New York Lottery

The New York Lottery began in 1967 as the third modern U.S. lottery, after Puerto Rico's began in 1934, and New Hampshire's in 1964. As part of the New York State Gaming Commission, it provides revenue for public education and is based in Schenectady.

Prior to the New York Lottery's entry into Mega Millions, the Lottery offered two series of "Millennium Millions" drawings (December 31, 1999; and three in 2000.) Its structure was similar to Mega Millions in that players chose five numbers out of one pool, and a sixth number from a second pool. Both jackpots were at least $100 million when they were won (both jackpots were the largest offered by the Lottery at the time). Unlike regular jackpot games, Millennium Millions was unique in that when the jackpot was won, the drawing to be held the following week was not offered (as such, there was no advance play for the game.) There were no Millennium Millions drawings in 2001, as the New York Lottery approved legislation for joining what is now known as Mega Millions.

Millennium Millions differed from Mega Millions in that plays were $2 each, all prizes were pari-mutuel, and that there was no prize for matching only the "Millennium Ball". The game's double matrix was 5/50 + 1/25, identical to the then-The Big Game, which became The Big Game Mega Millions when New York joined.

A game briefly available in the late 1990s where players tried to pick the date, month, and year of a day in the 20th century. The game was the only Lottery draw game (except for Quick Draw and Monopoly Millionaire′s Club in that its drawings were held on a computer instead of using manual balls; Lucky Day also gave a sole top-prize winner the option of a "bonus prize" in lieu of part of the cash.

Players chose six numbers from a field of 31. The game was "marketed" under four different names based on the region the ticket was sold ("Big Apple", "Long Island," "Upstate", and "Western New York").