Fans of lottery games residing in the state of Mississippi are finally offered the chance to enjoy even more generous cash winnings following the state’s lottery launching multi-jurisdictional Mega Millions and Powerball games. The state’s major lottery provider, Mississippi Lottery Corporation revealed this news back on the 31st of January.
It used an official press release which revealed that interested players and lottery fans in The Magnolia State can access these newly added lottery games by purchasing their tickets at some one thousand and five hundred retail locations held by the Mississippi Lottery. These retail locations offering bi-weekly games’ tickets are located in a variety of communities including Biloxi and Corinth.
Gambling in the State of Mississippi
When it comes to the gambling industry in the state of Mississippi, it is actually centuries old. Before Africans and Europeans started called the state their home, Indian peoples of Chickasaw and Chocktaw gambled regularly. In fact, American Indians were always fond of gambling and games according to the earliest accounts which relate to gambling in Mississippi.
One of the most popular sports which Indians wagered on was ishtaboli or stick ball. The game is rather competitive, very combative with two teams trying their best to score by tossing a ball. Competing players used specially crafted sticks to navigate the ball, hence the game’s name. Just like modern sports betting, players at the time wagered on the outcome of the ishtaboli game.
Following Africans and Europeans establishing themselves in different regions of the state, gambling practices continued in a variety of forms including billiards, cards, checkers and similar. At the time, card-playing was extremely popular. All in all, when Mississippi became a federally-recognized state back in 1817, games and gambling were part of its rich past.
When it comes to more recent times, the 1990s brought a variety of new gambling interests in the state following after the state’s Congress decided to pass the national Indian Gaming Act back in 1988. Consequently, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians opened its Silver Star Casino located in Neshoba County in 1994.
Mississippi State Lottery
The Mississippi State Lottery has been operating since 2018 under a new law that was passed in that year. The lottery started sales of scratch-off tickets back on the 1st of December last year. Back on the 2nd of August of last year, the Mississippi Lottery Corporation joined the Multi-State Lottery Association which was one of the major steps leading to starting sales of Powerball and Mega Millions game tickets.
The state’s Senator Mr. Moran led the biggest campaign which revolved around bringing Powerball and Mega Millions games to the state’s lottery. Once the news was revealed, Mississippi State Senator celebrated by making the first purchase of Mega Millions and Powerball tickets at a small Keith’s Superstore outlet located at a Gulfport suburb.
This is an important development for the state lottery as Mega Millions and Powerball are the largest weekly draws, not just in the US but on a global scale. The addition of these draws will likely lead to a great increase in the lottery sales, pouring more money into the state coffers as well.
