FAQs

No, the rules are the same. When you play online, you play the same game so the rules and prizes available are the same as if you had played at a store.

All lotteries that appear on our website are state operated lotteries and that makes them completely legitimate and safe. Lotteries are highly regulated with their accounts being audited by a number of independent organizations to ensure that the games are fair and that there is no foul play.

Find the game and draw on Lottery USA and check how many of those numbers match the ones on your ticket. The more numbers that you match, the bigger your prize. Apart from some daily Pick game play types, the draw order of numbers does not matter.

The process to claim a prize depends on the game and the jurisdiction where the ticket was obtained. Please check for details on how to claim prizes on the corresponding Lottery USA page for the state where the winning ticket was purchased.

As soon as a lottery draw is held and the official numbers are published, we update them on our website.

You can buy tickets online in the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. New York only offers online subscriptions for certain lottery games.

Most of these jurisdictions require you to be a resident, be located within the state borders, or both in order to be able to play online. Please visit the Lottery USA page for the state you’re interested in to learn more.

If you play online you will never lose a ticket, forget to buy your numbers or miss out on claiming a prize again. You can play whenever you want and pre-purchase your numbers for many draws in advance.

No, the only way to purchase lottery tickets without leaving your home is online. However, some states offer the possibility to subscribe to particular games by mail. Visit the page for a particular state in order to get all of the details.

Most jurisdictions require that you are at least 18 years old or older to be eligible to participate in the lottery. The exceptions are Nebraska where the minimum age to play is 19, and Arizona, Iowa, and Louisiana where participants need to be at least 21 years old to play.

Yes, you can play as many times as you want regardless of the number of prizes that you have won previously.

There are currently 45 U.S. states with an official state lottery as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

No, high-tech computerized lottery draw machines or systems that use certified and tested Random Number Generators ensure that lottery draws are completely random and unpredictable.

When playing with this option, the system randomly selects the numbers for your ticket instead of you picking them yourself. Most lotteries and games offered in the U.S. usually have a Quick Pick option.

Yes, you can. Playing as part of a group or syndicate is one of the most popular ways to play the lottery. The prize money gets split between all of the participants, but the chances of winning are greatly increased.

Yes, you can. The number of advanced draws that you can participate in is dependent on the game and the state from where you play.

No, you can buy as many tickets as you want for a particular draw.

In most cases, once you purchase a ticket and it’s been printed out, it can’t be canceled. We suggest that you take all of the possible precautions to make sure that the numbers on the play slip are the ones you wanted to play before confirming the purchase.

Some states offer the possibility of canceling tickets after purchase, under certain circumstances, and for particular games. To get more details about a particular game or state, please visit our information page for the state in question.

Lotteries that offer games where there is a fixed prize that can be won by multiple participants, such as daily Pick games, sometimes limit the number of times a given combination can be purchased. For example, on September 11, the Pick 3 combination 911 often sells out in New York. Although rare, it does happen.

At Lottery USA, you can find lottery results dating back one year. Find the lottery that you're interested in and click “See more.” From the game page, you can access the full archive by clicking on the “Archive” link from the Quick Links bar at the top of the page.

The time available to claim prizes depends on the jurisdiction and game in question. You can find out more by visiting the corresponding state page on our website.

You can claim your prize as soon as the draw is finished, and the results are verified and published. This process can take up to a few hours, depending on the game.

It’s recommended that you sign your ticket, which can help prove ownership. Keep tickets in a safe place and avoid sharing the news of any wins until you’ve claimed your prize.

Only in some states. The states that allow you to remain anonymous when you win are Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Wyoming.

There are also a few more exceptions where winners can remain anonymous under certain conditions. In Arizona, winners of jackpots with a value of $100,000 or more may request that their names not be made public while the Georgia Lottery allows winners of $250,000 or more to remain anonymous.

In Ohio, it’s possible to create a trust to claim your winnings anonymously.

In a few states, you need to win over a certain amount to qualify for anonymity. In Minnesota you need to win over $10,000, in Illinois you need to win over $250,000, in Texas and West Virginia the prize needs to be $1,000,000 or more, and in Virginia your prize has to exceed $10 million.

Yes, if more than one person has the winning numbers, the jackpot is shared among them.

If you lose a winning ticket or it gets damaged beyond recognition, it becomes void and you can’t claim any prizes with it. Only a few state lotteries have a service that allows players with damaged/lost tickets to try and claim their prizes through a particular process, but it’s not guaranteed that you’ll be able to do so.
Missing out on prize money because of lost or damaged tickets is very unfortunate, so we recommend that you keep all of your tickets in a safe place. In addition, keep in mind that if you play online you don’t need to worry about damaged or lost tickets.

Lottery winnings are subject to federal income taxes and may be subject to state taxes depending on the state where the ticket was purchased.

Some state lotteries are required to report winnings of certain values to the corresponding tax collecting agencies. In those states where state income tax applies, a percentage of certain prizes will be withheld for tax purposes, and all states are required to do the same for federal taxes on certain lottery winnings.

Check the corresponding state page on Lottery USA for more relevant tax information on lottery winnings.

The advertised jackpot is an estimate as the final amount can’t be confirmed until the lottery stops selling tickets for that draw and all sales are accounted for. Also keep in mind that the advertised jackpot is the amount you would get if you choose the annuity option. The cash option is always less than the advertised annuity value.

The annuity amount is the value of the cash amount invested in securities over 25 years. The cash option is the same prize, but without the value generated by the long-term investment. The advertised amount is always the estimated annuity value.

Most of the time, you don't select cash or annuity until after you win the jackpot. We suggest that you always seek professional advice before making your decision.

No, once you choose the annuity option and payments have started, it cannot be changed to the cash option.

On the annuity agreement there is normally a beneficiary assigned to receive the rest of the prize money in case the original winner dies before it’s paid in full. If you win the jackpot, be sure to go over these details with a lawyer.

Unclaimed prizes are sent back to the state where the winning ticket was purchased. Each state has different guidelines on what to do with the money, but most states distribute the funds to social, educational, environmental, and/or health programs.

This is probably not genuine. Prize notifications are often the work of criminals, who are hoping to get your personal details, bank details, or money from you.
If you receive an email/text message notifying you of a lottery win, ask yourself whether you participated in the lottery. If you play online, some states will send you a text message or email alert for small prizes but will not ask for a fee.

The maximum period to claim a lottery prize in the U.S. is one year, so if you find out you won a draw that was held more than a year ago, you won’t be able to claim it.

Lottery USA was first launched in early 1995, when the Internet was in its infancy. Back then, some state lotteries did not even have a website!

We are a team of young and old lottery fans and software developers who live, breathe, and love everything about U.S. lotteries.

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In the unlikely event that we don’t have results for a game you play, please contact us and we’ll address the problem right away.