ST. PAUL  — State senators voted Friday to outlaw the sale of lottery tickets through a website or at gas-pump terminals, stripping the Minnesota Lottery of high-tech games they already offer.

By a voice vote, senators embraced the ban as an amendment to a separate gambling regulation bill, which passed 55 to 2. The strong vote could put Gov. Mark Dayton in a pinch because he hasn’t declared whether he sides with concerns of legislators or the stance of the lottery director he appointed. A House bill imposing the same curbs advanced through a key committee on Thursday and has the backing of leading legislators of both parties.

Dayton and director Ed Van Petten met privately Wednesday, but the lottery leader wouldn’t discuss their conversation and a spokesman for Dayton wasn’t briefed on their talk.

Van Petten said it’s becoming increasingly clear that the lottery is losing the fight to retain the games.

“You have to be realistic at some point,” Van Petten said in a telephone interview after Friday’s vote. “We’re not going to totally give up. I’d like to find some common ground here.”

Sen. Roger Chamberlain, R-Lino Lakes, said an expansion into Internet gambling should have involved greater input from lawmakers at the outset.

“We’re not talking about lemonade stands here, we’re talking about gaming,” Chamberlain said. “Sometimes we need to slow down and think about the impact on people’s lives.”

The lottery has faced bipartisan criticism for moving forward without getting explicit legislative consent. This winter, the lottery launched virtual instant-play tickets to go along with subscription sales of tickets for draw games like Powerball that have been offered for several years.

Sen. Rod Skoe, DFL-Clearbrook, said bringing gambling into people’s homes or their smartphones wasn’t what voters had in mind when they established the state lottery through constitutional amendment in 1988. Some lawmakers say they worry an online push will make the gambling more addictive or harm sales in convenience stores.

Van Petten has said the Internet sales enhance brand awareness and are done with strict controls that verify player age and limit weekly purchases. For now, they generate a tiny fraction of the lottery’s vast ticket sales.

Ending the online games would cost the state millions of dollars, lottery officials have testified. Because profits benefit environmental projects, lawmakers are preparing to divert money from the state’s surplus to cover any loss.

Van Petten said he’s not sure the games could be stopped immediately if a bill becomes law. Some subscriptions for the draw games were sold on an annual basis, so the lottery would have to either make good on those commitments or unwind them.