Almost every country in the world offers at least one lottery game to its residents. All it takes is to find a local retailer or even use the official website, but you must be in the country. Fortunately, that demand changed, at least for several high-quality lottery games, and it is already possible to play the lottery online from your country without having to travel abroad.
That possibility offers great advantages, especially for players who are usually limited to a couple of local games without good odds or big prizes. Far from being a bright-new innovation, playing the lottery online from abroad already made millionaires that won games in other countries, such as the United States.
Quick Jump
Online Lottery: The Main Rules, Tickets and Jackpots
- You must be at least 18 years old – local exceptions up to 21+ may apply.
- Real tickets are scanned for you on lottery agent websites.
- Jackpots are automatically paid on lottery betting sites.
- You must claim the jackpot in person when playing on lottery agents.
- Use payment methods in your name to deposit and withdraw.
- Each website has a list of restricted countries found in our reviews.
What Do I Need to Play the Lottery Online from Abroad?
In order to play the lottery online from your country, you must comply with the minimum gambling age in your location and in the country of the game you have chosen. As long as there is an internet connection, you can open an account on one of the best lottery sites available and play from your mobile device or computer with the same experience.
Since playing the lottery involves money, it is essential that the website of your choice has at least one payment method that suits you for both depositing and withdrawing. That way, you can deposit, play your favorite games, and withdraw your prize if you are lucky enough to strike a small prize or one of the top jackpots.
How to Play the Lottery Online from My Country?
From picking a reliable and safe website with many lottery games to claiming your well-deserved prize, there is nothing complex in playing the lottery online from your country. However, it is important to be acquainted with the differences when compared to physically purchasing tickets to local games.
Choose a Worldwide Betting or Lottery Agent Website
Before anything else, it is important to choose a website to play the lottery online from abroad. It must be a lottery agent or betting website, both different types of services represented by licensed companies, where people can gamble on games from another country.
Betting sites will let you bet on all lottery results and pay you with pre-established insurance, which means that you never actually play the official lottery. Lottery agents, on the other hand, will actually purchase the tickets locally on your behalf, and you will claim your prize from the official lottery provider. The most important thing is to choose a reliable website, regardless of how it works, and we recommend trustworthy ones here.
Once you decide for one of the websites, you will have put yourself one step forward towards playing the lottery online from abroad.
Check Available Payment Methods
As previously stated, it is important to have at least one payment method that is valid for you. The availability of methods to deposit and withdraw will vary according to your country, and some websites, like LottoAgent, have a great diversity of alternatives. By reading our reviews, you will know the available payment methods upfront and not spend your time building your purchase cart unnecessarily.
Deposit and Choose Your Numbers
With the payment of your choice, you can deposit right away the amount of money that you are willing to invest. It is also possible to build your lottery cart first, full of numbers that you have chosen yourself or via Quick Picks, and pay the exact total checkout amount.
The choice of numbers is even easier than filling an actual play slip. Aside from letting the system pick them for you, simply tap on the screen or click on the numbers that you want to choose. There will be buttons to purchase subscriptions or play in drawings in advance, and also to purchase system plays that include more numbers. The lottery websites that we reviewed and now recommend are already optimized for your user experience.
Check the Results and Claim Your Prizes
With your bets or online tickets, you can check the numbers for every drawing that you participated here on LotteryTexts. For example, you can open the official Lucky for Life results and immediately know if you are a winner.
It is not necessary to claim your prizes with the website that you have chosen, which will free you from the risk of losing the deadline unless you want to. If you do not check the results, you will still receive an email informing you that you are one of the winners. Then, small prizes, usually up to $2,500, are automatically added to the account on lottery agent websites. Bigger prizes are necessarily claimed in person, also according to the instructions received.
On the other hand, betting sites take full responsibility for the prizes and, therefore, there is no need to claim anything in person on betting sites. You can play the lottery online from your country and successfully win a multimillionaire prize in both cases, despite the differences.
What Lotteries Can I Play Online from My Country?
Some of the trustworthy lottery websites available these days have more than 60 lottery games in which you can participate. Others will have only 15, 20, or 30 games to choose from. That difference can be important when deciding on a website, but rest assured that the most popular games are available on the vast majority of those websites. Games such as:
- Powerball
- Mega Millions
- SuperEnalotto
- Euromillions
- Eurojackpot
- 6/49 Lotto
- La Primitiva
- Oz Lotto
- SuperLotto Plus
- El Gordo
- Saturday Lotto
- Cash for Life
- Lotto America
Therefore, you can play games from the United States, Europe, Canada, and other countries while living abroad. Depending on the website, you can win millions of dollars or euros without ever stepping on the country that promotes that game.
Countries that Cannot Play the Lottery Online
Unfortunately, not every single country is allowed onto lottery sites. There are exclusions connected to the type of license that the lottery agent or betting site holds, while others simply do not allow countries with strict legislation when it comes to gambling. While we highlight the restricted countries on each review, find the summary below.
Restricted Countries on theLotter and LottoSmile
The most updated list of restricted countries on theLotter and LottoSmile, both of which belong to the same company, are:
- Afghanistan, Australia, Cambodia, Canada, Cuba, Czech Republic, France, Iran, Israel, Lithuania, Mongolia, North Korea, Slovenia, Somalia, Spain, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, United States and its territories (American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands), Yemen, and Venezuela.
Restricted Countries on LottoAgent
LottoAgent has a broader list of restricted countries, but it is still open to many countries. You will not be able to play the lottery online on this website from the following countries:
- Afghanistan, Aruba, Australia, Belgium, Belize, Bonaire, Canada, Curaçao, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Malta, Myanmar, North Korea, Portugal, Saba, St. Maarten, Singapore, Somalia, Spain, Statia, Sudan, Syria, Switzerland, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom, The United States, Tunisia, Turkey, Virgin Islands and Minor Outlying Islands (US), or Yemen.
Restricted Countries on Jackpot.com
Jackpot.com is one of the most restricted websites where you can play the lottery online from your country. That will not be a possibility for the following countries:
- Afghanistan, Albania, American Samoa, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Ghana, Greece, Greenland, Guadeloupe, Guam, Hong Kong, Iceland, Iran Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Korea Democratic People Republic, Lithuania, Malaysia, Martinique, Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Northern Mariana Islands, Pakistan, Palestinian Territory, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Sudan, Spain, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, Uganda, United States, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Virgin Islands U.S., Yemen, and Zimbabwe.
Restricted Countries on WinTrillions
WinTrillions also has its reservations when it comes to certain countries, but it has a reasonable range of limitations. Like LottoAgent, it does not provide a full updated list of its restrictions, but you will know as soon as you visit the website.
