Meet Lotto Alaska — The State Lottery That Isn’t Really A State Lottery

There is technically a statewide lottery in Alaska.

But there is no state-run lottery in Alaska.

Confused? That’s understandable.

The Alaska lottery landscape is arguably the most unique in the United States. In Alaska, a charitable platform has grown from a tiny local drawing with 105 tickets in 2017 to a game so big that an official state lottery may not even be necessary — despite attempts from lawmakers to launch one.

Meet Lotto Alaska.

90,909% growth since 2017

Lotto Alaska began as a small, local operation back in 2017. On Jan. 29 of that year, the organization ran its first drawing. It featured 105 players, a weekly cash prize of just under $330, and a whopping $2,000 jackpot minimum.

Today, a little more than seven years later, the weekly cash prize is a little over $300,000 with a minimum jackpot of $100,000. For those doing the math at home … that’s a 90,909% increase on the weekly cash prize. Which is bonkers.

When you search “Alaska state lottery” on Google, the Lotto Alaska site is the first result. The second result is Lotto Alaska’s Facebook page. (A different, smaller charitable gaming lottery platform called Catch The King Alaska Lottery is the third result.)

Heck, there are full conversations on Reddit about an Alaska Lottery — like this one and this one — and users are actually talking about Lotto Alaska.

But here’s the thing: Lotto Alaska has nothing to do with the state government.

And that also means it produces zero revenue for the state.

Where does Lotto Alaska revenue go?

Instead, operating under a state of Alaska charitable gaming license, Lotto Alaska sends proceeds to non-profit organizations around the state. A representative of Lotto Alaska said it has awarded $40 million in prizes and more than $8 million to Alaska non-profits since 2017.

Some of those non-profits have included Lions Clubs, youth hockey leagues, senior organizations, and local botanical gardens.

Of every ticket purchased:

• 20% goes to the weekly prize pot
• 30% goes to the current jackpot
• 50% goes to Alaska non-profit organizations and to “help to cover Lotto Alaska operation expenses,” per its website — so we don’t know exactly how much goes to non-profits

As far as games are concerned, Lotto Alaska does not offer scratchers, and it doesn’t have multi-state draw games like Powerball or Mega Millions. There is one statewide draw game — Chase the Ace. There’s obviously a jackpot if someone matches all the numbers, but there’s also a Match 6 side game and one randomly selected winner for the weekly prize.

Lotto Alaska allows online ticket purchases, too, setting itself as more forward-thinking than many of the continental U.S. state-run lotteries that still only sell retail tickets.

Legalization talks date back 20-plus years

Alaska is currently one of only five states without a state-run lottery, alongside Utah, Hawaii, Nevada, and Alabama. But it’s been a topic of discussion in Alaska dating back more than 20 years.

In 2014, a legislative response letter filed in the Alaska Legislature explored the possibility of a state-run lottery. It specifically analyzed the revenue potential in Alaska — a low-population state (733,583 as of 2022), but also one with very few other gambling options for residents’ disposable income, which the letter argued could make its lottery revenue higher than expected.

The letter estimated Alaska could generate around $8 million in annual revenue from a state-run lottery — about equal to the total Lotto Alaska claims it has paid out to state non-profit organizations since 2017.

There were two state lottery bills back in 2003. Both failed. 

Other bills have come and gone, also to no avail. Most recently, Sen. James Kaufman and Sen. Kelly Merrick filed Senate Bill 150 in May 2023. It was assigned to a committee … and never discussed, dying in committee when the legislative session ended in May 2024.

SB 150 would have created a state lottery and entered Alaska into multi-state lottery games like Powerball and Mega Millions. It would have also created a state lottery board, which currently does not exist in Alaska.

Interestingly, it would not have authorized any type of instant lottery game like scratchers or any video lottery games. It also did not mention anything specific about where the lottery revenue would go, other than that a state lottery fund would be added to the general fund.

The competition question

Would Lotto Alaska survive alongside a state lottery? It’s hard to tell.

Lotto Alaska has clearly carved out a strong profile in the state. It recently awarded a $13 million jackpot. That’s quite a payout for a lottery game in a state with a population of just over 730,000.

However, the ability to play huge national games like Powerball and Mega Millions, and perhaps also scratchers if future legislation allows for those games, could make a state-run lottery quickly become more popular for residents than the Lotto Alaska platform.

Now, what platform would provide the more winnable games? That’s a different question. 

The odds of winning Lotto Alaska’s random weekly drawing are already better than many lottery games out there. And those odds would only improve if a state-run lottery shrinks the weekly player pool for Lotto Alaska’s Chase the Ace game.

So let’s just put it this way: You likely won’t find any Lotto Alaska representatives on the picket line arguing in favor of legalizing a state-run lottery any time soon.