Where is Lotto America available?

Lotto America is available in Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Montana, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

What is Lotto America?

Lotto America is a feature of the Powerball that costs an additional $1 to play.

Players must “select five numbers from 1 to 52 for the red balls, then select one number from 1 to 10 for the Lotto America Star Ball.

“Choose your numbers on a play slip or let the lottery terminal randomly pick your numbers.

“Players win the Grand Prize or one of 8 set cash prizes by matching one of the 9 ways to win.”

Can I redeem tickets in another state?

The simple answer is no.

Mega Millions is sold by individual lotteries, so winning tickets must be redeemed in the state they were purchased in.

However, lotteries usually have a claim-by-mail option for most prizes.

First-recorded instance of lottery

Keno slips from ancient China, dated between 201 and 187 BC, are the oldest known instance of a lottery.

Large government projects, such as the Great Wall of China, were most likely financed using lotteries.

Jackpots won in 2021

The Powerball jackpot has been hit six times in 2021:

• January 20 – $731.1million – Maryland
• January 23 – $23.2million – New Jersey
• January 30 – $33.2million – New Jersey
• March 27 – $235.4million – Florida
• June 5 – $285.6million – Florida
• October 4 – $699.8million – California

IRS and lottery winnings

The state you won your prize in will be required to notify the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) if you won over $600.

Financial advice for winners

Lottery officials strongly encourage winners of large prizes to get professional financial advice.

Mega Millions said on its website that the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants offers a variety of financial planning tools and can help find a personal financial specialist.

Determining the Grand Prize, part two

The cost to fund an annuity prize is another key component of the estimated Powerball jackpot.

The annuity factor is made up of interest rates for securities purchased to fund prize payments.

The higher the interest rates, the higher the advertised Grand Prize, according to the lottery.

How is the Grand Prize determined?

The two most important factors in determining the advertised Powerball Grand Prize estimate are game sales and the annuity factor.

The lottery says on its website that a number of variables affect game sales, including seasonality or a big Mega Millions jackpot.

Game sales are typically stronger for a Saturday drawing versus a Wednesday drawing.

How do you claim a prize?

Prizes have to be claimed in the jurisdiction where you bought the winning ticket.

Players can often claim prizes up to $600 at any licensed lottery retailer in the jurisdiction where they bought the ticket, the Powerball website said.

Prizes over $600 can be claimed at some lottery offices depending on the amount, and also at lottery headquarters. Contact your lottery with questions.

How to play Mega Millions

You win the Mega Millions jackpot by matching all six winning numbers in a drawing.

Players pick six numbers from two separate pools of numbers – five different numbers from 1 to 70 (the white balls) and one number from 1 to 25 (the gold Mega Ball) – or select Easy Pick/Quick Pick.

The nine ways to win a prize in Mega Millions are listed on the lottery website.

Prizes range from the jackpot down to $2.

Where can I play Mega Millions?

Tickets are available from lottery retailers in 45 states, plus Washington, DC, and the US Virgin Islands.

More information about where to play in the 47 jurisdictions is available on the Mega Millions Where to Play webpage.

Winning as a teen

The two youngest winners in the US were both 19.

Jonathan “Jay” Vargas won $35.5million in a Powerball jackpot.

He started an all-female wrestling TV show called Wrestlicious, which was canceled after one season, according to Metro.

Due to this, he doesn’t have much of his fortune left.

Frederick Walker, won $2 million at age 19 on the Powerball, too.

Can I play the lottery online?

In some states, there are ways to purchase subscriptions to some lottery games.

There have also been a number of lottery retailer apps that have launched in recent years, providing a safe alternative to purchasing lottery tickets in person.

Check your state’s guidelines to learn more about purchasing lottery tickets online.

Jackpot prize options

Jackpot winners can choose to claim their lottery prize as an annuity or a lump-sum payment.

With the annuity option, winners are guaranteed to receive 30 graduated payments over 29 years.

The annual payments go up by 5 percent each year until the 30th and final payment, with all 30 payments adding up to the value of the annuity

Where is Powerball filmed?

Powerball drawings are filmed every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee using mechanical machines and ball sets.

Has anyone won on Friday the 13th?

“Six Mega Millions jackpots have been won on a Friday the 13th,” according to the Mega Millions website.

“Michigan has been especially lucky on that special day, with four winning jackpots (June 2008, May 2011, June 2014, and one shared with Rhode Island in October 2017).”

“A Friday the 13th jackpot was also won in New York in March 2009 and in Ohio in November 2015.”

What happens to unclaimed prizes?

According to the Powerball website, “Unclaimed prizes are kept by the lottery jurisdiction.”

That means the money is generally returned to the states selling tickets for that game. Each state has its own set of rules from there, determining what actually happens to the money.

In some cases, it gets returned to the players.

How long do you have to claim prizes?

Powerball tickets typically have expiration dates that vary from 90 days to one year depending on where they were sold, according to the Powerball website.

The expiration date is likely listed on the back of your ticket.

If it is not, check with your state lottery office.

Winners who lost it all, continued

Edwards and his wife spent $3million in the first three months on luxury cars, mansions, and a plane. By the end of the first year, they had spent $12million.

Their lives continued to spiral as they both fell into drug addiction in 2006. Just 12 years after his life was changed by the win. David Lee Edwards died alone and broke in hospice care.

Winners who lost it all

Some winners made mistakes that left them in worse shape than they were before they won.

David Lee Edwards won a $27 million jackpot. Five years later he was penniless and living in a storage shed with his wife, Yahoo reports.

Minimum Powerball jackpot amount

Powerball jackpots begin at $20million.

For every drawing with no winner, the jackpot will increase based on the estimated ticket sales that will occur before the next drawing.

After a jackpot is won, the prize money resets to $20million.

Using a debit or credit card to buy tickets

Whether or not you are able to use a debit or credit card to purchase lottery tickets depends on where you are.

In 21 states, you can purchase lottery tickets with a credit card.

However, 29 states do not allow this.

Within these rules, some stores will not allow you to use a card due to their own rules, so it’s best to have cash on hand if you’re planning to purchase lottery tickets.

Costume trend in China

A lucky winner in China who claimed a $40million prize in 2016 wore a monkey costume to avoid being identified.

It then became a trend for winners to wear costumes when collecting their earnings.

South Korea’s heightening lottery sales

In 2020, South Korea’s Lottery Commission announced that total lottery sales have reached $2.2billion, which is the highest it’s reached since 2005.

With its 1000th episode anniversary on January 29, 2022, the largest jackpot won in the South Korean lottery has been the 2003 prize of approximately $40.7billion.