Lotteries are unique in the slow build-up of hype. This hype is compounded by the mystery and wonder of who will win the big prize and have their life changed forever. The latter life-altering event is the core potential of such games and the reason for numerous lottery games, online and offline. This page intends to teach you everything you need to know about online lotteries, their ins and outs, where you can buy tickets, how to stay informed about results and how to choose the best site.
The basic principle of a lottery is the collection of a lump sum through the sale of tickets. This sum is then distributed to the holders or winning randomly chosen numbers. Online lotteries kick this into a higher gear with breath-taking prize pools that are often shared among several winners.
All you have to do is choose which numbers you want to bet on, hope for the best and potentially win a substantial jackpot.
One can say without a shadow of a doubt that the lottery is humanity's most popular and commonly participated in form of gambling. This popularity stems from its simplicity and straightforward betting. The ultimate winners are those players who pick all of the winning numbers. But there is a bit of wiggle room if you get a couple right. You are given a prize of some sort depending on the number of correct guesses.
Conventional lotteries such as the Powerball and Mega Millions require you to have all the correct numbers to snatch up the jackpot. This jackpot is derived from a prize pool that forms when users buy tickets. The more tickets they buy, the bigger it gets.
Lottery Syndicates
You might scoff at the idea of lottery syndicates, but these are incredibly popular forms of collective gambling. The members of a syndicate pool their money and collectively buy tickets. Potential winnings are then distributed within the group based on the amount that each individual invested. You might not have heard of this, but it is not at all uncommon. It is actually so commonplace that several sites go out of their way to make syndicate betting a breeze.
Lottery Pay-Outs
We have all thought about what we would do if we were to win the lottery. But are you familiar with the bureaucracy behind a win? The main focus is naturally the pay-out system and the manner in which the enormous prizes are paid out. The latter system is either based on annuity or a lump sum, so a yearly instalment or a one-time payment.
Annuity
This option will see you receiving annual instalments over the course of 20 to 30 years, depending on the jackpot’s size. While the idea of getting a sizeable yearly payment is nice, the time frame might not be what you are looking for.
Lump-sum
You are given all of your winnings in one batch by choosing a lump sum. This single payment is, of course, affected by taxes that can dwindle your initial jackpot to 30 to 60% of its displayed value.
The accessibility of the lottery is phenomenal nowadays. There is no need to visit conventional shops and venues. You can partake from the comfort of your room and desktop device. But the convenience does not end there! The leading lottery sites offer instant mobile participation via iOS or Android. These sites feature lottery games that are specially optimized for mobile devices. This optimization includes user-friendly and seamless interfaces, quick purchases, incentives and all the bells and whistles that you would otherwise enjoy on desktop. All of this is packaged up in a convenient mobile browser and available from anywhere and at any time.
The advancement of technology has vastly simplified the purchase of online lottery tickets and your participation in draws for hefty jackpots. Our list of recommended online lottery sites provides you with the very best in the business. Every entry was thoroughly vetted, reviewed and scrutinized to provide you with the best betting experience on the market. This also includes the best lottery games online players can expect.
A lucky few have managed to realize everyone’s dream of winning a mega jackpot and had their lives changed forever.
The following is a list of their winnings and related information:
Win |
Game |
Description |
€1.58 Billion |
Powerball |
This is the biggest win in lottery history, with a staggering €1.58 billion that was evenly distributed among three winners back in January of 2016. |
€1.53 Billion |
Mega Millions |
An anonymous South Carolinian won a whopping €1.53 billion on Mega Millions. |
€758.7 Million |
Powerball |
The Powerball paid out a jaw-dropping €758,7 million to Mavis Wanczyk from Massachusetts. |
€656 million |
Mega Millions |
This win made Mega Millions jackpot history and was split between three winners back in March of 2012. |
€648 million |
Powerball |
Two lucky winners shared a 648-million-euro jackpot in December of 2013. |
€590.5 million |
Powerball |
Gloria Mackenzie from the Sunshine State, Florida, managed to win an astonishing €590.5 million in the Powerball. |
€587.5 million |
Powerball |
Two winners of the 2021 Powerball shared a life-changing 587.5-million-euros. |
€564.1 million |
Powerball |
Powerball changed the lives of three lucky winners back in 2015 when it paid out €564.1 million to them. |
€487 million |
Powerball |
A family from New Hampshire managed to pick the winning numbers and win €487 million back in July of 2016. |
€536 million |
Mega Millions |
The wins of 2016 started off with a bang in the decibel range of €536 that hit the ears of a married couple with children. |
You might be tempted to have a go at the most popular lotteries currently available, but the question of where to start remains. We have your back with this list of the best international lotteries.
The 10 Top Lotteries Worldwide
All of this might leave you scratching your head, and it might be a lot to take in. We realize that this new frontier might seem daunting, so we prepared a step-by-step guide to buying online lottery tickets.
The easiest thing to do in this regard is to choose one of our recommendations. The links adjacent to your preferred featured site will lead you to it.
Once you have a lottery site, you require a lottery game that you intend on playing on a regular basis. You can often choose from a vast array of these, and there will be no lack of choice in this regard.
Choose your possibly lucky numbers and do so either manually or with the use of digital random number pickers.
The next step is to take your ticket to the checkout and pay for it. You will have to input your chosen payment method and its details in order to finish the transaction.
Your ticket will be waiting for you once you complete the transaction. All that is left now is to wait for things to play out and see if you are lucky or not.
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Are online lotteries something completely new to you? Do you want to master them with the help of quality advice? Then you’ve come to the right place! The following are tips from professionals that can vastly help you out when you are getting started with online lottery games.
It is vital that you compare the odds of various lotteries. These are intrinsic to your chances of winning big, and they tend to vary drastically. The better the chances a lottery has, the higher your statistical chances of winning are.
You might want to go for the big fish and not even consider smaller lotteries, but the smaller ones might have better odds and should be considered.
Your chances of winning remain linear, but the amount that you can win can differ drastically. If you wait until a jackpot swells over a long period of nobody winning and invest at that point, then you have the chance to win more than you would otherwise.
Increasing your investment should always be done with careful consideration of your budget. By buying more than one ticket, you increase your chances of winning but also increase your potential losses. Do not let them grow out of proportion and swallow you.
Lottery winners tend to recommend choosing less commonplace games with less competition. Less competition means that you will have to share your winnings with fewer people.
Our list of recommendations is an exclusive club with thoroughly vetted and reviewed casinos that have to satisfy a strict list of criteria. These include:
We look at the security measures that have been implemented and whether or not they are cutting edge. Another key element in this regard is a license.
You should always have your preferred payment method available, and there should be an array of trusted payment methods with hassle-free transactions.
Your average online gambling game offers bonuses and gameplay incentives that reward the player base. The same should be true of online lotteries.
You should always have somebody to call when things go south. A diligent support team that you can contact 24/7 via multiple portals is vital to our criteria.
You should not be limited by the device that you choose. An online lottery should be fully accessible from any device that you want to play on, be it mobile or stationary.
Last but not least in this quick overview is the availability of lottery games. We check how many you can partake in on a local and global scale.
This depends entirely on your country of residence. Laws and regulations differ from country to country and, in some cases, even from state to state.
A plethora of sites offer online lotteries. We have taken the liberty of compiling a list of our safe recommendations that you can instantly make use of.
This again depends on your region, but it is usually 18 or 21.
The safety of your lottery depends entirely on what you choose. It has to be licensed and equipped with cutting-edge industry security measures.
This is usually forbidden and impossible. Try to stick to the lotteries that are accessible within your country’s borders.
In most cases, no. You can usually buy as many tickets as your heart desires. You can even buy 30 tickets at once.
Online lotteries do not have opening hours and are accessible all day every day, even on Sundays.
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