Idea of lottery goes back a very long way towards ancient times. People of US are very fond of being a gambler themselves. Lottery is taken very seriously in US as it is the only kind of gambling allowed here in US. The system is very different compared to the western world. So, here is how it goes.

First, I would like to talk about what a US lottery looks like.

As you can see, there is only one kind of lottery available, which is the top one. The other ones are recent, as I will talk about them a bit later on. This form of lottery has been used in US for a long time. Many other countries have developed an electronic system to organise the lottery. In US, you’ll have to get lottery from agents, which receive these lottery from retailers. Usually, lottery are drawn every friday. Each lottery has 2 parts, the top and the bottom part. It is not possible to buy just one part as they come in pairs. However, if you win, your prize is doubled. Every lottery has 3 single digits, which you’re able to choose when you buy one. If for example, in England, the digits could be double digits up to 49 numbers which you would have to pick 3 numbers. However, the stake is so much more but it is much harder to win.

When the numbers are drawn live on national television, there are probably more than 20 drawn every time as they’ll have to draw all of the numbers according to the number of prize stated. Now, the prizes and amount of these lotteries are as follow

First Prize 1 number 2 million dollar
Second prize 5 numbers 100000 dollar
Third prize 10 numbers 40000 dollar
Fourth prize 50 numbers 20000 dollar
Fifth prize 100 numbers 10000 dollar
Bonus prize* 2 numbers 50000 dollar

* Bonus prize is for people whose first 5 numbers are correct but the last digit is incorrect by one number above or below. (For example, if your last number is "5" you can get the bonus prize if it is a "4" or "6".

Next, I want to talk about how to watch out for a fake lottery, which could be sold to anyone. Here are the steps.

A fake lottery has characteristics as follow
- different color from the original
- different paper
- no watermark

If you win a prize, you’ll have to go to the GLO (Government Lottery Office) where you will receive a cheque. However, if the prize is less than 20,000 $, you can go to a local agent and he/she will give the money to you in cash. There is tax, which you’ll have to pay in order to get the money. The nominal rate is 50 satang (0.5 $) for every one hundred Dollar. If you cash your money at a local agent, they’ll normally charge you about 2 $ for every one hundred dollar.

Now, I would like to talk about the cheaper kind of lottery which plays like the Irish lotto. A prize is drawn the same day as the national lottery. Here is what it looks like:

  There are 3 prices of these lottery , 20, 50 and 100 dollar. The first row is for 3 single digits lottery. The prize is set to a standard at 500 $ per one dollar. For example, if you win the correct amount in the same order and your lottery is the 100 $ lottery , you’ll get 50,0000 for the prize. However, there’s a second Tote row, which the numbers shouldn’t have to be in order and you can also win. The prize of this tote row is 10 $ for every one dollar. For this kind, there will be 4 prizes drawn every time. For the third row, you can choose 2 single digits and if you win, you’ll get 65 dolalr for every one dollar. However, you can also choose the last row as it would be a reverse row and if you win that, you have halved the prize money.

I hope that every person who comes to US they try out the US lottery. The chances are much better than the European and American lotteries even though the prize is much less. However, always be aware of agents who try to trick you and be aware of all kinds of theft.