A lottery is a money-making machine that just keeps growing with time. State and national lotteries generate billions of dollars in revenue each year.
New games are rolling out all the time, with payouts soaring higher. Indeed, just recently, a California resident shattered the Powerball jackpot record, winning the $2 billion pot.
State and local governments use these funds to fund programs centered around education, environmental preservation, and assistance for those in need.
The massive money generated by lottery games is almost certainly why they’re legal in most states. Currently, 45 states have legalized the lottery, along with the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The only states without a legal lottery are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah.
For a long time, the people in these states would only have one option for playing the lottery: travel to another state. You can imagine that the people of Alaska and Hawaii who want to play the lottery might not love the concept. They’d have to travel incredible distances to use a quick pick ticket or find out what the terms “Megaplier” or “Power Play” really mean.
Fortunately for them, the internet has made it possible for people to play the lottery worldwide.
Is Playing the Lottery Online Legal?
The lottery has been around for a long time in the United States. While the roots can be traced back to the 1700s, New Hampshire launched the first official state-operated lottery in 1964.
It didn’t take long for state-operated lotteries to start appearing nationwide. Eventually, multi-state lotteries were created, culminating in the first “national” lottery (Powerball) launched in 1992. The second national lottery (Mega Millions) would launch a few years later, in 1996.
As mentioned earlier, each state will determine the overall legality of a lottery. All U.S. residents can cross state lines to purchase a lottery ticket if they want. Residency doesn’t matter, as the only requirement to play the lottery is being 18 years old.
Technology has created something of a wrinkle in terms of playing the lottery across state lines. The 1961 Wire Act specifically outlawed the electronic transfer of information or funding involved with gambling. Since the lottery is considered gambling, the act made it illegal to use phone calls or the internet to purchase tickets in other states.
The 1961 Wire Act remains the law and is still enforced by the federal government. However, the wording has been updated to reflect modern times.
In 2011, the language was reworded to permit the playing of lotteries. The only thing the act prohibits now is sports betting, but that restriction is being fiercely debated and could end soon.
Where Can You Play the Lottery Online?
You can do almost anything on the internet, including playing the lottery. The tricky thing, of course, is that you want to do it safely.
There are a ton of lottery scams out there, most of which occur online. You should take caution whenever you play the lottery online and protect your personal information as much as possible.
Just as you need to be careful going to retailers for scratch-off games, you should approach the next draw game you play online with caution. The biggest lotteries, though, often have larger top prizes and more secure lottery apps.
These are three different options for how you can play state and national lotteries online:
State Lottery Websites
The rewording of the 1961 Wire Act quickly opened the floodgates to playing the lottery online. In March 2012, Illinois became the first state to implement an online system to sell lottery tickets. The plan was a massive success, as more than $15,000 worth of tickets were sold on the first day.
Since then, eight more states (Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Virginia) have created official online lottery platforms.
Each lottery website offers a variety of games, features, and promotion codes. For example:
- Michigan offers 50 free plays for their instant keno game and matches up to 50% of your initial deposit (up to $100). The website allows you to set up automatic purchases, play ten different games, and lets you review past numbers to see which numbers are drawn most frequently.
- Pennsylvania gives you $20 worth of free plays and matches 100% of your initial deposit (up to $500). You’ll be able to play various games, sign up for a subscription, and have the most options for making payments.
- Virginia provides you with 20 free Vegas Cash Drop entries and matches up to 50% of your initial deposit (up to $100). There is also an annual raffle that includes prizes ranging from $500 to $1 million, free bonus prizes for qualifying users, and a variety of casino styles available.
Lottery Agencies
Enlisting the services of a lottery agency can provide you with a much larger variety of lotteries. You’ll be able to choose the lotteries that offer the best odds regardless of whether the state has a dedicated lottery website.
There are a few options available for lottery agencies, with Jackpocket, Lotto 24/7, Lotto Agent, and The Lotter being among the most popular. These mobile apps are currently available for download with both Apple iOS and Android devices.
The way that lottery agencies work is reasonably simple:
- You create an account and deposit some money.
- You’ll select the lotteries you want to play in the state where the agency operates.
- A dedicated agent in each state will purchase tickets on your behalf.
- The ticket information is uploaded into an encrypted online database while the physical copy is stored safely.
- If the ticket is a winner, the lottery agency will send the physical copy to you via courier.
The good thing about using one of these apps is that the lottery agency can’t legally claim your prize. The bad thing is that you’ll likely have to travel to the state where you won a prize. Each state has specific laws for claiming lottery winnings.
Most of them require an in-person verification of your identity and the winning ticket. That might not be a problem for jackpots, but claiming a smaller prize might lose you money in travel expenses.
Lottery Betting Websites
Online lottery websites are a little more complicated than the other options. You’ll enter the more sketchy parts of the internet when you use their services. Using these sites can be risky, and you should consider other options first.
On these online lottery sites, you don’t buy lottery tickets online. You don’t play Mega Millions or play Powerball outright; Instead, you’ll be betting on the outcome of a draw.
You would stake the ticket price as a bet and select numbers but wouldn’t buy anything. If you bet on the winning numbers, you would win a prize comparable to an official ticket.
Or, at least, those are the promised draw results. You can probably imagine the potential issues that a lottery betting website could create. It’s not uncommon for some lottery jackpots to soar past $1 billion.
The idea that a lottery betting website could cover such a prize is ridiculous even to consider as possible. If the other options on this list have failed, then take it as a sign that you weren’t meant to play the lottery.
What Is Yotta?
Yotta is an alternative way that you can play the lottery online. Yotta has no affiliation with any state or national lotteries.
Instead, Yotta offers its users prize-linked savings in the form of weekly drawings. In other words, you’ll be able to play the lottery as often as you like each week, and it won’t cost you a dime.
It might sound too good to be true, but it’s pretty simple. Yotta will provide one ticket for every $25 you have in your account. These tickets are given out in place of traditional interest payments that accompany savings accounts. Every night at 9PM ET 6 numbers are drawn. Depending on how many numbers you match on your ticket, you can win a few cents up to $1million!
Sign Up With Yotta To Safely Play an Online Lottery
Technology and the widespread popularity of the lottery mean you’ll have several options online. A few states allow you to purchase lottery tickets on dedicated websites that the government regulates.
For other states, you’ll have to entrust the services of a lottery agency or lottery betting website. There might be a few trustworthy options, but you’ll assume a lot of risk using them.
There’s no good reason for you to venture into the sketchier sides of the internet when Yotta is a viable option. You’ll be able to experience the thrill of playing the lottery each week, and it won’t cost you anything.
If anything, you’ll be more inclined to save money to receive more weekly tickets. There’s simply no way for you to lose a Yotta drawing. It’s just a question of how much you will win.
Download Yotta and sign up today to find out the answer.
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