FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Back to LotteryUSA Home PageQ. Can lottery tickets be purchased by phone, mail or Internet?
A. No. Current law prohibits such sales. Also, federal interstate trade laws prohibit the sale of tickets across state lines. Tickets must be purchased at an authorized lottery retailer location. Nor can tickets be purchased from out of the US.
Q. In which states is PowerBall® available?
A. In order to purchase a ticket, you must visit an authorized retailer in one of the following jurisdictions: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Washington D.C., Delaware, Indiana, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. A map detailing these locations can be found here. Please visit the Multi-State Lottery Association;s FAQ page for further information.
Q. In which states is THE BIG GAME® available?
A. In order to purchase a ticket, you must visit an authorized retailer in one of the following jurisdictions: Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, and Virginia.
Q. Can a group of people share a Lottery prize?
A. Yes, some lottery prizes (e.g. PowerBall®) can be shared. This decision must be made at the time of claim. Some restrictions do apply. Initially, one check is issued. The individuals and their respective shares are reported for tax purposes.
Q. In what states are the Big Game available?
A. The Big Game tickets can be purchased in the following states: Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey and VirginiA.
Q. Are Lottery prizes taxable?
A. Yes. All lotteries recommend that all jackpot winners consult a financial advisor and competent attorney as soon as possible.
Back to LotteryUSA Home PageQ. What is the prize payout for The Big Game?
A. 5 + bonus JACKPOT
5 + no bonus $150,000
4 + bonus $5,000
4 + no bonus $150
3 + bonus $100
3 + no bonus $5
2 + bonus $5
1 + bonus $2
0 + bonus $1
Q. Why does your site always seem to be a day behind on the jackpot amounts?
A. There are two reasons why we are two days off with updating the jackpots. The "official" jackpot amount is not released until the day after the drawing because they need to find out if someone won or not. LotteryUSA does not update results and jackpots until 2am. Updating causes delays in the page so we run it very late at night.
So, if the drawing is held Wednesday evening, the "official" jackpot is not released until Thursday. We then update our site very late Thursday night (Friday morning). So for a drawing on Wednesday, you may not see the official jackpot until Friday morning.
Q. What are the prize payouts for the Powerball?
A. Match 5 + POWERBALL = Jackpot! ($10 million minimum)
Match 5 + NO MATCH = $100,000
Match 4 + POWERBALL = $5,000
Match 4 + NO MATCH = $100
Match 3 + POWERBALL = $100
Match 3 + NO MATCH = $7
Match 2 + POWERBALL = $7
Match 1 + POWERBALL = $4
NO MATCH + POWERBALL = $3
Q. What happens to annual jackpot payments if the winner dies before collecting all of the prize installments?
A. In case of a winner’s death, all state lotteries will continue to pay the annual payments, as scheduled, to the winner's estate, trust or person(s) named in his or her will. The lotteries do NOT keep the money; the state does NOT take it.
Back to LotteryUSA Home PageQ. What happens if I accidentally lose a winning ticket?
A. Lotteries are not responsible for lost or stolen tickets. Protect yourself by signing the back of your tickets, and include your address and social security number. Lottery tickets are bearer instruments. Unless signed, anyone in possession of the ticket can file a claim.
Q. Do PowerBall® players have to choose the cash or annuity option before buying the ticket? Why can't players make their choice when they claim their prize?
A. Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") rules govern this issue. At one time, the annuity or cash option was required at the time a ticket was purchased. After the enactment of Internal Revenue Code section 451h, a player now may switch from annuity to cash within 60 days of claiming a jackpot. HOWEVER, if a player chose cash at the time the winning ticket was purchased, the payment CANNOT be switched to annuity. This does not prevent a winner from purchasing his or her own annuity with the cash prize.
Q. Why is the cash amount of the PowerBall® jackpot less than the annuity amount?
A. The annuity amount is the value of the cash amount invested in securities over 25 years.
Back to LotteryUSA Home PageQ. How can I get past results on your site?
A. You can get past results on LotteryUSA.com by clicking on your state from the front page of our site. On the state page, click on the text link "year" or "last 10" just under the name of the game you are looking for results.
Q. But your past results only go back one year.
A. Yes, one year is the longest any state gives for you to collect on a winning ticket. After a year, do you really want to know that you won and that you cannot collect?
Q. Yes, I do want to know if I won and cannot collect.
A. You can find all historical US lottery data at Alllotto.com
Back to LotteryUSA Home PageQ. When the PowerBall® jackpot is more than $20 million, why not have several top prizes of $1 million or $5 million each instead of one $30 million, $50million or $75 million prize?
A. The PowerBall® game is designed to produce large jackpots. The Lottery provides other on-line games with more frequent winners of smaller prizes.
Q. Since several states sell PowerBall®, which state (s) gets the profits from the
tickets.
A. The profits from PowerBall® tickets sold in a state, stay in that state.
Back to LotteryUSA Home PageQ. How do I know that the Lottery is safe?
A. Lotteries are one of the most closely scrutinized agencies in state government and are structured with a comprehensive oversight network of numerous checks and balances. All financial records are audited by several entities; the background of every employee, vendor, and licensed retailer must pass an in-depth security check in conjunction with the State Police. Numerous security measures are included in the drawing procedures to assure their randomness and integrity. A staff that includes a security officer, an event manager and an independent auditor oversees all drawings.
Q. How does the Lottery make sure its drawings are random?
A. The lotteries go to great lengths to ensure the randomness of its drawings and to eliminate any possibility of a breach of security that could jeopardize integrity.
All equipment is stored in a locked area of our drawing studio. Further, each ball case is secured by a numbered and recorded seal. Each seal is checked and verified every night prior to drawings by the Lottery’s security officer, the event manager and the independent auditor. For each game, we have multiple sets of balls. The ball sets to be used are randomly selected prior to each drawing by the independent auditor. The auditor monitors all drawing activities to make absolutely certain that all procedures approved by the Director are followed. All drawing-related activities are recorded on both video and audiotape. Prior to every drawing, pretests are conducted and following every drawing posttests are conducted to ensure the random drawing of numbers — to ensure that no one digit is drawn more often than another. Each set of balls is regularly weighed and measured down to 1/1000 of a gram by the Department of Weights and Measures. All Lottery drawings are open to the public.
Q. Who can play the Lottery?
A. Sorry, kids, but the lotteries aren’t kid stuff. But as long as you're 18 years or older, you can play.
Q. How many states have a lottery?
A. 38
Q. How often is the site updated?
A. Up to ten times per day depending on the number of drawings. The final update is usually around 3 am EST. Some jackpot information is not available until the following day.
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