Ohio Lottery: Who wins the most, and how much does it pay?

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This newspaper examined every Ohio Lottery Commission prize claim of $600 or more going back to the launch of the Ohio Lottery in the mid-1970s. Search through the most frequent winners, some of whom have claimed hundreds of large prizes in such short spans of time that it has prompted investigations by the Ohio Lottery Commission, and financial information about Ohio Lottery games below.

Lottery financials, biggest payouts, top games

This newspaper analyzed hundreds of thousands of records of those who have won Ohio Lottery prizes of at least $600. More than 1,000 winners have won at least 20 times. Search through those winners using the tool below. (Note: Totals were calculated by adding wins and share amounts for those whose name address appeared together at least 20 times in the Ohio Lottery database. It's possible the same name won more times than shown, but with a different address. Totals should be viewed as "at least" amounts.)

Explore financial information about the Ohio Lottery using the charts below.

  • Ohio Lottery revenue history

    Each year the lottery spends about 60 percent of its revenues on prizes and about 30 percent goes to education. The rest is used for operating expenses and paying bonuses and commissions to retailers.


  • Biggest lottery payouts

    The top 10 lottery prizes in Ohio have all come from the multi-state games Powerball, introduced in 2010, and Mega Millions, available in Ohio since 2002. The majority of these prizes have been claimed under trusts so the names of the winners are not known. Others were split between numerous individuals.

    Prize amount Game Draw date Winner city Each ricipient's share
    $267,000,000 Mega Millions 2/28/06 Toledo $158,775,314.56
    $265,000,002 Mega Millions 4/18/2006 Cincinnati $148,454,278.16
    $260,000,000 Powerball 6/2/2010 Columbus 134917238
    $207,000,000 Mega Millions 12/12/2008 Piqua (multiple winners) From $9,178,202 to $18,356,405
    $196,000,000 Mega Millions 5/16/2008 Cincinnati $196,000,000
    $170,000,000 Mega Millions 7/22/2005 Cleveland (multiple winners) From $8,608,761 to $17,217,523
    $155,000,000 Mega Millions 12/30/2003 Cleveland $94,571,837.80
    $122,000,000 Powerball 7/9/2014 Conneaut $73,120,898
    $106,000,000 Mega Millions 6/3/2005 Cleveland $64,924,517.60
    $99,000,000 Mega Millions 8/5/2011 Multiple winners From $207,065 to $2,953,083

  • Which games win the most?

    These are the five Ohio Lottery games that have awarded the most prizes since their introduction. Kicker was formerly an add-on game to Mega Millions which began in Oct. 2005 and was replaced with Megaplier in 2011.