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Mobile Lottery Options
Mobile Lottery Options
Playing the lottery can involve a trip to the lottery terminal, standing in long lines to purchase lottery tickets when the jackpots are big and dealing with traffic. Now some lotteries are giving lottery players the chance to purchase lottery tickets with mobile devices and cell phones. Many lotteries also allow internet access and the ability to create a lottery account online. Social networking websites such as Twitter allow lottery players to check lottery results instantly using cell phones and other mobile devices.
In the UK lottery players can create an account with the UK National Lottery and players can enter and purchase lottery tickets using text messages. Users of this service report that it is quick and efficient. In South Africa ATM access and SMS banking have been combined to allow lottery players the opportunity to use cell phones to play the South African lottery. There are now mobile applications available in the UK that allows players to receive lottery results via text message. The service is available on all phone networks in the UK and the charge is 25p per message.
There are mobile phone applications that allow lottery players access to services that will help the player pick lottery numbers. Statistics have shown that most big lottery winners have had their ‘lucky’ numbers picked by some sort of random number generator. There are many services available that provide access to lottery number generators and these can easily be found online. Many of these services offer free accounts and also provide lottery results.
Lottery players who find themselves in another city or town can use mobile maps to find the nearest lottery retailer. Simply go to the mobile web and scan the maps to find the nearest lottery retailer. Mobile banking is becoming popular in many parts of the world and those who have this service can purchase lottery tickets at the terminal using a cell phone. This service is expected to be widely available in the very near future.
In the US some states have now established websites and some allow players to make an online lottery purchase. Although there have been some problems with online ticket sales due to anti online gambling legislation in the US the problems are swiftly being resolved. States that allow players to purchase lottery tickets online hope to boost lottery related revenue to help with rising budget deficits. It is only a matter of time before US lotteries catch up with their European counterparts.
The World's Biggest Lotteries
The World’s Biggest Lotteries
Lotteries are one of the oldest forms of gambling known to man. All across the ancient world lotteries were played. The construction of the Great Wall of China was partially financed through lotteries. The American Revolution was financed by various lotteries and venerable educational institutions such as Harvard and Princeton were started with lottery money. In Europe lotteries have a long and colorful history and cities and nations financed public works projects and provided aid to the poor with lottery generated revenues. It comes as no surprise that many of the world’s largest lotteries are found in Europe. Italy’s SuperEnaLotto is one of Europe’s largest and routinely offers jackpots in the hundreds of millions.
The UK National Lottery is the largest in the United Kingdom and one of Europe’s biggest. The lottery is run by gaming giant Camelot and players can buy UK national lottery tickets online. Best of all jackpots are paid in a lump sum and are tax free unlike US lotteries where taxes can easily eat up over 50% of a lotto jackpot. The National Lottery funds the ‘Big Lottery Fund’ which supports various causes and charities. The UK lotto has fourteen separate machines that can be used for lottery draws and many of the machines are named after characters in Arthurian legend such as Merlin, Arthur, Guinevere, Galahad, Vyvyan and Lancelot. The lottery is exceptionally popular and players from outside the UK can purchase online lottery tickets for the UK National Lottery.
EuroMillions is a pan European lottery and one of the world’s largest lotteries. Like most European lotteries Euromillions jackpots are tax free and paid in a lump sum. In 2006 three extremely ticket holders shared a ââ¬183,000,000($235,770,664.19 USD jackpot. Euromillions jackpots routinely exceed ââ¬100,000,000. ($128,822,882.59 USD) Euromillions lottery tickets can be bought online at the official website.
Powerball is an American multi state mega jackpot lottery. Powerball jackpots start at $20 million dollars and if there is no winner the jackpot is rolled over until there is a winner. Powerball jackpots in excess of $100 million are relatively common. Powerball winners have the options of a lump sum payout or an annuity. Many players choose the annuity because of the heavy taxation of lump sum payouts. The largest Powerball jackpot was $365 million which was shared by eight co workers in Nebraska. An agreement reached in 2010 now allows the cross sale of Powerball and Mega Millions lottery tickets in most jurisdictions.
Mega Millions is another American multi state lottery game. Tickets are $1 and jackpots start at $12 million and, like Powerball, the jackpot is rolled over until there is a winner. Mega Millions has provided the largest lottery jackpot on record anywhere in the world. In 2007 two Mega Millions ticket holders split an amazing $390 million dollar jackpot. Typically Mega Millions jackpots are paid in 26 yearly installments unless the cash option is selected. As has been mentioned most lottery jurisdictions in the US now sell Powerball and Mega Millions lottery tickets.
Spain’s El Gordo lottery is considered by some as the largest lottery in the world. El Gordo typically offers billions of Euros in prizes and the Christmas El Gordo drawings are legendary across Europe. Players can purchase El Gordo lotto tickets online at the official website or at one of the many online lottery services. Although El Gordo jackpots are not record setting the amount of money won is the largest in the world. There are hundreds of El Gordo winners every year.