Online Lottery

Online Lottery

It is pretty obvious why we love the lottery and why millions of tickets are sold every day. The lottery gives us a chance to win huge amounts of money, often millions, for a very small initial price.

Even though the chances of winning are pretty slim...

...someone does actually win.

And for a little while everybody can share the same dream.

Online Lottery Sites Review

There are many websites offering online lotteries to Indian players.

We have listed our recommended top 3 websites, and the reason why we have chosen them below.

  1. Lottoland - Top Lottery Site in India
  2. PlayHugeLottos - The Biggest Jackpots Online
  3. Lotto247 - Play all the Major International Lotteries Online

Lottoland

Lottoland logo

Lottoland - the top lottery site in India

The biggest advantage of creating an account on Lottoland is you can play your favorite games in Indian rupees.

You can get started with as little as Rs. 300 as that is the minimum deposit at Lottoland currently (depending on the deposit option you use).

Lottoland is an award winning site that makes it easy to play the biggest lotteries online.

The company even achieved a world record in 2018, for the “biggest online gambling payout ever”, after one of its customers won a record 90 million Euros (about ₹710 crores) when playing EuroJackpot.

We have three main reasons why we can recommend Lottoland to you:

1. You can trust them

Lottoland is one of the biggest lottery platforms in the world and offers its players the chance to play the biggest lotteries from around the world.

They are also licensed in the UK, Ireland and Gibraltar, with all three authorities requiring an insurance provider for large jackpots. This means that your prize money is guaranteed, no matter how big the prize is.

2. You can play your favorite game

Lottoland gives you a chance to play both PowerBall and MegaMillions without waiting for Tuesday and Friday. The draws happen every hour and Lottoland guarantees that week’s jackpot prize. You also have the option to subscribe to multiple consecutive draws, allowing you to continue playing the game without purchasing ticket for every draw.

What’s more is that Lottoland has it's very own online casino, with a great selection of online slot games, scratchcards and instant keno games for players to enjoy, as well as interesting range of live casino games.

Lottoland is also extremely easy to use – regardless of whether you’re on a desktop, tablet or mobile. Players can opt to play using the Lottoland website or by using the app on tablet and mobile devices.

3. It´s easy to use

The site is extremely well designed and purchasing tickets is a breeze. You can choose and select various tickets to play in quick simple steps. Readers of Online Cricket Betting can also enjoy a very special welcome offer at Lottoland, as when you buy 2 tickets for the Cricket Lotto, you’ll get 2 more tickets for FREE!

Jackpots on the Cricket Lotto tend to be around ₹3,6 crore – and with this exclusive deal you can get 4 chances to win for just ₹160.

See if you can hit a big win with this exclusive Lottoland welcome offer now!


PlayHugeLottos

PlayHugeLottos logo

PlayHugeLottos - the Biggest Jackpots Online

Looking to play the lottery online? We recommend you check out PlayHugeLottos.

And here is the biggest reasons why:

1. The Biggest Lotto Jackpots Online

At PlayHugeLottos you can choose from 17 different lotteries from around the world, including the most famous ones like Powerball, Mega Millions, Euro Millions and more.

These have the biggest payouts of any of the lotteries you find online, so you are sure to find one that suits your big action need!

Note that they are a little limited on the amount of lotteries they offer, sitting at 17. You can find lotto sites that offer more, but PlayHugeLottos offer the biggest ones at least.

2. They are trustworthy

PlayHugeLottos.com has been online since 1998, helping people play the lottery online, starting out with the UK National Lottery. Now they have grown into a full-fledged lottery operator, where you can purchase the tickets you want from around the world.

This longevity is rare in the online gambling industry and stands as a testament to the value they offer customers.

They offer very fast payouts, basically non-existence of complaints and more.

3. Big Welcome Bonus

As a new customer at PlayHugeLottos you will receive a welcome bonus that is a 100% match of your first deposit, up to €450!

This will be released over 4 weeks, in 25% sized increments. So be sure to make your first deposit count when you decide to try this lottery site out.

They also offer a reward system where you gather 'Lotto Points'. Simply purchase lottery tickets and you get rewarded with points that you can use to purchase free lottery tickets - paid to play!


Lotto247

Lotto247 logo

Lotto247 - play the lottery around the globe

Licensed in Cyprus, Lotto247 started operations in 2004 and has been providing online lottery to players in India for some time.

The features of Lotto247:

1. Huge Selection Of Online Lottery

Lotto247 offers 14 International Lotteries to play with. From offering the top Lotteries like EuroMillions, MegaMillions and others; they also offer small ones from Mega Sena and France Loto.

While Lotto247 does not offer Syndicates, it makes it up with its huge selection of games.

Also available are games like Keno, Instant Win and Scratch Cards.

2. Safe and Trustworthy

The huge selection of games at Lotto247 essentially means their games are available 24/7 every day. Offering all the top lottery and huge payouts often leads to question of trustworthiness of a site

Licensed in Cyprus, playing on Lotto247 is safe with an added SSL encryption layer. Any deposits are kept in a secured wallet, and winnings including Jackpot winnings can be easily withdrawn in your bank accounts.

Good customer support

One of the things Lotto247 has as their USP is their excellent documentation and support pages available, which helps in picking up and playing the games easy.

While the website currently does not accept Indian payment, their customer support team is ready to guide with instant chat facility available. They can also be reached on their customer support email id at [email protected].

A good way to also reach out to them is through their Facebook page.

How to Register and Play the Online Lottery

We have written two short guides on how you can get started playing the online lottery from India with Lottoland and PlayHugeLottos:

Lottoland

  1. Click here to visit Lottoland site. Lottoland Homepage
  2. Provide your details to register and verify your mobile number. Lottoland Registration
  3. Add funds to your Lottoland account. All the following payment methods are accepted, and the minimum deposit amount is Rs. 300.
    1. Visa
    2. Mastercard
    3. Neteller
    4. Skrill
    5. MuchBetter Lottoland Deposit Options
  4. For a full list of banking options, and how to stay safe while making deposits, refer to our Banking guide.

  5. Select the numbers for your favorite lottery and purchase the ticket. Lottoland Powerball Ticket
  6. You will automatically be notified if you win.

Apart from lotteries, Lottoland also provides a very good selection of slots and roulette games to play.

PlayHugeLottos

  1. Click here to visit PlayHugeLottos Site. PlayHugeLottos Homepage
  2. Provide your details to register. PlayHugeLottos Registration
  3. Add funds to your PlayHugeLottos account. The deposits are made in USD and you can start with minimum $5 deposit.
    1. Visa
    2. Mastercard
    3. Neteller
    4. Skrill
    5. Astropay Card
    6. Jeton
    7. Bitcoin PlayHugeLottos Deposit Options
  4. Select the numbers for your favorite lottery and purchase the ticket.
  5. You will be notified if you win.

Lottery Guide India

Lottery in India is a popular form of entertainment largely dominated by state lotteries like Kerala Lottery or Sikkim Lottery. Kerala Lottery, in fact was the first state incorporated lottery in the year 1967.

Since that time, several states such as Goa, Maharashtra, Nagaland and others have been successfully operating a lottery for their residents. These lotteries, however, are restricted to their state.

Nowadays, with everything happening on the internet, Indians can play online lottery on their mobile or at home. Not only the local lotteries, but the big international lotteries with major jackpots given out regularly. Here are a few of the advantages of online lotteries:

  1. Online lottery is generally offered by international operators which can have a much higher prize pool and jackpots. Traditional lotteries, the highest prize can be somewhere between 1-10 Crores, whereas international lotteries frequently have a prize pool of over 200 Crores.
  2. Tickets can be purchased online and are kept in your secured locker. You do not have to venture outside to purchase these tickets making it easier. Also, if you win, the money is directly transferred in your online wallet and you do not have to claim it from the shops
  3. Some providers, such as Lottoland, have instant lotteries so you do not have to wait to know the result. They also provide you with a very high prize pool. These lotteries work very similar to weekly draws. Refer to our section on Instant Lotteries for more information

Last but not least, a lot of online lottery portals allow you to pick your own numbers. So you can always play with your lucky numbers and not rely on paper tickets which are pre-printed and you might not get your available numbers.

Top International Lotteries offered in India

Below is a list of top international lotteries that are offered through various sites in India.

  1. US Powerball
  2. US MegaMillions
  3. EuroMillions
  4. EuroJackpot
  5. 6/49
  6. German Lotto
  7. French Lotto
  8. WorldMillions

Majority of portals like Lottoland Asia offer you the ability to play the game online with tickets costing as low as ₹300 with several offers.

PowerBall

PowerBall is an Americal Lottery that was started in 1992, almost 28 years ago. With a minimum jackpot of $40 Million (about ₹287 Crores) , the jackpots frequently cross over to ₹600 Crores.

Draws for PowerBall are held twice a week on Thursdays and Sunday.

Playing US PowerBall lottery is simple:

  1. Choose 5 numbers between 1-69
  2. Choose a PowerBall number between 1-26

You can purchase tickets for few weeks in advance and the tickets can also be subscribed.

MegaMillions

MegaMillions is another lottery that started out in 2002. At present, along with the US states it is also offered in South Asian countries. The minimum jackpot offered is of $40 Million (about ₹287 Crores)

Draws for MegaMillions are held every Wednesday and Saturday.

How to play US MegaMillions:

  1. Choose 5 numbers between 1-70
  2. Choose a Megaball number between 1-25

EuroMillions

Extremely popular in Europe and UK, EuroMillions draws take place every Tuesday and Friday.

Playing EuroMillions is extremely simple:

  1. Choose 5 numbers between 1-50
  2. Choose 2 star numbers between 1-12

The best part of EuroMillions is the winnings are tax free.

Playing Lottery on Mobile

Along with playing lottery online, players can also visit the sites on their mobile and play the games on their mobile browser.

Lottoland especially has a well designed site optimized to play the games on mobile. All the features including subscription for lottery tickets and reviewing the draws is supported.

Players can also have a go at slot and table games on the Lottoland mobile website.

Lottoland Mobile

Online Lottery in India

India flag

As with most other forms online gambling, like betting in India, playing the lottery in India is considered illegal in some states and legal in others.

It is purely up to the states themselves to determine whether they want to offer lotteries or not.

Some states, like Sikkim, do allow online lottery. They used to operate a site called Playwin.com which offered online lottery to bettors from India.

Pan India Network Limited, company that operates PlayWin was asked by National Company Law Tribunal for commencement of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process on October 2019. There were a lot of factors behind closure of Playwin online lottery, which included a tax of 28 percent from 2017 and banning the lottery in Karnataka state in 2018.

At Playwin.com you could have found 5 different lotto games to play:

  • Jaldi 5 - Draw every Friday between 22:00 and 22:30
  • Jaldi 5 Double + - Draw every Wednesday between 21:30 and 22:00.
  • Thunderball - Draw every Tuesday between 22:00 and 22:30.
  • Thursday Super Lotto - Draw every Thursday between 22:00 and 22:30.
  • Saturday Super Lotto - Draw every Saturday between 22:00 and 22:30.

These sometimes change though, and games like Fast Lotto, E-play and others have been added recently that have draws way more often than once a week.

Why use other Lotto Sites Besides Playwin in India?

Everyone has different needs and priorities. And you may want to try out other options when it comes to lotteries.

Playwin only offer lotteries from India, while online lotteries like the ones you can play at Lottoland for example will give you access to many of the bigger lotteries around the world, like New York Lottery or the Irish Daily Million. Often these lotteries might have much bigger prizes, but at the same time likely to have many more players competing for the same prizes!

State Lottery in India

India has had multiple lotteries operating in various states which are hugely popular. Two of these, Kerala and Sikkim have draws coming out every day with varying prize amounts.

Kerala

Kerala was the first state in India to setup a Lottery Department in the year 1967. It was envisioned as a source of non-tax revenue for the state, and at the same time providing a stable income source for common people. 

Soon many other states jumped onto the bandwagon and started offering their own lotteries like Maharashtra, Punjab, Goa, West Bengal, Sikkim and Nagaland. 

There are seven weekly lotteries that are run by Kerala Lottery Department and six bumper lotteries with higher prizes.

Seven Weekly Lotteries and Prizes

Lottery Name

Date of Draw

Ticket Price

Win-Win

Monday

Rs. 30

Sthree Sakhti

Tuesday

Rs. 30

Akshaya

Wednesday

Rs. 30

Karunya Plus (KN)

Thursday

Rs. 50

Nirmal 

Friday

Rs. 30

Karunya (KR)

Saturday

Rs. 50

Pournami

Sunday

Rs. 30

Besides the seven weekly lotteries drawn by Kerala Lottery, there are 6 Bumper Lotteries as well for which draws take place throughout the year.

These are:

Lottery Name

Month of Draw

XMas - New Year 

January

Summer

March

Vishnu

May

Monsoon 

July

Thiruvonam

September

Pooja

November

Sikkim

Sikkim was the pioneer in the development of regulated lottery in the state. It laid a firm foundation for the smooth operation of lotteries where its citizens could engage themselves in online lotteries and paper lotteries. It is also one of the first states to permit lotteries. Sikkim State Lotteries being one of the most popular lotteries with draws held frequently, as much as two or three times a day.

Lotteries are popular in the state and the draws of various lottery schemes are carried out twice or thrice a day. It also keeps releasing Bumper Lotteries for its citizens from time to time.Players must note that these schemes can change from time to time with short notice from the Sikkim State.

Lottery Name

Time of Lottery

Ticket Price

Dear Monthly

4.30 pm

Rs.2000

Dear Super Monthly

4.30 pm

Rs.50

Dear 20

4.30 pm

Rs.20

Dear 2000

8 pm

Rs.2000

Dear Morning Weekly

11.55 am

Rs.6

Dear 12 Weekly

3.45 pm

Rs.12

Bumper draws offered by Sikkim are:

Name 

Ticket Price

1st Prize amount

Sankranti Bumper

500

2 crores

Saraswati Bumper

200

1.25 crores

Shri Holi Bumper

100

1.00 Crores

Baisakhi Bumper

200

1.50 Crores

Diwali Puja Bumper

2000

10 Crores

Instant Lotteries

Finally, last but not least, we have software lotteries, or instant lotteries.

Many of the leading online gaming software providers have developed lottery software. Some companies have even developed full lottery suites, which include both real draw lotteries as well as software-based lotteries.

If you wonder how software lotteries work, the principle is real simple:

The software uses an algorithm which creates a virtual draw, where the randomness of the draw is guaranteed. The software solutions are then audited by independent organisations which confirm that the draws are as random as actual draws and all it takes to win a software lottery is pure luck.

The advantage of software solutions is that they can be used to create instant lotteries which allow players to choose the numbers and activate the draw themselves, without having to wait for hours or days before the numbers are drawn. They just pick the numbers, pick who much they want to wager (if there are such options) and then they click ‘Draw’.

Due to the fact that the software guarantees random results in the long run, the games can be offered instantly, regardless whether there are other players who play at the same time.

How Lotteries Work

Lotteries in one form, or another have existed since the early beginnings of recorded history. There are accords that lotteries were organised in Ancient China and the Medieval period. In the modern era most nations organise their own national lotteries, but there are also additional regional lotteries, as well as international lotteries.

lottery balls

Most lotteries operate on a national level. They can be founded either by the government of the country or state directly, or by an organisation that has received a licence and a remit from the government or the appropriate body to organises and held lottery draws.

Usually half of the revenues are used for the prize fund, whereas a large proportion of the second half is awarded to charities, education institutions, health centres and hospitals. Although a nice gesture, it is usually done because it is needed in order to be able to offer it. In the UK for example, to be able to arrange a charity lottery, you need to have at least 20% of the proceeds go towards a charity.

This is a very nice way that lotteries differ from other gambling activities.

If you lose money, it goes towards something to help other people, and not all in the hands of some rich guy who owns a casino.

Of the amount that goes towards the prize fund, usually a small proportion is used for the main jackpot, whereas the rest of the funds are used for the other prizes. The main lottery prizes, the jackpots are usually progressive, which means that if a jackpot is not awarded in one draw, the amount will be cumulatively added to the next draw prize and then the next, until a winner is drawn.

Lottery Formats

Typically when the user purchases a lottery ticket, they get to choose the numbers they practically wager on. Then, at the time of the draw they check whether they’re numbers have been drawn or not. There are many formats, some lotteries draw 6 out of 49, others draw 7 out of 49, 5 out of 35 is another possible combination, but the principle is always the same.

When the player chooses the set of numbers then they hope that the exact same numbers will be drawn. For example, if the lottery is in a 7 out of 49 format, then the winner of the biggest jackpot is the player who managed to correctly predict all 7 numbers of the draw. If there isn’t such a player, then the jackpot prize will not be awarded. However, players who have selected 5 and 6 of the numbers that were drawn also win certain amounts, and those prizes can be pretty decent as well.

For those interested in probabilities the chance of winning first prize in a 6 out of 49 format is about one in 14 million. Wikipedia has a great article about the math behind different lottery prizes.

Bonus Draws

Some lotteries also include bonus draws in addition to the main draws. For example, if the lottery is played in a standard 5 out of 35 format, it may also give players a chance to pick two bonus numbers. Then extra balls are drawn for the bonus numbers and players who have the same two bonus numbers that were drawn receive an extra bonus prize.

The Rise of Online Lotteries

A lot of betting and gaming operators went online as soon as there were technical opportunities for that, and lotteries quickly realized that people are moving online. Many goods and services can be purchased online, so why not lottery tickets came up as a pretty obvious question.

When we talk of online lotteries, we need to make a distinction between sale of standard lottery tickets online, and lotteries organised using lottery software. The first are standard lotteries, where the tickets are just sold online, whereas the second are completely online, there’s no draw in the strict sense of the word, the software randomly chooses the lottery numbers and based on that the winners are decided.

National and Other Lotteries Online

One of the ways to play lotto online is to visit the page of the lottery which organizes the lottery draws for which you want to purchase tickets. In most cases you will be required to open an account, then log in to the website and select the draws for which you want tickets. Some lotteries give you the chance of purchasing multiple tickets either for one or for multiple subsequent draws, so that you won’t have to be afraid that you’ll forget to buy a ticket for each draw.

Then, upon registering to the website and choosing your ticket arrangement, you’ll need to choose how you wish to pay for your tickets. The accepted methods depend on your country of residence and the lottery itself. Bear in mind that if you like to register at the website of a certain national lottery, it is possible that there might be restrictions as to who can buy tickets. Namely, national lotteries often allow only residents of the particular country to buy tickets. So if you’re trying to buy a ticket while residing or staying in a third country, you might not be able to purchase a ticket.

Specialised Lottery Sites

There is another alternative, which many lotto fans find to be a lot more viable. There are many online operators that sell tickets for not one or two but numerous lotteries, national, regional and international. That way, players get to choose from a vast range of different types of lotteries from a single platform, without having to visit multiple websites and open more than one account.

As there are many such websites, the first thing that every lotto player would consider before opening an account at one of them is whether it offers their favourite lotteries. A UK lotto fan will probably be looking for a site that offers all major UK and European lotto games, whereas an American will probably be looking for tickets for the US lotteries organised on a federal level as well as their state of residence. These websites also offer several payment methods and there are even discounts if you purchase more tickets at once.

Questions About lottery

All the record payouts come from either Powerball or Megamillions

And you guessed it.

They are both American.

You can however, buy tickets for both of them online.

This will depend a lot on what you want, do you want to retire for the rest of your life, you should play the bigger lotteries.

If you are more interested in medium winnings, go after the lottery with a better odds for winning.

Check out this list of different probabilities and payouts.

If you use a known licensed operator yes, it is safe.

But you should always make sure that you trust the operator before you deposit money. This advice is valid for any website out there.

Yes

All lotteries are available online either directly or through an affiliate buyer.

There are even lotteries that only exists online.

Well you might have realized that its very hard to predict which numbers will come up.

But did you know there do exists strategy that increases your winning chance?

The first one is to avoid playing the most common numbers. If you play like 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 you will have to share your first prize with lots of other people.

Examples of the most played numbers

The other way is waiting for the jackpots to build themselves up to be very large. If its big enough the jackpot is worth more than all the tickets combined

Well, someone wins the lottery every week. So obviously not entirely impossible.

But the tickets cost more than the winnings (otherwise who would run a lottery?)

And compared to how many play, the winners are far and few between.

In general if you feel the enjoyment of dreaming about all the amazing things you could do, if you won, is worth more than the prize of the ticket. Then we can recommend it.

But don't get too disappointed if you don't win.

Free Cricket Betting Tips

Sign up to our newsletter and receive daily FREE cricket betting tips and betting offers to your email!