottery Association , which also operates the Powerball game. Hot Lotto is available in some of the 33 MUSL jurisdictions; Maine is the latest to join, in October 2009. The first drawing was on April 10, 2002 as part of MUSL celebrating the 10th...

 draws five white balls from 1 to 39 and one orange hot ball from 1 to 19. The jackpots start at $1 million and increases by at least $50,000 if there is no jackpot winner. Hot Lotto also has an option called Sizzler (which is played like Powerball's PowerPlay) which costs an additional $1 per play. Unlike PowerPlay, the multiplier in Sizzler is always 3x.

Powerball (multi-lottery game)

Since 2003, the Lottery has been a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association

Multi-State Lottery Association

The Multi-State Lottery Association is a non-profit, government-benefit association owned and operated by agreement of its 33 member lotteries MUSL was created to facilitate the operation of multi-jurisdictional lottery games, including Powerball, Mega Millions), video lottery, and instant ...

 (MUSL) which is best known for Powerball

Powerball

Powerball is an American lottery game sold in 44 jurisdictions as a shared jackpot game. It is coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association , a non-profit organization formed by an agreement with lotteries. Powerball is a game whose advertised jackpot starts at $20 million and can roll into...

. It began in 1992. Powerball's jackpots currently start at $20 million and is drawn Wednesday and Saturday nights.

Mega Millions (multi-lottery game)

On October 13, 2009, the Mega Millions

Mega Millions

Mega Millions is a US multi-jurisdictional $1 lottery game. Since it replaced The Big Game in May 2002 , Mega Millions' advertised jackpots have started at $12 million, paid in 26 yearly installments , increasing when there is no jackpot winner...

 consortium and MUSL reached an agreement in principle to cross-sell Mega Millions

Mega Millions

Mega Millions is a US multi-jurisdictional $1 lottery game. Since it replaced The Big Game in May 2002 , Mega Millions' advertised jackpots have started at $12 million, paid in 26 yearly installments , increasing when there is no jackpot winner...

 and Powerball

Powerball

Powerball is an American lottery game sold in 44 jurisdictions as a shared jackpot game. It is coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association , a non-profit organization formed by an agreement with lotteries. Powerball is a game whose advertised jackpot starts at $20 million and can roll into...

in U.S. lottery jurisdictions. The Lottery added Mega Millions on January 31, 2010.