An Arkansas lottery was approved on 4 November 2008 when residents voted in favour of legalising ticket sales in the state. The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Act created a Commission to oversee the running of a lottery, with the first ticket sold at midnight on 28 September 2009. In its first year the Lottery had sold over $485m worth of tickets.

The Lottery began selling Powerball tickets on 31 October 2009, with Mega Millions tickets following on 31 January 2010. Other games offered by the state include daily draw games Cash 3, where players must match three numbers to win up to $500, and Cash 4, where those matching four numbers receive up to $5,000. The National State Jackpot draw is held Mondays through Saturdays and is exclusive to Arkansas, while Decades of Dollars is a multi-state jackpot game drawn on Mondays and Thursdays.

All Arkansas Scholarship Lottery revenues go towards scholarships and grants at public and private non-profit colleges and universities for residents of The Natural State.