sarahlou145

This thread reminds me of my favorite Only Fools and Horses episode where they go to Spain and rodney is in the Groovy Gang and they change his birthdate on the passport and then cant claim the prize!!

blamington

You need to live in the US to participate in state lotteries. In most US states you also need to live in the state to participate, the only exception I know of is the Massachusetts lottery, which allows all US residence to play by subscription from anywhere in the US.

blamington

The Massachusetts allows all US residents to play it's lottery games, not sure about people outside the US, you don't have to live in the state; as in most US states. You can subscribe by phone and they will send you the season ticket.

masslottery.com/games/lottery/season-tickets.html

blamington

I still play the UK lottery by subscription, using my UK bank account. They deduct my payment monthly and any winnings are credited to my bank account. I haven't won a jackpot yet, but I win small prizes, £5 and £10 mostly. It is very convenient and may one day I could win the big one!

tawse57

You might want to double-check what you are doing with the UK/Euro lottery as, back in 2010, the UK National Lottery made it clear that a person had to be in the UK at the time they buy their tickets in order to win. There were quite a few press stories back in the Summer if you do a google.

I believe they changed their terms and conditions so that this information was more clear and, for a time, they had a pop-up with this information when you purchased tickets online.

I doubt it affects you if you are winning a tenner here or a £100 there as the money stays in your account allowing you to buy more tickets BUT presumably for a win of a few thousand or more - i.e. the jackpot - you would need to go in person to pick up the cheque and then you might find they ask you questions. I suspect they have a log of IP Addresses so know exactly if a person was in the UK or not when they bought the ticket?

It would be a shame to win a big prize and then find they with-hold it from you so perhaps you should check what I have written with the National Lottery to see whether I am correct or not?

To answer the OP I am a Brit who last week bought a mega millions ticket for the $390 jackpot online.

I used a firm called Buylottoonline because I googled some info and learnt that they are apparently listed on some US Government list of companies who follow good business practice.

http://www.buylottoonline.com/

I am not connected with them in any way and within hours of myself buying tickets from them I got an email back showing a gif image of my lottery ticket with my full name printed on the top of it. If I had won I would have had to go and pick the ticket up from them before going to get my cheque.

The downside to buying a US lottery ticket online is that they cost twice as much as the tickets in the shop - I paid $12.50 for 5 tickets and this is common amongst several online US lottery ticket sellers.

The other downside is that you pay such enormous tax on the winnings - can't believe that guy who won $190 and ended up with just $90 million cash whilst the Idaho winner will end up with just about $81million. Just - lol

I understand the odds of winning mega millions is about 175 million to one compared to the Euro lottery which is about 75 million to one so it seems the UK/Euro lotteries are better in that they cost less, have better odds and you do not get taxed to the hilt when you win.

dunroving

I tried to make the same point on the MBTTUK forum and nearly got my head bitten off for being so negative. If they win, it'll end in tears and I'll be saying, "Told you so".

Vinnyvagus

Ha ha yeah,....there goes rodney on his skate board ;-)

blamington

I use my UK address, so it is all legal. I have played by subscription for years, so I just let it continue when I left. I still have the same UK address and bank account in the UK, and I go there from time to time.

Also, in supporting the National Lottery, I am supporting, Lottery Good Causes, as 28% of the revenue raised is distributed to good causes. In addition, 12% of total revenue is paid to the Government in Lottery Duty, also a good cause as the Old Dart need all the revenue she can get her hands on!

So I am paying 40% on my lottery subscription, but I don't mind, it's not a huge amount of money and it benefits folks bank home. And you never know, maybe one day I might strike it lucky! If not, life will go on. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

blamington

Don't forget Premium Bonds!

Premium Bonds
A £1 million jackpot every month
Premium Bonds hold a prize draw every month with a £1 million jackpot plus over a million other tax-free prizes. The more Bonds you have, the better your chances of winning.