Lotteries in the United States

Lotteries in the United States are run by individual states. Most states have amended or re-written their constitutions to allow for a legal lottery. In the United States, the existence of lotteries is subject to the laws of each state; there is no national lottery.

History

Private lotteries were legal in the United States in the early 1800’s.[1] In fact, a number of US patents were granted on new types of lotteries. In today's vernacular, these would be considered business method patents. Before the advent of state-sponsored lotteries, many illegal lotteries thrived; for example, see Numbers game and Peter H. Matthews. The first modern state lottery in the U.S. was established in the state of New Hampshire in 1964; today, lotteries are established in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands. The first modern interstate lottery in the U.S. was formed in 1985 and linked three of the New England states. In 1988, the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) was formed with Oregon, Iowa, Kansas, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Missouri, and the District of Columbia as its charter members; it is best known for its "Powerball" drawing, which is designed to build up very large jackpots. Another interstate lottery, The Big Game (now called Mega Millions), was formed in 1996 by the states of Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan and Virginia as its charter members. These states were joined by New Jersey (1999), New York and Ohio (2002), Washington (2002), Texas (2003) and California (2005) for a total of 12 members. [4] Instant lottery tickets, also known as scratch cards, were first introduced in the 1970s and have since become a major source of state lottery revenue. Some states have introduced keno and video lottery terminals (slot machines in all but name). Other interstate lotteries include Hot Lotto and Wild Card 2, two of MUSL's other games. With the advent of the Internet it became possible for people to play lottery-style games on-line, many times for free (the cost of the ticket being supplemented by merely seeing, say, a pop-up ad). Two of the many websites which offer free games (after registration) include iwinweekly.com and the larger iWon.com, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of IAC Search & Media. GTech Corporation, in the United States, administers 70% of the worldwide online and instant lottery business, according to its website. With online gaming rules generally prohibitive, "lottery" games face less scrutiny. This is leading to the increase in web sites offering lottery ticket purchasing services, charging premiums on base lottery prices. The legality of such services falls into question across many jurisdictions, especially throughout the United States, as the gambling laws related to lottery play generally have not kept pace with the spread of technology. Presently, many state lotteries in the USA donate large portions of their proceeds to the public education system. However these funds frequently replace instead of supplement conventional funding, resulting in no additional money for education.

Chart

Map showing the states that have a state lottery (colored: blue)

States and associated Interstate Lotteries

Interstate lotteries are also referred to as multistate lotteries or multistate games. Of the 42 states that have lotteries, only Florida is not a member of a multistate game, even though state statute 24.105(18)^[1] specifically allows the legislature or governor to direct the lottery department to participate if it is in the best interest of the Florida Lottery, and after a one year period after joining, the Lottery may join other multistate games on its own.

Powerball

Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virgin Islands, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Hot Lotto

District of Columbia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia (adding Oklahoma on January 3, 2008 and Delaware on January 27, 2008)

Cashola

(video lottery) Delaware, Rhode Island, West Virginia

Midwest Millions

(scratch game) Iowa, Kansas

Wild Card 2

Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota

2by2

Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota

Mega Millions

California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, Washington state

Tri-State Lottery (Megabucks, Pick 3, Pick 4, Paycheck)

Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont

References

See also

• Bearer instrument
• GTech Corporation United States company which administrates the majority of lotteries in the United States and worldwide
• Lottery jackpot records
• Scratch cards
• Sweepstakes