A growing number of states allow players to purchase lottery tickets online through their state lotteries’ websites. Some of these sites also offer instant win games and keno. Some states, like Michigan and Pennsylvania, have their own regulated online lottery platforms, while others authorize third-party lottery ticket couriers like Jackpocket to sell lottery tickets through the internet. Many of these services have mobile apps that allow players to buy lottery tickets online on their smartphones or tablets.
Some of these online lottery sites have a variety of payment methods available, including ACH/eCheck, PayPal, credit cards and debit cards. Several of these sites also support cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. These options allow players to fund their accounts quickly and securely. Some sites even offer deposit match bonuses, which reward new players with bonus money based on the amount they deposit. The Pennsylvania iLottery, for example, offers $20 free on signup with code 20LOTTO, plus a 100% deposit match bonus up to $1,000.
Pennsylvania’s iLottery platform features over 50 different instant-win games, known as eInstants. This collection of games includes popular titles like Keystone Cash, Jungle Tumble Jackpots and Bullseye Keno. In addition to these games, the site also offers a handful of multi-state lottery games. The multi-state games offered through the iLottery include Powerball and Mega Millions, which can have grand prizes that reach over $1 billion.
While the iLottery website is available on desktop computers, it offers a mobile app for iOS and Android devices. Players can use the app to check their winning numbers and select the games they want to play. They can also access their purchase history and see their past winnings.
Purchasing lottery tickets online is easy. In New York, players can use the iLottery’s mobile application to purchase tickets from Monday through Saturday. The cut-off time for purchasing tickets online depends on the type of game being played. For instance, the deadline for buying Powerball tickets is 10:00 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. In order to win a prize, a player must match all of the numbers in their ticket.
The government of Laos is investigating allegations that lottery officials are rigging the system by manipulating winning numbers. Lottery officials in the communist country often change the winning numbers on purchased tickets, a source told RFA’s Lao service. This is allegedly done to prevent large pay-outs to winners.
The US Department of Justice’s 2011 opinion on the Wire Act cleared the way for individual states to regulate online lottery games. This is a major milestone for the industry and will likely encourage more states to follow suit. There are some concerns that online lottery games will cannibalize retail ticket sales, but so far these fears have failed to materialize. In fact, the popularity of online lotteries has helped drive sales at brick-and-mortar retailers. The online lottery industry is expanding at a rapid pace and is expected to continue to grow.