Lottery on Christmas? Some states say yes, others say ho-ho-hold off

Christmas may be a time of giving, but it seems like even some states are taking a little holiday break. While some of your favorite lottery games will hit pause on Wednesday, December 25, others are keeping the festive spirit alive with their regular schedule.

So, which games are getting the day off, and which ones are still in play? Let's unwrap the details!

Which states won't hold Christmas Day drawings?

When it comes to lottery games on Christmas Day, each state plays by its own rules. While some states are pressing pause on the regular draw games for Wednesday to let the holidays take center stage, others will keep the drawings rolling.

So, is your state lottery having drawings on Christmas Day? Here's a closer look at which states are giving the lottery games a holiday break.

• Colorado – No drawings for Pick 3, Cash 5, or Colorado Lotto+ will be held.
• Delaware – No drawings for Play 3, Play 4, Play 5, or Multi-Win Lotto will be held.
• Louisiana – No drawings for Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5, Lotto, or Easy 5 will be held.
• New Jersey – No drawings for Pick-3, Pick-4, or Jersey Cash 5. 
• South Carolina – No midday drawings for Pick 3, Pick 4, and CASH POP will be held. All other drawings will be held at their normally scheduled times.

For the states that are hitting pause on Christmas Day for their lottery drawings, all regularly scheduled drawings will resume as normal on Thursday, December 26.

What about multi-state draw games?

While that was the breakdown for each individual state, what about those multi-state draw games, like Powerball and Cash4Life? Will they be holding drawings on Christmas Day?

Those multi-state draw games that have drawings normally on a Wednesday will continue as normal. For those regular lottery players, this means there will be drawings on Christmas Day for the following games:

• Powerball.
• Lucky for Life.
• Cash4Life.
• Gimme 5, the newest tri-state lottery draw game featuring Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
• Lotto America.
• 2by2, currently available in Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wyoming. This is different from the Arizona-only draw game, also known as 2by2. However, the Arizona version will also be holding its regular drawing on Christmas Day.
• Tri-State Megabucks, which was the first draw game launched by the Tri-State Lottery in 1985 and became the first multi-state game in the country. It's played in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

Has anyone ever won the Powerball on Christmas Day?

With a Powerball drawing taking place on Christmas, we wanted to know if there has ever been a big winner on Christmas Day. As it turns out, there was also a drawing on Christmas last year. The jackpot at that time was $638 million, but no tickets matched all of the winning numbers to claim that prize.

However, three Powerball jackpots were won on Christmas. According to Powerball, the last time this occurred was in 2013, when a Powerball player in Missouri won a $71.5 million jackpot.

Just for context, there has never been a jackpot win on Christmas Day for Mega Millions. Over the years, six Mega Millions drawings fell on Christmas Day — in 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018, and 2020 — but no tickets matched all of the winning numbers on the festive day.

Enjoy your Christmas and enjoy playing the lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.