HELENA — For many Montanans, today's the day they’ve been waiting for all year—the Montana Lottery announced the winning Montana Millionaire numbers.
The five winning numbers are 315500, 387095, 589431, 582688, and 200,837. Those five ticket numbers were chosen out of the more than 620,000 tickets sold.
Montana Lottery staff say this is one of their favorite days of the year, especially when they get to meet the winners face-to-face as they come in to claim their prize.
“That's our favorite part of the job, honestly,” said Montana Lottery content manager Celina Clift. “I mean, who doesn't like writing out a million-dollar check to somebody?”
With odds of winning sitting at 1-124,000, Montana Millionaire offers some of the best chances in the country.
“This being a Montana-centric game, seeing Montanans play it and Montanans win, it's certainly the best opportunity both nationally but also for Montanans to win a million dollars,” said Montana Lottery sales manager Logan Jackson.
The winning numbers are selected at random using a computer system that even lottery staff have very limited access to throughout the year, all to make sure the drawing stays fair.
This year, tickets were sold at more than 1,000 businesses across Montana, bringing in over $12 million statewide. And the game continues to grow in popularity.
“Mainly tradition, this is our 19th year of millionaire,” Clift said. “I think just as we continue, it gets bigger every year, and more people get excited.”
With the 20th anniversary coming up next year, lottery officials say players can expect something even bigger and more fun to mark the milestone.
The locations where the winning tickets were purchased are expected to be announced later. Check back here for updates.
Winners have 6 months to claim their prize and can either send in their signed ticket in the mail or come in person for verification.
Our previous coverage about changes to this year's draw can be found here.
