Montana Lottery hands out over $138,000 in high-tier prizes!

As we head into the homestretch for the month of April, big wins don't seem to be slowing down for players of the Montana Lottery, which always shares the high-tier winners every week.

This week's high-tier winners in Montana

Since April 15, the Montana Lottery has awarded $138,305 in high-tier prizes.

What does the Lottery consider to be a high-tier prize? For the Montana Lottery, it is any prize of $600 or more. The Lottery always shares the winners of $5,000 or more, which are listed below.

• Slingo Trio Platinum winner from Belgrade - they claimed their prize of $75,000 on April 15. The winning ticket was purchased at the Town Pump of Three Forks.
• Big Sky Bonus winner from Townsend - they claimed their prize of $13,074 on April 17. The winning ticket was purchased at Bob’s Supermarket in Townsend.
• Star Bingo winner from Missoula - they claimed their prize of $12,000 on April 15. The winning ticket was purchased at the PS Mini Mart in Missoula.
• Big Sky Bonus winner from Volborg - they claimed their prize of $5,162 on April 18. The winning ticket was purchased at the Love’s Travel Shop, located at 1270 Highway 47 in Hardin.

Big Sky Bonus - how does it work?

Big Sky Bonus is a draw game for the Montana Lottery that takes place every night at 7:30 p.m. MT. To play, you need to choose four numbers from 1 to 31 and a Bonus Number from 1 to 16. If you want the computer to generate the numbers for you, choose the Quick Pick option on the play slip.

The jackpot for Big Sky Bonus starts out at $2,500 and grows every time it's not won. If there happens to be multiple jackpot winners for one drawing, the jackpot prize is split evenly between the winning tickets.

The Bonus Number is the fifth ball drawn, and if you match it or one of the main numbers and the Bonus Number, you win $10. Overall, there are eight prize categories for the Big Sky Bonus, which ranges from $2 for matching two numbers up to the top prize, which is the jackpot, plus $10 for matching four numbers plus the Bonus Number.

Big wins for Montana Lottery

Since 1987, the Montana Lottery has been making winners. During this time, the lottery has generated $320 million to benefit the state. They have also paid out more than $853 million in prizes to winners.

The Montana Lottery was created to generate revenue — and some fun along the way — for the citizens of Montana. Since the lottery began, state lawmakers have changed what programs are funded by the revenues of the lottery.

The revenue from the Montana Lottery has gone into the Montana General Fund since the 1990s. State lawmakers use the General Fund to help fund the majority of state government and programs.

While revenue is going to the General Fund, documents from when the Montana Lottery was created state that 45% of the lottery's revenue needed to be paid back out as prizes.

Enjoy playing the Montana Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.