Welcome punters! Here you’ll find all you’ll need to know about the Alaska lottery – the best games, winning numbers, and the quirks of what’s on offer in the state. At present, there is no official state lottery on the Last Frontier, due to the sparse dispersal of the population across the vast state. This does not mean lotteries are in fact illegal! Permits are issued by the state regulator, usually to non-profits, so outside of an official lottery there’s still plenty of fun to be had.

Sets of lottery sheets, with Alaska's flag superimposed over them

As there is no legal Alaska lottery, we’ll take you through some of the best alternative lotteries that the state has to offer. The state can endorse and issue a permit to organize lotteries – usually to non-profit organizations. Additionally, Alaskans lucky enough to journey over to the contiguous United States can try their luck at the major lotteries available nationwide, or even ask their interstate friends to purchase lottery tickets as gifts, as it’s a legal workaround! We’ll take you through some of those lotteries too – it’s really not hard to get a ticket once you look beyond the frosty state’s borders – even to Canada!

A Selection of Alaska Lottery Games

Although the state of Alaska lacks an official lotto, a variety of game types and opportunities are on offer. Some of the best lotteries are the ones available nation-wide. There are a few heavy-hitting Draw Games that amass huge jackpots, notably Mega Millions and Powerball. With no official national lottery, these two do a good job of stepping up, being available across all the legal lottery states. The independent lottos take various forms – draw being the most common. Lastly, Scratchers can be picked up across the lottery nation, offering smaller instant wins.

Draw Games: AK Lottos with Huge Jackpots

For those Alaskans able to get over to the mainland United States, a lotto ticket for any of the huge array of Draw Games can be picked up. What’s a draw game? No stress, we’ve got you covered. Draw Games are the style you might be most familiar with. They involve the drawing of a select amount of numbers from a wider range, at random. Ticket holders just need to select a set of numbers, and match them all to win the jackpot! Jackpots are few and far between, but many draw games offer lesser prizes for a few number matches. Check out the draw times for the Alaska lottery winning numbers.

Alaska Lottery Number Drawing
Game Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
7:00 PM 7:00 PM
6:59 PM 6:59 PM
6:00 PM
8:30 PM 8:30 PM
12:00PM 8:30PM 12:00PM 8:30PM 12:00PM 8:30PM 12:00PM 8:30PM 12:00PM 8:30PM 12:00PM 8:30PM 12:00PM 8:30PM
*Times Based on AKDT

Alright there you go! Some of the best Alaska lottery games available independently, over in the contiguous United States, and just across the border in neighboring Canada. As you can see, there are even daily drawings for a few of these great lotteries, so you won’t have to wait long to see if you’ve won! Bear in mind that these draw times are for the summer Alaska hours, and drawings occur in the different time zones that the lotteries are based in. Keep on scrolling and we’ll take you through the types and odds of some of these top AK lotto games.

Mega Millions: Big Jackpots

Mega Millions is one of the two big multi-jurisdictional AK Draw Games out there. When we say big, we really mean big. You can pick up your tickets in the contiguous United States for you chance to win the massive rolling jackpot, which can sometimes reach the dizzying heights of over $500 million! Select 5 numbers from 70, and get the additional Megaball bonus, selecting 1 number from 25. Tickets are only $2, which is a pretty small price to pay to go in the running to win such a huge jackpot! Check our homepage for lotto results

Matching Numbers Prize Amount Odds
5 + Megaball Jackpot 1:302,575,350
5 $1 Million 1:12,607,306
4 + Megaball $10,000 1:931,001
4 $500 1:38,792
3 + Megaball $200 1:14,547
3 $10 1:606
2 + Megaball $10 1:693
1 + Megaball $4 1:89
Megaball only $2 1:37

Powerball: The Dream Maker

Powerball is the other of the multi-jurisdictional Draw Games, basically neck and neck with its counterpart in terms of style, prizes and odds. What does this mean for you? Another chance at having a crack at the jackpot of your dreams. It’s a 5/69 game, with a 1/26 bonus, the Powerball. One big difference from Mega Millions – you can spend an extra dollar on a Power Play, and increase your overall odds of getting any kind of prize, so this one’s good for those smaller wins. Check out the table below for the odds and prizes breakdown.

Matching Numbers Prize Amount Odds
5 + Powerball Jackpot 1:292,201,338
5 $1 Million 1:11,688,054
4 + Powerball $50,000 1:913,129
4 $100 1:36,525
3 + Powerball $100 1:14,494
3 $7 1:580
2 + Powerball $7 1:701
1 + Powerball $4 1:92
Powerball only $4 1:38

Chase the Ace

Chase the Ace is a fundraiser for a nonprofit organization – or sometimes even multiple nonprofits – that is endorsed under an Alaska operator license. 50% of the revenue from $2 ticket sales goes to the nonprofit, so you can rest easy knowing your betting is helping others. 30% of the pot goes to the Jackpot winnings, while the remainder 20% goes to the weekly prize. Winning weekly tickets, following the Sunday draw, can take their chance at winning the Jackpot, by selecting a number from 54, progressively revealing the Chase the Ace windows week by week until the Ace is found.

Matching Numbers Prize Amount Odds
Always 1 winning ticket 20% of weekly lottery sales Variable based on sales

Daily Grand: A Canadian Special

Daily Grand is one of those gems available to AK residents able to hop across to a Canadian lottery retailer. It’s a 1/49 main game, with a Grand Number bonus feature, selecting 1 of 7 numbers. This lotto is all about flexibility and opportunities to win. You can simply play for a CA$3 ticket, or increase your chances of winning, with either (or both!) a bonus Encore purchase for CA$1, or a Combination Play for CA$21. With a Combo Play – you’re guaranteed to win! If you manage to strike the big one, you’ll get a grand a day for the rest of your life!

Matching Numbers Prize Amount Odds
5 + Grand Number $1,000 a Day for Life 1:13,348,188
5 $25,000 a Year for Life 1:2,224,698
4 + Grand Number $1,000 1:60,674
4 $500 1:10,112
3 + Grand Number $100 1:1,411
3 $20 1:235
2 + Grand Number $10 1:101
1 + Grand Number $4 1:19.7
Grand Number only Free Play 1:12.3

Daily Keno: Daily Canadian Draws

Over in Canada, Daily Keno provides some regular and frequent lottery draws for some more modest winnings. But by no means underestimate this dynamic lottery player! 20 numbers are drawn from 70, and watch draws happen twice daily to see if you’ve won. You can even control the odds by choosing how many numbers to play, from 2 up to 10. You can place CA$1, CA$2, CA$5, and CA$10 bets, increasing the payout – potentially winning CA$2.5 million by landing 10 out of 20 on a $10 bet! This Canadian Keno also comes with the additional Encore option – to boost your bet when feeling lucky.

Matching Numbers Prize Amount ($1 bet) Odds
2 (2 pick) $7 1:13
3 (3 pick) $25 1:48
4 (4 pick) $100 1:189
5 (5 pick) $250 1:781
6 (6 pick) $1,000 1:3,383
7 (7 pick) $5,000 1:15,464
8 (8 pick) $25,000 1:74,941
9 (9 pick) $50,000 1:387,197
10 (10 pick) $250,000 1:2,147,181

The Best AK Scratchers: Lottery Scratchers with Best Odds

Okay, taken all that in? Now let’s talk about the best AK scratch lotteries. Scratchers are great – they offer instant wins for some pretty decent odds, without as much of that anxious pre-draw nerves as Draw Games! Again, lotteries are outlawed in Alaska, and scratchers are no exception. However, Canada offers a close cousin to the scratcher – the pull tab – to raise revenue for non-profits and charities. The difference? Instead of scratching, you lift a flap to reveal the symbols. Here’s a list of the top 5 pull tabs found in Alaska for your betting leisure.

  1. Zig Zag (Odds: 1 out of 1.28)
  2. Alaskan Oasis (Odds: 1 out of 1.28)
  3. Big Ass Game (Odds: 1 out of 1.3)
  4. Royal Stud (Odds: 1 out of 1.33)
  5. Moose on the Loose (Odds: 1 out of 1.34)

There’s just a taste of the pull tabs on offer in Alaska. Bear in mind, those odds are for your betting money returned, and the winning prizes (up to $500) are significantly lower than scratchers in the 48 states below. While fun, these pull tabs are not as bountiful as draw cards, but offer significantly less risk. Our advice? Take a trip down south and revel in the wide variety of scratchers but not before giving one of these a whirl.

Wheel of Fortune: An AK Lottery Quirk

In lottery terms, Draw and Scratchers are what you’ll see the most. Sometimes however, there are some really great alternatives to those humble hits that defy categorization. Wheel of Fortune tickets can be picked up across the Canadian border for $2, and offer an instant win play of up to $250, where a wheel is spun to reveal your prize. But hold on to that ticket, as each night 6 words from a possible 39 are drawn – match 6 words on your ticket to the drawn words to win up to $100,000! It’s this flexibility on offer in Wheel of Fortune that really grabs us, combining the best of Scratch Off tickets and Draw Games to offer a fresh spin on lottery games. Check the nightly draws at 8:30 PM.

The Most Important Laws Regarding AK Lotteries

As there is no legal lottery in Alaska, there are mostly restrictive regulations and laws surrounding the playing and dispersal of lotteries. For the most part, lotteries are outlawed in the state for various reasons – we’ll get in to them a little later – unless they are given a permit by the Alaskan government. Organizations that are permitted to run lotteries do so in order to act as fundraisers for various charity and nonprofit groups. This is stipulated as ‘charitable gambling’. However, there is a push for legalization of lotteries, as many locals purchase interstate tickets through friends or travel.

Legal Age for Lottery Games: N/A
Tax on Winnings: N/A
Anonymity for Winners: N/A
Limit to Claim Win: N/A
Online Lottery: No

Check out the table above. While a lot of it is irrelevant for Alaska, it pays to keep these state-specific conditions in mind when buying your lottery ticket in a different state. A federal tax must be paid on all winnings in the United States, but some states require winners to pay a state tax. The legal age for lottery games can change from state to state, so it’s important to know if it’s even legal to purchase a ticket. Anonymity is also a big one, as it can be a great asset when wanting to remain private and not attract any undue attention.

Alaska Lottery: A History

Since Alaska’s admittance into the union in 1959, lotteries have been outlawed and other forms of gambling have been tightly regulated, centering around the charitability of the revenue raised. Moves to legislate an official AK lotto have been blocked in recent times, due to two major reasons. Firstly, the state of Alaska is so sparsely populated that the profitability of running an official state lottery is questionable. Secondly, the already established charitable gambling revenue would be threatened with increased competition.

Overview of the Alaska Lottery
Company: N/A Founded: N/A
Headquarters: N/A Social Media: N/A
Website: N/A Biggest Win: N/A

We’re hoping that lottery interest in Alaska gains some traction with the bill makers and politicians, and an official state-wide AK lotto can be legalized. A way out of the quagmire could be to propose a proportion of revenue raised from a potential state lotto to subsidize the charitable gaming revenue to ensure that it’s protected. Although the reasons surrounding the outlawing of lotteries the states differ, lawmakers in Alaska could look to recently legalized Mississippi for inspiration.

Conclusion

There you go, that’s a pretty comprehensive peek into the world of the Alaska lotto. Just keep in mind a few key things and you’ll be well on your way to an educated and responsible jackpot! Firstly, Alaska has no lottery, although there are some state sanctioned charitable lotteries. Secondly, there’s no reason to not pick up some lottery tickets in Canada or down in the contiguous United States! Check out how the other states fare specifically via our American lotteries page. Don’t forget to head back here regularly to stay updated on all the winning numbers.

Common Questions that People Also Ask

Just in case we didn’t answer all your questions yet, take a look below at some of the most common questions surrounding the AK lotto. We believe that understanding lotteries is absolutely crucial to winning, and the more information taken in the better opportunities there are to win. Read on!

Which Alaska lottery has the best odds?

That’s a question that depends on what kind of game you want to play. For making a return on your ticket cost and winning any prize, the pull tabs are a fun way to get the thrill of a gamble and come out of it with your money back. For the big draw lottos, we think that the big ones are the best – Mega Millions and Powerball. The Jackpots are too good to ignore!

What kind of taxes do Alaskans have to pay on lottery winnings?

Residents of Alaska – when it comes to laws, you’re in luck. As you might already be aware, the state of Alaska has no personal income tax, meaning that wherever you win, if you live in Alaska you only have to pay a federal income tax on your winnings, whereas other Americans in the various states have various taxes of up to 12%!

Is there an Alaska lotto app?

Sadly, no. As Alaska has strict regulations and laws surrounding the use and allowance of lotteries, there is no official state run lottery. Following this, there is no Alaska lotto app. Lotteries are run to independently, but the nonprofit organizations that hold them have not yet established an app from which tickets can be bought and winning numbers can be seen.

Is online gambling allowed in Alaska?

Unfortunately, no. The same Alaskan laws that outlaw a state lottery also do not permit the participation in online gambling of any kind, including online lotto betting and using the services of a lottery agent. This is due to the tight regulation that surrounds gambling and lotteries in Alaska – releasing of the regulation would detract the benefits away from those non-profit organizations that fundraise using state permitted lottos.

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