News writer, Interviewer
Twenty years in, Montana Millionaire isn't slowing down. The Montana Lottery Commission has approved the 2026 game design, and it's the most ambitious edition yet.
The Commission voted unanimously to approve the design at its March 12 meeting.
What's new in 2026
The 20th anniversary game will feature 720,000 tickets. This is 100,000 more tickets than last year. There will be six $1 million grand prizes, better odds to win one of them, 200 more $500 instant wins, and 900 more $100 instant wins. The price stays the same: $20.
Two new drawings sweeten the pot. On November 30, a "Quarter Million Monday" drawing will award $250,000. Players Club members get an exclusive shot at a $20,000 second chance drawing.
Montana Lottery Director Bob Brown put it plainly: the 20th anniversary is a chance to expand access while keeping the price players expect.
Why the expansion makes sense
Last year's game sold out 620,000 tickets in 6.5 hours. It went on sale at 5:30 a.m. By noon, it was gone.
That kind of demand tells you something. The Lottery added 120,000 tickets the year before, and players absorbed them without hesitation. Adding another 100,000 in 2026 is the logical next step.
Sales go live Sunday, November 1, at 5:30 a.m. MT.
What a winning ticket can become
Numbers tell part of the story. People tell the rest.
Last year, Dale Goodsell walked into Montana Lottery headquarters to claim his $1 million prize. Before he walked out, he got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend in front of the lottery staff. She said yes.
It started as a routine claim appointment. It ended as something neither of them will forget.
Goodsell's story captures what lottery officials see every year: a winning ticket is rarely just about the money. It's often the start of something bigger: a plan, a decision, a turning point.
For Goodsell, the ring mattered more than the check. The million dollars just gave him the moment.
The bigger picture
Montana Millionaire is the state's most popular lottery game. Its format is simple: limited tickets, guaranteed million-dollar winners, one shot per ticket.
Every dollar spent also funds state programs and services. So while six players will walk away as millionaires in 2026, the impact spreads well beyond those six.
Twenty years of Montana Millionaire, six new millionaires on the way, and somewhere out there, someone who doesn't yet know one ticket is about to change everything.
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