Lottery Online is when you play your favorite lottery games through the internet. Whether it is your state’s lottery, Powerball or Mega Millions, online gambling can be a fun and convenient way to play the lottery. It’s also a great option if you’re traveling or don’t have the time to drive out and buy your ticket in person. Many sites and apps will allow you to set daily, weekly, or monthly limits on how much you can spend. However, the responsibility is still on you to stick to those limits.
Several states have started to offer online lottery gaming in the past decade. The first to make it legal was Illinois in 2012. The trend has continued with six other US states now offering this service: Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania.
Before these states began selling lottery tickets online, they asked the Justice Department for a legal opinion. They wanted to ensure that the federal Wire Act did not prohibit their proposed sales. The DOJ ruled that because the lottery transactions did not cross state lines, they did not violate the law.
Despite the convenience of playing the lottery online, some people are worried about losing the ability to purchase tickets at local brick-and-mortar stores. The Massachusetts Package Stores Association and the New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association criticized the move, saying that it would put them in direct competition with state-sponsored online lottery games. In addition, they argued that it could lead to an increase in the number of players who call the gambling problem hotline and sign up for voluntary self-exclusion from betting.