The Idaho Lottery was authorized in November 1988 after local voters approved a constitutional amendment to repeal a ban on lotteries. The first ticket was sold on 19 July 1989, with a total of 840,000 purchased on the first day. During its first year the lottery generated $65m worth of sales.

On 28 May 2005 Brad Duke of Boise, Idaho won a $220.3m Powerball jackpot, although 2008 was actually the luckiest year for the state, with the Idaho Lottery producing 16 Powerball Match 5 winners, each of who won over $200,000.

As well as the multi-state Powerball and Mega Millions games, the Idaho Lottery currently offers other draw games such as Hot Lotto Sizzler, Wild Card, Pick 3 and Weekly Grand. A series of scratch game variants are also available, including Cash On The Spot, Diamond Dollars, Shamrock Gold, Lucky 7 Slingo and Blackout Bingo.