Did you know that lotteries played a huge role throughout American history? The earliest English colonies were funded through lottery income and this form of funding has remained popular to this day.
Here’s an interesting fact. Some of the buildings at Harvard and Yale were funded by lotteries.
The modern lottery landscape is quite a bit different. Lotteries such as the US Powerball or Mega Millions are popular, but a lot of state lotteries have sold less tickets since the scratch card boom in the 1980’s.
With instant win scratchcards advertised at the front counter of most stores, it’s no wonder they’re so popular. Some of these tickets can cost up to $100 and there are frequent million dollar winners across the country.
Despite a lot of people’s preference for scratch cards today, multi-state lotteries remain popular. In fact – the biggest American lotto games allow tickets to be bought by anyone in the world. You can either purchase the ticket in person while visiting the USA or you can purchase tickets through a lottery concierge service.
We won’t get into too many details about the online lottery concierge services in this guide, but basically you purchase tickets on the website and they’ll buy the actual ticket at a retail outlet. You have to trust them with the ticket, but thousands of people use these services daily and I have never heard of any serious problems.
What US states don’t have a lottery?
Can you believe there are six US states without a legal lottery? That’s right! The states without any lotteries include Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada and Utah. Guam also doesn’t offer any type of legalized lottery.
Nothing is stopping residents from purchasing tickets out of state and then cashing them out of state, but it makes it more difficult than it needs to be. However, chasing the massive US Powerball jackpots are worth the drive.
How to play the lottery in the USA
Lotteries have varying rules and formats, but typically you select 3-6 numbers and then you’ll often need to select a bonus or jackpot number as well. There will then be a draw and the winner numbers are selected.
You need to match the winner numbers with your numbers. The jackpot is only won if you hit all numbers, including the bonus or jackpot number, but you can still win smaller prizes for matching less numbers.
Players are allowed to choose their own set of numbers if they want or they can quick pick. Some players enjoy using the same lucky numbers every draw, but most players simply choose quick pick when buying a ticket.
Lotteries help support your community
Even to this day, lotteries help support local communities. A portion of the profits from the US Powerball are given to states across the United States to help fund local projects, such as new schools, hospitals and more.
Some of the smaller state lotteries donate a bigger portion of profits back to the community. If you’re interested in learning more about how much lotteries help fund your community, the information is readily available online.
Americans spend billions on lotteries annually and they’re only gaining popularity with all of the media buzz about the huge US Powerball jackpots that have been won this year. Whether you live in the USA or not, you can play a lot of the most popular American lotteries and you could be the next player to win a $1.5 billion jackpot.
