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Lottery America: A Beginner’s Guide to the National & State US Lotto

Monday, September 7, 2020 22:11

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Lottery America: A Beginner’s Guide to the National & State US Lotto

What would you do if you won the national lottery? Financial experts say you should stay calm, protect your ticket and limit your contacts. Of course, the next step would be to weigh the payment options: cash option or spread out winnings over thirty years.

Most people prefer the cash option. And it makes a lot of sense. When you win—say $50 million—you want to get all of it and change your life instantly. But as you’ll discover below, it carries more taxes than a spread-out payment.

National Lottery Games

When most people imagine of playing lotteries, they think of national games like, the Powerball, Lotto America and the Mega Millions lotto. And sure enough, these are the biggest lotto competitions in the country.

How do they work? How can you win?

• Lottery

The Powerball is the most played lottery in the US. It has a minimum payout rate of $40 million that increase over time until someone wins it. The biggest Powerball win was a $1.6 billion ticket nabbed by three lucky players in 2016.

The Powerball challenges competitors throughout the country to pick six correct numbers. First, you buy a ticket worth $3 if you want to win the Powerball and a $2 ticket for small prizes that exclude the jackpot. Then you pick five white numbers from a drum containing numbers 1 to 69 and one red (Powerball) from a second drum containing numbers 1 to 26.

A weekly draw is held to determine if anyone wins the competition. If no one has the correct ticket, the jackpot goes up by $10 million. As mentioned, there are more grand prizes to be won.

They can be as small as $4 (if you pick the correct red ball) or as high as $2 million (five white balls with no red ball). These small payments are paid out to people who correctly guess 1-5 Powerball numbers.

• Lotto America

Lotto America is a relatively big 13-state lottery operated by the Lotto America Product Group. It works like the Powerball in that you select six balls to win the grand prize. However, you can also win smaller payouts if you guess 1-5 correct numbers.

According to lotteryamerica.com, playing and winning the lottery America competition is stupid simple. You pick five numbers from a drum containing digits 1 to 52- and one-star ball from a selection of 1 to 10.

The competition holds draws every Wednesday and Saturday. It pays out $2 to players with the correct star ball and $20,000 if you match the five regular balls. Interestingly, you can magnify your profits through a $1 multiplier. That way, you can win up to five times more if you match 1-5 of the six Lotto American game.

• Mega Millions

The Mega Millions lottery is another national lotto game with payments as huge as those of the Powerball. For starters, its jackpot starts at $40 million and increases every week until someone grabs it.

The largest Mega Millions jackpot went to a lucky ticket holder in 2018 who won $1.537 billion alone. Speak of unimaginable luck! For reference, the odds of hitting the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302.6 million—much bigger than the odds of being struck by a lightning (1 in 700,000).

Playing the Mega Millions jackpot is straightforward. You purchase a $2 ticket and then select six winning numbers: five white balls and one golden ball.

Mega Millions has changed its rules and name several times. With the latest update in 2017, players choose five white numbers from a drum of 70 numbers instead of 75. Then they select the Mega ball from a drum of 25 numbers instead of 15.

Another change is that the jackpot starts at $40 million, up from $15 million. Additionally, you can buy a ticket with the grand prize or without. Based on the new rules, it’s easier to win small prizes and harder to hit the jackpot. However, the Mega Millions payout has increased in size.

US State Lotteries

Lotteries generate a lot of revenue for governments and charities. And for these reasons, most states have local lotteries held once or twice per year. Naturally, these competitions have smaller grand prizes.

But to make them fun and to attract as many people as possible, some states have gotten creative of what to include in their lotteries. What’s more several states have regional games like:

• All or Nothing—Minnesota and lowa

• Cash4Life—consists of six states: Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Tennessee

• Lotto America (previously Hot Lotto)—features 15 states, including New Mexico, South Dakota, New Hampshire and Montana

• Lucky for Life—involves twenty states, including Wyoming which joined in 2016

• 2by2 lotter—Nebraska, North Dakota and Kansas

State Specific Lotteries

When it comes to state-specific lotteries, the competitors are relatively fewer and thus, the odds of winning are decent. Most states have a lottery department with a website where you can discover how to participate in their lotto games.

Take Louisiana as an example. Tickets cost $1 to compete in a jackpot that starts at $500,000. You select six numbers from a pool of 1 to 42. Crucially, you can select the digits randomly or allot a computer to choose six unique numbers for you.

Like national lotteries, Louisiana also holds smaller competitions. The Pick 5 competition challenges you to choose five numbers for a chance to win a $50,000 jackpot. The grand prize increases, though, meaning you could end up winning a lot more.

In California, you can buy $2, $5, or $10 tickets with jackpots that start at specific amounts. A $10 ticket gets you into a pot that starts at $1 million. A $5 ticket gives you a chance to win $250,000 and a $2 ticket $30,000.

Another unique lottery in California is provided in the form of a crossword. You can buy tickets to guess two, three, four or five words. Depending on your ticket, you can win up to $100,000.

Image Credit: powerball.com

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