Win up to $65M in NMSA’s new lottery program

The Northern Marianas Sports Association is launching a new lottery fundraising program that offers multi-million-dollar jackpot prizes ranging between $2 million and $65 million.

The lottery was launched last Monday at the XO Market, which is also one of the NMSA agents that will sell the lottery tickets. There will be two drawings per week, with the first one to be held next Saturday, Nov. 25, for the Pacific Gold lottery and on Thursday, Nov. 30, for the Powerball lottery.

Each Powerball ticket costs only $8 and jackpot prize starts at $2 million and could go up to $65 million until a winner emerges.

Powerball is played every Thursday night and the jackpot can be won by matching all six jackpot numbers plus the Powerball number. If there is more than one winner, the prize is shared.

Each Powerball ticket has one jackpot game and nine standard local games. If you don’t win the jackpot game, there are eight other prize divisions you could win. Other prizes range from $12 up to $20,000. Players can pick their own numbers or ask for a “kwik pik” to have the numbers picked randomly for you. The overall odds are one in 10 tickets to win a prize.

For the Pacific Gold lottery, the jackpot prize is $2 million and is offered every Saturday night and each ticket costs only $9. There is one jackpot game and six standard local games. The $2 million jackpot prize can be won by matching all six vertical jackpot numbers. You can also win one of seven additional prize divisions, with prizes ranging between $10 and $20,000. The overall odds are one in seven to win a prize.

If that’s not enough, NMSA will also hold a Pacific Gold Superdraw every three months with a $10 million jackpot prize.

The NMSA lottery is a sports fundraising program created to help in the development of CNMI sports and also in the preparation for the Pacific Mini Games, which will be held on Saipan in 2021. Ticket sales also fund teams that represent the Commonwealth in regional and international competitions, such as next month’s Pacific Mini Games in Vanuatu.

The lottery is conducted under Public Law 18-49, which authorizes NMSA to operate a public lottery separate from other local gambling legislation. NMSA is the CNMI’s sports authority, a registered non-profit organization, and a business license holder.

The NMSA lottery is a traditional paper-based lottery where a player marks their lucky numbers on a coupon and receives a paper ticket to check against the winning numbers drawn at a later date. The NMSA lottery has no connection to any other gambling establishments in the CNMI.

“This [lottery] is the real deal. We want something bigger for our community after we received tremendous support from them for our NMSA instant lottery scratchies. We hope to have millionaires soon,” NMSA president Michael White said during the new lottery launching that was also attended by NMSA Lottery manager Anicia Lisua and Stephen Gibson, who was visiting from Pacific Lotteries Pty Ltd., an Australian-based lottery consulting company.

“We’re happy that NMSA is raising funds [that] go back to the local community and is used in developing good sporting facilities for the youth of the CNMI. This is good, healthy social development and we are proud to be able to help NMSA achieve its sports community goals,” Gibson said.

Tickets for both Pacific Gold and Powerball will be sold beginning on Monday, Nov. 20.

Lottery drawings are conducted under Australian government supervision and the winning numbers will be displayed at the local agents and published in the Saipan Tribune. You can also simply ask your local agent to check your ticket or look at the draw results by visiting www.nmsalottery.com.

Tickets can be purchased at any of the authorized NMSA Lottery agents; XO Supermarket, 99 Cent Supermarket, Twins Navy Hill, Sara Market, New Kagman Market, Lucky De Supermarket, Happy Market, Ming Yang Supermarket, Hannam Supermarket, Rising Supermarket, Friendly Mart, or Twins Dandan. A NMSA Lottery kiosk is also located at XO Supermarket and NMSA Lottery staff will be there to assist you. (PR)