scratch games faqs

Prizes up to and including $50,000 can be claimed by mail. We recommend that you completely fill out the back of your ticket(s), keep a record for yourself, and that you use registered mail. For additional information, click here.

If you need to claim a prize of over $50,000, call the Minnesota Lottery at 1-888-568-8379 or 651-635-8273 to discuss your options.

Note: In Minnesota, lotto game prizes must be claimed within one year from the date of the drawing. Scratch game prizes must be claimed within one year of the announced end date of the game. For Fast Play games, prize claims must be submitted within one year of the transaction date that appears on the ticket. The Lottery will announce end‑of‑game dates on mnlottery.com. For prizes claimed by mail, the claim date is the date the Lottery receives the ticket. For prizes of $600 or more, the claim period ends at the close of business on the last day of the claim period that Lottery offices are open. Claims of $600 or more must have a Ticket Claim Form completed in its entirety to be a valid claim. Lottery offices are closed for the holidays and events listed on mnlottery.com, and one or more Lottery offices may close unexpectedly due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances.

When the Lottery started, scratch games paid out 60 percent. Depending on the game, scratch games now pay out between 63 percent and 74 percent. Minnesota state law requires the scratch games to have a minimum payout of 60 percent of ticket sales.

There is a limited amount of space in the ticket dispensers, so when we launch three or four new scratch games, we have to end three or four older scratch games to make room. The games we end depend on a lot of factors, including inventory available in the warehouse, inventory at retail locations, sales patterns of the game, price points of games available, play styles available, etc. Just because a top-prize winning ticket hasn’t been claimed does not mean that a top-prize winning ticket hasn’t been sold. Lottery winners have up to one year from the announced end of the game to claim their prize. Tickets are redeemed almost every day from every game that is less than one year old.

Stated odds are based on the entire game. While the Lottery requires that the program randomly inserting winning plays into the ticket-printing process limits the strings of non-winning tickets, it is possible to have several winning tickets, or none, in a string of 10. The Lottery does not know where winning tickets are placed. The program that determines random placement is audited.

1. You can take your ticket to any lottery retailer and have them call us at (651) 635-8273 during our normal business hours of Monday-Friday from 8:00 am – 4:30pm. The 10 digit number on the front of your ticket must be legible for this option.
2. Or you can mail your ticket to us, please make sure to keep a record for yourself. Please allow 4-6 weeks for processing. Our mailing address is:

Minnesota Lottery
P.O. Box 131000
Roseville, MN 55113