In 1973 Rep. Arthur Genest of Waterville sponsored a bill to introduce a lottery in Maine. The public voted yes to this bill and lottery operations began in 1974. Ticket Sales for the Maine Lottery begin in June 1974 starting with a 50¢ weekly draw ticket called "Play Me". The first drawing for the "Play Me" weekly draw was held on June 27, 1974, later "Play Me" becomes "Downeast Sweepstakes". In April 1985, the first multi-state lottery, Tri-State Lotto Compact is approved between Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. The Tri-State Megabucks game starts with a Saturday draw of pick 6-of-30 matrix in September 1985.

The Maine Lottery is run by the government of Maine and is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL). Maine initially joined the MUSL in 1990, before the Iowa-based organization became the Powerball game and pulled out of the MUSL two years later when Powerball was introduced. Maine would not rejoin the MUSL until 2004. Maine's first continuing draw game to have its winning numbers drawn via random number generator instead of using traditional lottery balls is "Hot Lotto" and features a smaller jackpot.