Best Online Lotteries in the USA Apr 2024

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For many of us, lotteries are considered as one of the fastest ways to get some extra cash. Of course, we all understand very well that the chances of winning are incredibly small but we always hope that it’s us who will get a lucky ticket. In the end, someone constantly wins and you can’t deny that. So we are well aware that choosing a lottery as a platform for your investment is far from being the most reasonable solution, however, there is still a chance to win big. Moreover, even the most persistent of us are sometimes seduced by the possibility of winning a huge amount of money which without exaggeration can change our whole life. That is why we can afford to try our luck from time to time by purchasing a lottery ticket and it’s worth saying that there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

You can play lotteries in 44 States, as well as in the District of Columbia. Of course, there are plenty of varieties of the lottery in different states. It is about both instant win scratch tickets and the classic games which may also imply serious winnings. While in most of the states you need to purchase tickets from the store, some states allow you to buy lottery tickets online.

However, some states have gone even further since they are offering players to play the lottery on special sites where customers can not only buy tickets online but also instantly play the game and be able to win hundreds of thousands of dollars. All this is extremely convenient since you will not even need to leave the house for the game. This possibility, in particular, will appeal to residents of Michigan, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, as the following sites are completely legal and accessible to residents of these regions:

Michigan: Michigan Lottery

Pennsylvania: Pa Lottery

New Hampshire: NH Lottery

How You Can Buy Lottery Tickets Online

Today among a number of states there is a tendency to switch to the online sale of lottery tickets. For a long time it was believed that the sale of lottery tickets online was an illegal activity but in view of the serious tensions of the financial situation against the background of increasing taxes, lawmakers were forced to reconsider their positions. So at the end of 2011, it was announced that the existing restrictions relate only to sports betting which allowed the lottery segment to enter the online market. Even despite the fact that only a few states decided to make such a transition so far, the interest in the online sale of lottery tickets is constantly growing. The basic concept of this phenomenon is the following:

• “ If online lottery tickets sales are allowed, more people will buy them which ultimately will increase state revenue without the need to raise taxes.”

Until now it is quite obvious that this approach turned out to be quite profitable. For example, the state of Illinois which became the first region selling lottery tickets online reported total sales of $425,000 for the first week, which is a great result.

In which states is it legal to buy lottery tickets online?

The idea of selling lottery tickets online has been approved by more than 12 states. In addition, the list of states supporting this concept is growing annually. This means that in such states players can not only purchase tickets in a traditional way but also have the opportunity of ordering them online. In particular, such major resources as Powerball and Mega Millions offer their services to users online. Let’s have a look at the list of states where you can absolutely legally purchase lottery tickets online, play instant games or do both at the same time:

Georgia Online Lottery

Since DOJ announced the sale of lottery tickets online legal, one of the first states that began to engage in this activity was Georgia. So in 2012 with the permission of the GA Lottery such large platforms as Mega Millions, Fantasy 5 and Powerball began to provide customers with the opportunity to buy tickets online. Since then, this niche of the market has begun to expand significantly and today keno drawings are held every 3.5 min. around the clock.

Illinois Online Lottery

Illinois did not stand aside as Illinois Lottery was also one of the first to start selling tickets and subscriptions online. It also happened in 2012. Nonetheless, the lawmakers insisted on closing the program since the problem gamblers were too risky to lose all their money but in the end, the program still continued its existence.

Today on the official website of Illinois Lottery you can purchase tickets for Mega Millions, Lotto and Powerball. In addition, customers also have the opportunity to purchase subscriptions.

Kentucky Online Lottery

2016 was marked by an expansion in the online sales segment for the Kentucky Lottery. Thus, on the official website of the platform customers can use a variety of services provided by Mega Millions, Powerball, Lucky for Life and KY Cash Ball. In addition, the site also offers scratch cards which allow you to count on instant wins.

Michigan Online Lottery

The Michigan Online lottery started its online ticket sales in 2014 and today the platform offers its customers an excellent selection of over 50 available games.

A distinctive feature of the Michigan Lottery is that the site of the platform is one of the most comprehensive ones and provides players with an excellent selection of games. In addition, it is very convenient to work with the website since having the numbers you can find out the result almost instantly.

Payouts for online scratch card games reach $ 500,000 and new users can expect some pleasant rewards on condition of using the bonus code which will allow you to get 10 free games. In addition, if you decide to make a deposit with real money the platform will also reward you with an additional sum for your user balance.

New Hampshire Online Lottery

Compared with the rest of the states the New Hampshire iLottery is a relatively young project since it was launched only at the end of 2018 but this does not affect the popularity of the product itself since iLottery offers a number of interesting games with instant payouts to online user accounts.

Players can purchase tickets for Mega Millions or Powerball both individually and in batches of up to 100 tickets. For instance, you can purchase only a single entry into the next drawing or you have all the chances of buying a bunch of 100 tickets into each of the next 104 drawings.

North Carolina Online Lottery

Thanks to the official North Carolina’s lottery site you can also take advantage of offers to buy lottery tickets online. In addition, if you are a resident of this state you can purchase entries for Mega Millions, Powerball, Carolina Cash 5 etc. Customers can buy both one ticket at a time or purchase several entries in advance to multiple drawings. Keep in mind that this website allows you to buy tickets only online.

North Dakota Online Lottery

The Pick & Click service used by the North Dakota lottery website allows users to purchase tickets online using smartphones and other mobile devices. With this method, you can get tickets for Lotto America, Powerball, Mega Millions etc. In addition, this can be done with the help of the desktop version, not to mention mobile devices powered by Android or iOS.

However, a necessary condition for playing online is to have a North Dakota mailing address and you must also be physically located in this state while purchasing a ticket. Winnings of less than $ 600 can be paid directly to your online account. However, if you are lucky enough and you have won more than this sum, additional procedures may be required which you will be notified about by the lottery.

Thanks to the support of online pools, Pick & Click gives players the opportunity to invite new users and create groups which will allow them to cooperate in order to buy new tickets.

Pennsylvania Online Lottery

Another project that appeared relatively recently is Pennsylvania iLottery which entered the online lottery market in 2018. Quite a sufficient choice of instant win games will also allow players to get instant payouts directly to their user balance. All functions of the platform will be available to the user after signing up. Despite a modest collection of instant scratch card games, the Pennsylvania iLottery is in great demand among players due to the possibility of buying tickets online and the platform is also planning to launch virtual sports betting section and instant keno in the foreseeable future.  For new players who are residents of this state, the Pennsylvania iLottery offers an instant $5 bonus which will be given to players immediately after making at least $5 worth of purchases.

The Minnesota residents also had the opportunity to play the online lottery, however, in 2015 local authorities banned this activity. Nonetheless, even after the online ticket sales were stopped, Minnesota online lottery still allows its customers to buy tickets in-person. Despite the fact that the Delaware Lottery also does not provide its customers with the option of buying products online, this platform still presents its games in three online casinos. Thus, players can take advantage of the company’s offers in Delaware Park, Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway playing their favorite games online. More information about these casinos can be found here.

In addition, another option for various players is the possibility of the lottery ticket subscriptions that can be managed online. It allows customers to have the opportunity to purchase tickets into every drawing for a week to many weeks on end. The pricing policy of these services may vary depending on the options you choose. Despite the fact that the government is quite reluctant to allow online lottery ticket sales it is quite expected that such an option will appear in most states sooner or later. Given that in some states lotteries are completely missing it’s safe to say that in some regions this process will take a considerable period of time. State authorities are unlikely to give up additional profits in the form of sales of lottery tickets but at the same time, customers are also quite satisfied. Thus, it is obvious that the mutual satisfaction of both parties will lead to the fact that the sale of online lottery tickets will become legal in all states. Next, we will present a map showing the states in which the sale of lottery tickets online is legal in one form or another:

Online Lottery Subscriptions

In a number of states, residents are free to use lottery subscriptions that can be used to purchase tickets. You can do this by visiting the official website of the lottery in your state and find the «subsctiptions» section and by selecting the required period, you can purchase subscriptions for a week, a month and even for a whole year.

So in the following states you can absolutely legally buy or manage subscriptions online:

1. Maine
2. Maryland (subscriptions can be managed online, but sending your subscription request via mail is mandatory)
3. New York
4. Virginia

A winning amount of less than $ 600 is paid by a check. If the amount of your winnings exceeds $ 600, then in order to get the winnings, you will need to follow the instructions that the platform sends you.

Online lottery subscription is the most convenient way to work with lottery tickets as users can sign up, pay for subscriptions and check the results without leaving home. The only noticeable difference with the traditional way of buying tickets is that you have to buy entries into at least a few drawings at a time.

Multi-State Lotteries

As you might guess from the name, Multi-State Lotteries are created for the sale of lottery tickets in a number of states. Obviously, higher ticket sales allow to offer larger jackpot sizes. However, bigger jackpots in their turn contribute to enlarging the sales of lottery tickets, thus forming a powerful cycle which, in general, allows to expand the popularity of the lottery among players.

You must have heard about some breathtaking jackpots on the news. If you have then it’s likely to be about these multi-state lotteries. Nowadays, among the representatives of the largest lotteries of this type we can name Powerball, Mega Millions etc. 33 states are united by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) within which they work together to increase ticket sales. In addition, some lotteries within the MUSL operate in certain states, while a number of other platforms operate in all 33 states which are included in the association. In addition, some of the lotteries may carry out their activities in other regions outside the MUSL.

An example of such a concept is Mega Millions, which is present in 43 States, the US Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia. This state of affairs explains the success of Mega Millions, which is one of the largest companies in its segment. In addition, Powerball, which is another serious player on this market is also available for many residents of different states. In particular, the total amount of Powerball jackpots has reached $ 1.6 billion in recent years which is definitely an astonishing result.

Is it a good idea to play lottery?

The answer to this question is not so simple and really depends on which side you look at this problem. Of course, being sensible people we understand very well that from a mathematical point of view, playing the lottery is not the best idea of spending money. It is obvious that the chances of winning are so small that even spending a dollar on the purchase of a lottery ticket is most likely a waste of money. If you try to look at the total number of tickets sold and compare this figure with the size of the jackpot, then it will become clear to many players that even the ticket price itself is very high.

If you need a quick and clear answer to the above question, then it is obvious that it’s much better to invest money in some other projects. Even investing in the retirement fund is a much more sensible idea than spending money on lottery tickets. It’s all this way if you treat this problem only from a mathematical point of view, taking into account exclusively precise calculations. Nevertheless, it is foolish to deny that the game is often played exclusively for fun and a lot of players buy lottery tickets just to relax. For example, even talented scientists who are fully aware of the senselessness of a lottery game in terms of odds of winning, sometimes buy tickets just for fun themselves.

Obviously, the most important thing in playing the lottery is moderation. Always think carefully how much you are willing to spend on the lottery and know how to stop in time. Do not let the excitement tempt you, otherwise, you risk buying lottery tickets one by one and losing all your money. Treat lotteries just like some funny activity with the risk of losing some money. And if you win, consider that to be just luck and nothing more.

last update : April 2024

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