Plain-English help with checking tickets, understanding odds, claiming prizes and staying safe from scams.
Check tickets
You can check a ticket online by matching its game, draw date and numbers against the published results. Only the lottery can confirm a prize, and you never need to post or send a…
Check tickets
Retailers cannot pay every ticket. A ticket may be past its claim deadline, already paid, damaged, altered, or over the store's payout limit. If a store cannot validate a ticket…
Playing and odds
Every combination in a lottery drawing has the same chance of being drawn, whether a terminal picked it or you did. Choosing your own numbers can change how often you share a…
Playing and odds
Lottery odds are fixed by the game's design. Each drawing is independent, so past results, lucky stores and number systems do not change your chance of winning. Buying more…
Playing and odds
Before you play in a lottery pool, agree in writing who is in, who buys and holds the tickets, how prizes are split and how the group decides on cash or annuity. Share copies of…
Claims and winners
If you win a large lottery prize, sign the ticket, keep it safe, check your claim deadline and get tax and legal advice before you claim. Most decisions can wait a few days…
Claims and winners
Every state lottery sets its own claim period. In Florida and California it is 180 days from the drawing for most draw-game prizes, and California allows a year for Powerball and…
Scams and safety
Real lotteries never ask winners to pay a fee, send gift cards or share bank details to collect a prize. You cannot win a lottery you did not enter, and playing a foreign lottery…
