Nevada is famous for gambling, but there’s one bet you can’t legally make in the state: buying a lottery ticket.
Nevada does not have a state lottery and does not participate in Powerball or Mega Millions. The reason goes back to statehood: Nevada’s Constitution has prohibited lotteries since the document was ratified in 1864.
That means Powerball and Mega Millions tickets cannot be legally purchased at Las Vegas casinos, convenience stores, supermarkets or other Nevada retailers.
Why doesn’t Nevada have a lottery?
Changing that isn’t as simple as passing a new law because the lottery prohibition is written into the Nevada Constitution.
Every effort to amend Nevada’s constitution to allow a lottery floated in the Legislature over the past 40 years has failed.
The most recent serious effort was Assembly Joint Resolution 5, which proposed removing the constitutional prohibition on state lotteries. The measure passed both chambers of the Nevada Legislature in 2023. However, constitutional amendments must be approved by lawmakers in two legislative sessions before going to Nevada voters.
The proposal died in the Nevada Legislature in April 2025 after it failed to receive a hearing before a key legislative deadline.
The Nevada Resort Association opposed the proposal. After it died, the gaming industry group argued that Nevada’s gaming and tourism industry provides substantially more employment and economic activity than a state lottery would generate.
Where is the closest place to Las Vegas to buy Powerball tickets?
For most Las Vegas residents, the closest option is The Lotto Store at Primm, immediately across the Nevada-California border along Interstate 15.
The store is officially in Nipton, California, and is about 40 to 45 miles from Las Vegas. It has long been a destination for Southern Nevadans buying Powerball and Mega Millions tickets. Thousands of Las Vegas-area residents have been known to travel to the Primm store when jackpots grow particularly large.
In fact, California Lottery officials told the Review-Journal in 2023 that The Lotto Store was one of California’s two largest lottery retailers by annual revenue.
Can Nevada residents play Powerball or Mega Millions?
Yes. Nevada residents can buy Powerball and Mega Millions tickets — they just have to purchase them outside Nevada.
That’s why large jackpots routinely send Southern Nevadans across the California state line.
Unless Nevada voters eventually approve a constitutional change, anyone in Las Vegas hoping to buy a Powerball or Mega Millions ticket will have to cross the state line first.
This content was produced with the help of artificial intelligence, based on previous Review-Journal reporting and edited by Review-Journal staff.
