It's New Year's Eve! It's a night for party hats, sauerkraut and a toast to a brand new year. And we've got something exciting to add to the mix for your kickoff to 2019. The first Mega Millions jackpot of 2019 is $425 million!

The January 1, 2019 Mega Millions jackpot is $425 million with a cash option of $254.6 million. It's the 8th largest jackpot in Mega Millions history.

Make your resolution to grab a ticket! Mega Millions tickets are $2, and you can add the Megaplier for $1 for a chance to multiply your winnings. 

Ohio's last Mega Millions jackpot win was on May 4, 2018 with a jackpot of $142 million. Let's kick off the new year with a win for the record books! 

Click here for more information about Mega Millions.
 

The holiday spirit is still in the air, and these Ohio Lottery players are celebrating big wins! Keep reading to see who’s winning in this week’s Winner Wednesday!

Brandon Arnett of Grafton was feeling lucky this holiday season! He won $25,000 a year for life playing draw game Lucky for Life!

Samer Moussa of Toledo won big on Pick 5! He won $25,208.50 playing the daily draw game. Samer purchased his winning ticket at Johnny’s on the Spot, located at 2468 Woodville Rd. in Oregon, Ohio.

A Dublin resident is celebrating a big win this week! Csaba Nagy-Reynolds won $110,001 playing Rolling Cash 5.

Mariessa Bernosky of Avon Lake is still having some holiday fun! She won $10,000 playing instant game Holiday Fun!

Congratulations to all of this week’s winners! Check back next week to see who’s winning in Ohio, and have a very Happy New Year!

The holiday spirit is in the air, and Ohio Lottery players are feeling the joy of the season! Keep reading to who’s winning in Ohio in this week’s Winner Wednesday.

Donnie Skinner of Guysville is a top prize winner! He won $20,000 playing instant game Triple Diamonds. Donnie purchased his winning ticket at Marathon Food Center #237 located in Albany.

Neal Strefeler of Akron is a rocking winner! He won $15,807 on EZPLAY Progressive Jackpot Rock’n 777s! Neal purchased his winning ticket at Brubakers Pub #1, located at 1922 Buchholzer Blvd. in Akron.

An Amherst resident celebrated a big win this week. Damian Saracina won $10,000 playing instant game Ohio Cash Blowout!

Ronald Wells Sr. of Elyria is feeling the holiday spirit this week! He won $50,000 playing instant game Holiday Fun.

Peter Georgeson of Avon Lake scratched his way to a big win! He won $10,000 playing instant game Diamonds and Gold.

Martin Gray of Perrysburg celebrated an explosive win! He won $20,000 on instant game $100 Million Money Explosion. Martin purchased his winning ticket at Meijer, located at 10055 Olde, Hwy 20 in Rossford.

A first time Lottery player celebrated a sweet win this week. Amanda Cox of Pedro won $20,000 playing instant game Willy Wonka Golden Ticket! Amanda had never before played a Lottery game, and she asked for an instant ticket for Christmas. As an early Christmas present, Amanda’s mother went to Clark’s Pump N’ Shop #50 in Ironton where she was encouraged to try the Willy Wonka Golden Ticket instant game. Amanda could not believe her eyes when she scratched the $20,000 win! When asked what she was going to do with the money, Amanda said that she would probably save it to help with school expenses, or to perhaps buy a car.

Buddy Karchar of Canton is celebrating an extravagant win this week! He won $10,000 playing $100 Million Cash Extravaganza. Buddy purchased his winning ticket at Sam’s Oil Inc., located at 3811 Cleveland Avenue NW in Canton.

Congratulations to all of this week’s winners! Check back next week to see who’s winning in Ohio!

Do the holidays have you stressing out? Take a break from the holiday hustle to dream a little about how you'd spend jackpots worth a combined half a billion dollars. 

The Mega Millions and Powerball are on a roll together again. Tonight's Mega Millions jackpot is $284 million and tomorrow's Powerball jackpot isn't far behind at $262 million. That means someone could win $546 million in the next two days! 

They might not be record breakers, but they're life-changers for sure. The math is simple. All you have to do is play so get your tickets today!

Click here for more information about the Mega Millions, Powerball and other Ohio Lottery draw games. 

In November, we celebrated all of the things we are thankful for. One thing we are grateful for is outstanding Ohio teachers and students. Check out our November Partners in Education Academic All Stars and Teachers of the Month!

Our first November Academic All Star is Dokota Fiest. Dokota is a sophomore at East Palestine High School in East Palestine. Teachers describe him as a kind and supportive student. Dokota is the manager of the East Palestine High School Baseball and Football teams and is dedicated to the support of EPHS athletes and coaches. He was a merit roll student for the 2017-2018 school year, and he is currently getting all A’s!

Our second Academic All Star is Jennifer Riquelme, an eighth grader at Miltion-Union Middle School. Evelyn Brady, who nominated Jennifer, said, “Jennifer works hard and goes above and beyond what is required in class daily.” Jennifer is known to be kind, patient and humble. She is willing to help other students and is a great team member in the classroom.

Our next Academic All Star is Miah Morris. Miah is an eighth grader at Edison Middle School in Massillon. Teachers say that Miah “stands out as a leader in the classroom and is always willing to help her fellow classmate”. She is an honor roll student and on the eighth-grade volleyball team. She is described as a hard worker, good role model, and dedicated to her school work and sport. Miah’s teacher, Mrs. Robinette, says, “She is blazing her own trail and the teachers at Edison Middle School cannot wait to see what she does with her future endeavors!”

Our first Teacher of the Month for November is Kandace Best. Mrs. Best teaches sixth and seventh-grade Science and STEM at East Palestine Middle School. Fellow teachers say that Mrs. Best’s “enthusiasm and zest for educating the middle school students is inspiring”. She engages her students by utilizing hands-on high interest materials. She also organizes several events for families and students to interact, such as STEM & Science Night and the Science Fair. Mrs. Best also volunteers for other school activities, such as Camp Konokwee, the eighth-grade Kennywood trip, and the fifth-grade end of year field trip.

Our next Teacher of the Month is Marie Waltz. Ms. Waltz teaches high school Social Studies at Mentor High School. She is described as “a master teacher who consistently pushes herself to improve and experiment with new instructional strategies while remaining grounded in the time-tested virtues of maintaining high expectations for students”. Ms. Waltz has served as coordinator of the Faculty Council for several years. She also recently created an online Sociology course that is off to a promising start.

Congratulations to all of our November Partners in Education recipients! Keep up the amazing work!

You can nominate an outstanding teacher or student for Teacher of the Month and Academic All Star by clicking here. Nominations are due by 5:00 p.m. on the 10^th of every month.

It's December 17 and the clock is ticking! Do you have all of your shopping, wrapping and baking done? If you're like me, the answer is most likely no. Every year I try to get it all done early, and every year I'm running right up to the last second. Procrastination. It'll get you every time! 

Now's not the time to panic, though. If you've got recipients on your gift list who are age 18 and over, we've got a little something that will bring excitement, fun and the potential for big prizes. Ohio Lottery holiday instant tickets make a fun gift add-on!

This year we have eight instant tickets it different price-points to help you top off your gifts.  

Starting at $1, try Snow Me The Money for a $1,000 top prize or Holiday Cash for a $500 prize.

You could play some Reindeer Games for $2 with Rudolph Riches, Cupid Cash, Dasher Dollars and Blitzen Bucks with top prizes of $20,000. Holiday Gifts is a $2 instant ticket with a top prize of $20,000.

If you're looking for a $3 ticket, try Naughty or Nice for a shot at the $50,000 top prize.

The $5 instants Winer Ice Multiplier and Holiday Lucky Times 10 have top prizes of $150,000 and $250,000. Rounding out the list is $10 Holiday Fun with the potential to win $500,000!

There's a lot of holiday fun to be had and no one said you have to gift them. Holiday instants are fun to play yourself, too. Keep checking that list and try to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the holiday season! 

Click here for a complete list of Ohio Lottery instant tickets. 

 

Ohio Lottery players are feeling the joy of the holiday season! Keep reading to see who is winning in Ohio in this week’s Winner Wednesday!

Robert Schmittgen of Rocky River is celebrating a big win! He won $25,000 playing draw game Pick 5.

Robert Beckett of Toledo is ready for the winter after a big win! He won the top prize of $150,000 playing instant game Winter Ice Multiplier! Robert purchased his winning ticket at Stop by Mart in Toledo.

Terry Turner is having some holiday fun after a big win! The Cleveland resident won $10,000 on instant game Holiday Fun.

James Morries of Lorain won big playing KENO this week. He won $10,000 playing the draw game!

Congratulations to all of this week’s winners! Check back next week to see who’s winning in Ohio!

It's that time of year when we're all rushing around in search of the perfect gift, and when it comes down to the wire or spending a few extra bucks, many gift givers turn to lottery tickets as a gift add-on. They're fun and the recipient could end up with a much bigger gift, but we want to make sure that lottery tickets aren't given as gifts to minors.

Let's make it “the most responsible time of the year” by discouraging the gifting of lottery products to minors. Lottery games are great gifts for adults, but they are not appropriate for children. Ohio Lottery games are for people age 18 and over. 

Every year the Ohio Lottery joins the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) and McGill University’s International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors and several other lotteries in the national holiday campaign to increase public awareness about the serious issue of youth gambling.

Research shows that youth gambling can lead to more severe gambling disorders later in life and has been shown to be linked to other addictive behaviors such as smoking, drinking and drug use.

The national holiday campaign is one of many endeavors the Ohio Lottery has undertaken to continuously improve its responsible gambling program.  

For more information on the NCPG’s Holiday Campaign, please visit http://www.ncpgambling.org/programs-resources/programs/holiday-lottery-campaign/ or https://www.ohiolottery.com/Resources/Play-Responsibly  to read more about the Ohio Lottery’s responsible gaming efforts.
 

It’s the last month of 2018, and these Ohio Lottery players are ending the year with big wins! Keep reading to see who’s winning in this week’s Winner Wednesday!

Amanda Garwood of Milan is already having some Holiday Fun! She won the top prize of $500,000 on the $10 instant game.

John Glowaski of Amherst is feeling the joy of the holiday season! He won $10,000 playing instant game Holiday Fun.

Robert King of Sheffield Lake scratched his way to an extreme win! He won $10,000 playing $30 instant game Extreme Millions.

Cuyahoga Falls resident Djona Conner is celebrating a big win this week! She won $25,417 on daily draw game Pick 5! Djona purchased her winning ticket at True North #122, located at 2916 Oakwood Drive in Cuyahoga Falls.

John McLafferty of Cleveland won $10,000 playing instant game Holiday Fun!

Adrianne Rhone of Euclid won’t find coal in her stocking this year! She won $20,000 playing EZPLAY Stocking Stuffer.

Violet Kolat of Cleveland is a big KENO winner! She won $10,000 playing the draw game.

Nicola Carnevale of Broadview Heights had a rocking win this week! She won $15,553 playing EZPLAY Progressive Jackpot Rock’n 777s.

Christine Hallman of Cleveland won $50,000 playing instant game Holiday Fun!

Martin Larkin of Chagrin Falls found a Golden Ticket! He won $20,000 playing instant game Willy Wonka Golden Ticket.

Kimberly Hinkle of Willoughby had a spectacular win this week! She won $50,000 playing instant game $500,000,000 Spectacular.

Stacey Johnson of Cleveland was feeling lucky this week! She won $500,000 playing draw game Lucky for Life.

Congratulations to all of this week’s winners! Check back next week to see who’s winning in Ohio!