In August, the Gopher 5 game was getting a lot of attention because the jackpot, which had started at $100,000, had grown to more than $1.8 million—too large for jackpot signs to even display.

While a $1.8 million jackpot is certainly attention grabbing, the biggest prize is what lottery dollars are doing for Minnesota’s environment every single day.

Whether the Gopher 5 jackpot is $100,000 or over $1 million, a portion of every dollar played helps protect Minnesota’s great outdoors. Lottery proceeds help restore, enhance and protect high-quality habitat for Minnesota wildlife; fight invasive species; protect native species and improve air and water quality. To date, more than $1.2 billion has helped fund environmental projects throughout Minnesota.

Five Gopher 5 Facts

  1. Gopher 5 is a Minnesota-only lotto game that is drawn on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
  2. Tickets are $1 per play.
  3. Jackpots start at $100,000 and grow until won.
  4. Approximate odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 1,533,939.
  5. On average, a jackpot is won 17.8 times per year.

Five Giant Jackpot Facts

  1. A single ticket matched all five numbers drawn on Aug. 31 to win the $1,881,874 jackpot.
  2. The $1,881,874 jackpot was the third largest Gopher 5 prize ever won.
  3. Wash-N-Fill Express in New Brighton earned a $5,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
  4. The Aug. 31 jackpot is one of 30 Gopher 5 jackpots of $1 million or more won since the game began in May 1991.
  5. The last time the jackpot surpassed the $1 million mark was Dec. 16, 2019, when a ticket purchased in Hermantown won a $1,606,134 jackpot.

Ready to Gopher it?