Is It Legal To Buy Us Lottery Tickets Online
US Lotteries – Digging Deeper…
Purchasing Lottery Tickets Online
After receiving so much conflicting information regarding playing online lottery games like US Powerball and Mega Millions, it was time we took a serious look at what are the rules and regulations are for people residing outside the United States of America. The size of these jackpots is attracting attention, and serious lottery players want to know whether their play will be legal.
The Bottom Line on US Lotteries
It was concluded in an opinion by VIRGINIA A. SEITZ, United States Assistant Attorney General about the states of New York and New Jersey, that lotteries do not form a part of the Wire Act which is the primary federal legislation governing interstate transactions.
The amendment to the Wire Act was a result of the growing use of the Internet. Though initially introduced in 2009, it was on the 20th of September 2011, when Seitz wrote a 13-page legal opinion that said “nothing in the materials supplied by the Criminal Division suggests that the New York or Illinois lottery plans involve sports wagering, rather than garden-variety lotteries. Accordingly, we conclude that the proposed lotteries are not within the prohibition of the Wire Act.” In other words, the US federal government conceded the Wire Act only applied to sports betting.
This affects the concept of interstate purchasing of lottery tickets. There is no question that US citizens cannot play lotteries online internationally, but people are allowed to play lotteries online outside the US for games in the US. Some of the US states do have specific rules that prohibit foreigners from playing lotteries in their state, but it is clear where foreigners are welcome!
Some lotteries, like the UK National Lottery or the US Powerball, give players the option to buy tickets online. This is the digital equivalent of dropping by your neighborhood deli and picking up a few tickets for yourself. However, some lottery operators restrict these services to players from a certain area. It is technically legal to buy tickets online. So, it used to be illegal, but that was because of an old law that blocked sports gambling from using the internet. States however were sheepish about allowing the ability to buy them, because of the internet data crossing state lines.
- Our customer service team is here to help. Fill out our online contact form, LIVE CHAT, or give us a call at (804) 692-7777 (option 3) for more information about playing Virginia Lottery games online. See our official online gaming rules. See our official online gaming promotion rules.
- You should check the laws in your jurisdiction to be safe, but every country I’ve researched does not have any laws against buying lottery tickets online. However, Powerball officials do not endorse or support online sales except in a few specific states in the US.
Can Foreigners Play US Lotteries?
The California Lottery site is very specific and says “It is not necessary to be a California resident, nor a US citizen to play and win any of the California Lottery‘s games, but a player does have to travel there to collect any big jackpot. Most good concierge services will help facilitate this.
In speaking to the Georgia State Lottery, they confirmed that a player would not have to be a resident but would have to fly down to Georgia to physically pick up their big jackpot if a player won US Powerball or Mega Millions. Oh – and they would have to pay the 30% Federal tax. Technically, players are supposed to buy the tickets themselves, but when I discussed getting a friend to do it for me, they assured me that was not an issue. Just to make sure that I either trusted the friend to hold my ticket for me or send it to me immediately (before the draw!).
Is It Legal To Buy Us Lottery Tickets Online Booking
The Texas State Lottery also confirmed no worries – come get your money! Funny, they also confirmed that this could be processed from outside of Texas with the proper form completed and identification provided. Forget that – if I won the big jackpot, I’d be on a plane to get my money!
Getting Technical on Tax
In a legal opinion by Martha L. Arias, Immigration and Internet Law Attorney, Miami, IBLS Director, she commented on the income tax implications of Israel residents who might win a lottery in the US. It was clarified that they can receive either their lump sum or annuity, but must pay federal tax applicable to foreigners (30%).
Stay Tuned to This Channel
Keep in mind folks that this is evolving legislation, but for now, I have talked to enough people and received information in writing that as long as you use an online lottery concierge that you trust, they will walk you through the correct legal process to claim your big jackpot!
Many of the FAQs and Terms & Conditions online are slightly out of date and do not reflect the current rules and regulations. Happily, I feel much more confident in giving US lotteries a serious thumbs up as well as our approved concierge lottery services.
That is the point – using a concierge lottery service that you trust and that will provide you with the necessary information to collect your jackpot.
The Powerball lottery is one of the most high-paying lotteries on the planet (right up there with Mega Millions). Recent changes to the way in which drawings are held have led some to predict that we’ll see our first $1 billion winner by the year 2020. That’s not as far-fetched as it may sound, by the way. In recent years, numerous people have won single prizes worth more than $500 million.
Best Powerball Lottery Sites
The smart way to play Powerball online is to do it at a trusted and reputable lottery website. Powerball officials do not endorse online lotto websites, so it is absolutely vital that you buy your tickets from a website that has a verifiable history of paying all winners without exception. These are my top picks based on trust and history of payouts.
Powerball sites offer two distinct advantages over buying your tickets in person. Most importantly, they open the lottery to people located outside the USA. This means you can test your luck in the next Powerball drawing no matter where you live. Secondly, Powerball sites offer convenience and instant purchases from the comfort of home.
When you buy Powerball tickets online, your lottery site actually sends real people out to go and buy tickets with the numbers you want. Your tickets are scanned and e-mailed to you for confirmation and then all you have to do is wait for the drawing. If you win a prize, they will contact you to arrange full payment of whatever you won.
Note: Legitimate Powerball sites will never keep a percentage of your prize as commission. You pay for the service up front when you purchase tickets. Once you have a ticket, 100% of anything you win is yours to keep. If you decide to play Powerball online at a website not recommended on this page, proceed with caution.
Powerball Subscriptions and Syndicates
Powerball lottery sites do offer both subscriptions and syndicates. You can purchase a subscription on the same screen where you buy tickets. To purchase a subscription, all you have to do is specify how many weeks you want to participate in and how many drawings per week you want (one or two per week). The lottery website will then collet your payment and automatically enter you in all upcoming drawings for the duration of your subscription.
You can also go with the syndicate option for more chances to win. In a syndicate, your lottery website pools the money from numerous people and then splits prizes equally among everyone involved in a syndicate. You can read more about Powerball syndicates below.
Is it Legal to Buy Powerball Tickets Online?
You should check the laws in your jurisdiction to be safe, but every country I’ve researched does not have any laws against buying lottery tickets online. However, Powerball officials do not endorse or support online sales except in a few specific states in the US. What this all means for most people is you’re free to buy Powerball tickets online, but you better be sure you do it at a reputable lottery website.
Powerball Jackpots Explained
Powerball jackpots are so big because the lottery is set up as a coordinated effort between 44 states plus D.C., Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Millions of people buy tickets each week and prizes grow to outrageous levels if a few drawings go by without producing a jackpot winner.
In some cases, the jackpot exceeds half a billion dollars before it is won. When this happens, people tend to buy tickets in even greater numbers, which in turn pushes the jackpot even higher. Every jackpot begins with at least $40 million up for grabs and then grows from there. The single largest jackpot to date was hit for more than $590 million in 2013.
How to Win the Powerball Jackpot
You win the grand jackpot if you match all five numbers plus the Powerball pick within a single line on your Powerball ticket. This is the best possible outcome as it results in you winning the biggest prize on offer. The minimum you could possibly win would be $15 million, but that rarely happens. The jackpot has usually had enough time to grow and be worth $100 million or more.
Most grand jackpot winners take home something in the range of $100 million. Sometimes it is more, sometimes it is less. It is always a life-changing amount of money in any case. There are also secondary prizes that are paid if you hit some but not all of the numbers. The following chart shows all potential prizes.
| Numbers Matched | Prize | 2x Multiplier | 3x Multiplier | 4x Multiplier | 5x Multiplier | 10x Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 + Powerball | Jackpot | Jackpot | Jackpot | Jackpot | Jackpot | Jackpot |
| 5 | $1,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 |
| 4 + Powerball | $50,000 | $100,000 | $150,000 | $200,000 | $250,000 | $500,000 |
| 4 | $100 | $200 | $300 | $400 | $500 | $1,000 |
| 3 + Powerball | $100 | $200 | $300 | $400 | $500 | $1,000 |
| 3 | $7 | $14 | $21 | $28 | $35 | $70 |
| 2 + Powerball | $7 | $14 | $21 | $28 | $35 | $70 |
| 1 + Powerball | $4 | $8 | $12 | $16 | $20 | $40 |
| Powerball Only | $4 | $8 | $12 | $16 | $20 | $40 |
You can see that this chart includes Power Play payouts as well. Remember, you can take the Power Play option when you buy your ticket for an extra $1. If you do, all non-jackpot prizes will be multiplied by a factor of 2x to 10x based on a randomly-drawn multiplier number.
Annuity or Lump Sum Payout?
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The Powerball lottery is one of the most high-paying lotteries on the planet (right up there with Mega Millions). Recent changes to the way in which drawings are held have led some to predict that we’ll see our first $1 billion winner by the year 2020. That’s not as far-fetched as it may sound, by the way. In recent years, numerous people have won single prizes worth more than $500 million.
Best Powerball Lottery Sites
The smart way to play Powerball online is to do it at a trusted and reputable lottery website. Powerball officials do not endorse online lotto websites, so it is absolutely vital that you buy your tickets from a website that has a verifiable history of paying all winners without exception. These are my top picks based on trust and history of payouts.
Powerball sites offer two distinct advantages over buying your tickets in person. Most importantly, they open the lottery to people located outside the USA. This means you can test your luck in the next Powerball drawing no matter where you live. Secondly, Powerball sites offer convenience and instant purchases from the comfort of home.
When you buy Powerball tickets online, your lottery site actually sends real people out to go and buy tickets with the numbers you want. Your tickets are scanned and e-mailed to you for confirmation and then all you have to do is wait for the drawing. If you win a prize, they will contact you to arrange full payment of whatever you won.
Note: Legitimate Powerball sites will never keep a percentage of your prize as commission. You pay for the service up front when you purchase tickets. Once you have a ticket, 100% of anything you win is yours to keep. If you decide to play Powerball online at a website not recommended on this page, proceed with caution.
Can I Purchase Subscriptions or Participate in Syndicates Online?
Yes. Online Powerball sites do offer both subscriptions and syndicates. You can purchase a subscription on the same screen where you buy tickets. To purchase a subscription, all you have to do is specify how many weeks you want to participate in and how many drawings per week you want (one or two per week). The lottery website will then collet your payment and automatically enter you in all upcoming drawings for the duration of your subscription.
You can also go with the syndicate option for more chances to win. In a syndicate, your lottery website pools the money from numerous people and then splits prizes equally among everyone involved in a syndicate. You can read more about Powerball syndicates below.
Is it Legal to Buy Powerball Tickets Online?
You should check the laws in your jurisdiction to be safe, but every country I’ve researched does not have any laws against buying lottery tickets online. However, Powerball officials do not endorse or support online sales except in a few specific states in the US. What this all means for most people is you’re free to buy Powerball tickets online, but you better be sure you do it at a reputable lottery website.
Powerball Jackpots Explained
The first question lottery officials will ask you if you win the big one is “annuity or lump sum?” There’s really not a wrong answer to a question like that when you’ve just won a half-a-billion-dollar lottery, but it is still something to consider.
The lump sum payout gives you instant gratification and control over your own money. You get it all right now, pay your taxes and may then go live your life however you see fit. You don’t get as much money overall, but you also don’t have to wait 30 years to get it all. The lump sum payout is worth less money because the lottery just takes all the money currently in the prize pool and gives it to you.
The annuity option is worth more money because you are paid in installments while the state invests the rest in government-backed securities. Thus, the annuity option is only an estimate of what those securities will be worth as they are liquidated and paid to you.
The state agrees to pay you the full amount no matter what happens to its investments, but you still have to consider the risk of the state going bankrupt or some other disaster occurring within the next 30 years that somehow results in the state not paying what you’re owed. The advantages are that your spending is kept under control and you have a guaranteed income for the next 30 years no matter how poorly you manage your money. This is something to seriously consider because we all know the horror stories of lottery winners going broke later down the road.
You can read more at the official Powerball website.
Online Powerball Syndicates
A Powerball syndicate is just a group of people who agree to pool their money, buy a bunch of tickets and split the prizes equally no matter whose ticket wins. Doing so gives you more chances to win at the cost of having to split your money with other people in the syndicate. That’s the trade-off: you get more chances to win less money.
Syndicates are definitely worth a look for large lotteries like Powerball in which prizes routinely exceed $100 million. The best Powerball sites also offer syndicate programs that you can join. If you do so, all you have to do is pay in your share and the lottery website handles the rest. Winning tickets are automatically claimed and split evenly among the winners.
Changes Made in 2015
Powerball lottery organizers changed the way drawings are held in 2015. They decided to increase the main pool of numbers from 59 to 69 and to decrease the pool of Powerball numbers from 35 to 26.
This has resulted in several changes. First, it allows for more overall winners due to it now being easier to hit Powerball numbers. Second, it made it less likely for anyone to win the big jackpot by increasing the main pool of numbers. These changes result in the following:
- It is now easier to win smaller non-jackpot prizes
- It is now more difficult to win the grand jackpot
- Grand jackpot prizes are expected to grow in size due to being hit less frequently