Play Online Lotteries for Real Money

The origins of the lottery date back as far as 205 BC in China, where ancient Chinese texts referred to the 'drawing of wood' as a game of chance. In Europe, the Romans were known for holding lottery draws, where ticket holders would be given prizes at dinner parties as symbols of wealth by leaders of the time.

Nowadays, many countries hold their own lotteries as a way of generating income for the government without having to raise taxes. You can also play lotteries online, giving you many chances to try your luck at winning on your favourite numbers! On this page, you'll learn everything you need to know about how to play the online lottery for real money or for free. 

Real Money Online Lottery Stats

• Only one of three winners of the historic $1.586 billion Florida Powerball 2016 lottery jackpot has come forward.
• 1 lottery ticket sold in South Carolina beat incredible odds and won $1.537 billion in the Mega Millions lottery jackpot.
• Juan Hernandez managed to win the New York Lottery's $10 million scratch-card prize, 3 years after winning $10 million in another lottery.
• According to some news articles, a Powerball jackpot winner has lost almost $14,000 in interest payments as she continues to battle in court for anonymity to maintain her privacy.
• One ticket printing mistake made a man from Iowa a winner of a $1 million lottery prize.

Play Online Lottery for Free

Did you know that you could play online lottery games such as jackpots and scratchers for free? There are hundreds of online lottery games that you can explore for free. This is particularly useful if you've never played online lottery games before, or even if you want to try a new lottery game.

There are two main ways to play lottery games online for free: in demo mode and by using a sign-up bonus. Each of these has its own unique advantage, but the best option is to try demo mode first before moving on to playing with a casino welcome bonus if you can get one.

Lotteries in Demo Mode

Demo mode is a way of playing an online casino game, like the online lottery, that doesn't involve the need to risk any of your own money. Not every online casino platform offers a demo mode, but most do, and this will usually include most of their games, like slots, table games, video poker, bingo, keno and scratch cards, though typically live dealer games are not included. 

Some sites require you to open a free account with them before they'll let you try games in demo mode, while others allow you to try the games without having to fill in a registration form.  Playing online lottery games in demo mode means that your bets and wins are all in play chips, meaning that you will not receive real money lottery online jackpot prizes.

Play Online Lottery for Real Money

One way of starting to play lottery games online for real cash is by making your first deposit and using your own money. Another option is to get additional funds to play with by making use of bonuses.

Depositing Funds

In order to play online casino games, including online lotto games, for real money, you need to add your money to the lottery website that offers the games you want to play. This is done by making a deposit. Online casinos tend to offer a wide variety of payment methods that you can choose from, such as credit and debit cards like Visa and Mastercard, online payment service providers like PayPal, Skrill and Neteller, and even mobile phone payments.

Due to modern licensing requirements, the most trustworthy online casinos, such as those featured on our platform, provide a high level of security to protect transactions. 

Depositing is very simple. Just click on any Deposit button or visit the Cashier, choose a deposit method, enter your details, add your desired deposit amount, and click to complete the transaction. Your total deposit funds will show in your online casino balance, which you can then use to play online lottery games!

Lotteries on Mobile Devices

Thanks to the popularity of mobile gaming, there are a lot of mobile games, such as lottery drawings, to play on your smartphone from almost any location. 

To play lotto cash games online on a mobile device, you can access the lottery site from your mobile browser, or, if available, download the app (from the App Store for Apple users and the Play Store for Android users) and join in on the action from anywhere where online lotteries are legal.

To ensure you have great gameplay on a small screen, make sure to have a good internet connection and choose a lottery platform that has mobile-friendly software and systems.

Bonuses Available for Online Lotteries

Casino bonuses can be a great source of extra funds to give you even more time playing your favourite lottery online games. That extra game time could lead to a big win, so bonuses are definitely worth your consideration if winning is on your mind!

Since every bonus is different, it's worth learning a little bit about the various types so you can determine which appeal to you the most. The most common bonuses you're likely to come across on online casino websites, include no-deposit bonuses, welcome bonuses, reload bonuses and a few others

Lotteries No-Deposit Bonuses

As the name suggests, no-deposit bonuses give you funds to play with, but without the need to make a deposit in order to claim them. This is one way where you can play free lottery games that pay real money. We already mentioned a type of no-deposit bonus before, the sign-up bonus, which is offered to new players just for joining. However, there are other no-deposit bonuses too.

Many online casino sites send special bonus offers via email to certain groups of players, often if they haven't been active on the site for some time, with no-deposit bonus offers to serve as an encouragement to come back and play. This is why it's a good idea to tick the box to get on the email promotions list when signing up at an online casino, otherwise you'll miss out on a range of valuable offers!

Other no-deposit bonuses can be offered to players as a VIP perk. Something to keep in mind is that in most cases, no-deposit bonuses will require you to wager through the bonus amount a certain number of times before you can withdraw, so be aware of the T&Cs before claiming.

Lotteries Welcome Bonuses

One of the most common bonuses you'll find at online casinos, is the very first bonus that most players claim as it is awarded for making their first deposit. Welcome bonuses tend to be a percentage of your deposit up to a certain amount, for example, 100% up to €200, giving you extra funds on top of whatever you deposit. 

You can then use this bonus money just like you would real money to play your favourite games, including lottery games, as long as they aren't excluded in the T&Cs.

Claiming a welcome bonus is usually as simple as making qualifying deposit amounts - that is, a deposit of at least a certain minimum amount (eg. €20 or $20). Some sites also need you to enter a promo code when making your first deposit. If you're not sure, you can contact support for help to claim the bonus.

Lotteries Reload Bonuses

Reload bonuses tend to be used as an incentive to keep you playing regularly at the site you've joined, which is why it's common to find reload bonuses offered on a monthly, weekly or even daily basis.

Same as welcome bonuses, reload bonuses are usually a percentage of your deposit and can be claimed by depositing at least the minimum amount, sometimes with a bonus code. Again, remember that bonuses come with certain restrictions regarding how they can be used, so if playing online lottery games is your aim, check the bonus terms and conditions to make sure those games are not excluded.

Lottery in the US

Lottery is legal in most US states (excl. Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah) ranging from individual state lotteries to keno and scratch-offs. Whilst there are no national lotteries, Mega Millions and Powerball are offered in nearly all states. The handling of these lotteries is done by the multi-state lottery association.  

 Another popular form of lottery is Sweepstakes, with many social and sweepstakes platforms available in almost all US states.

States Which Allow Online Lotteries	Lotto Games Online
Georgia Lottery	Cash Pop. Fantasy 5, Keno
Illinois Lottery	Lucky Day Lotto, Lotto (Extra Shot), Pick 3, Pick 4
Kentucky Lottery	Cash Ball 225, Lucky for Life, Keno
Michigan Lottery	Lotto 47, Fantasy 5
New Hampshire Lottery	Cash 5, Gimme 5
New Jersey Lottery	Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 6, Cash4Life, Jersey Cash 5
Pennsylvania Lottery	Cash 5, Match 6, Treasure Hunt, Millionaire Raffle

Lottery in Europe

Europe is home to plenty of lotteries, including pan-European ones like the EuroMillions and Eurojackpot, where citizens from different jurisdictions (that are members of the lottery) can take part. Most European countries have local lottery gambling options, some of which can be played online. The biggest record jackpots of the Euromillions are:

• €220 million was won in France in September 2021
• €210 million was won in Switzerland in February 2022
• €200 million was won in France in December 2020
• €190 million was won in the UK in October 2019
• €187 million was won in Ireland and Belgium (an additional 2 individuals decided to remain anonymous) 

Read our EU online gambling guide for more information.

Lottery in the UK

Lottery is also a favourite form of gambling in the UK. Up to 45 million gamblers take part in the National Lottery. The first draw was held in 19994, where 7 winners pocketed almost £6 million each. The lottery was made available online in 2003 and prior to that players could only play a couple of online scratch offs for real money. The legal age to be able to enter the National Lottery in the UK is 18 years. One of the best lottery sites in the UK is Jackpot.com. 

Lottery in Ireland

There are several lotteries held in Ireland, including the National Lottery (not to be confused with the UK's National Lottery). The National Lottery also introduced other lotto games in Ireland such as Daily Million, Millionaire Raffle, Telly Bingo, Scratchcards and Game Shows. Irish gamblers can also enter the EuroMillions lottery and in fact, a family from the city of Dublin holds the record of Ireland's largest ever jackpot win (€175 million). Irish players can buy real lottery tickets online as long as they are at least 18 years old.

How to Play Online Lotteries

Online lottery is typically a simple number picking game. Though the lottery numbers can vary from one game to the next, generally you pick six digits from one to fifty that you think will emerge from the draw.

The draw then takes place. This can be done in a number of ways, with the result determined by the actual government lottery itself,  Random Number Generators, or by a mixing and selection mechanism in the case of live dealer lottery games.

This results in six winning numbers being drawn. If enough of your chosen numbers match the winning numbers, you win! That's the basics of online lottery draw games, with many versions of the game offering more options to bet. The rules of money lottery games vary, so make sure to read the relevant lottery information first. It is also important to know what the local laws state are in your jurisdiction. 

To learn more, check out our article on How to Play and Win at Online Lottery.

References

• Lottery mathematics (Wikipedia)
• The odds of winning the lotery (The Balance)
• Which UK lottery game has the best odds of winning? (Fool)