With the popularity of online lotteries, there has been a slight rise in the number of people confused about how they work. Not everyone knows that they divide into two groups: lottery betting sites and online lottery agents. They have considerable differences that you must take into account when planning to play the lottery online, and that is what we will explain here.
Quick Jump
What Is Lottery Betting?
Lottery betting is a concept that has become really popular on the internet because you do not need to purchase real lottery tickets. In other words, a serious company can provide that service without having staff available at each location, which makes tickets cheaper. As a consequence, the prizes have to be paid by insurance companies that cover the lottery betting sites.
You bet on lotteries as you do with sports, and if you guess the numbers right, you win the jackpot or secondary prizes like anyone playing lotteries with real tickets.
Lottery Betting or Real Lottery Ticket Purchase: Which One Is Better?
The choice between betting on the lottery or purchasing real lottery tickets has to consider the pros and cons of each playing style. Before advancing to the advantages, let’s have a summary of the characteristics of both lottery betting and lottery ticket purchase online:
| Characteristics | Lottery Betting | Online Lottery Agents |
|---|---|---|
| Tickets | Symbolic tickets | Real tickets |
| Price | Cheaper | More expensive |
| Promotions | Frequent bonuses and promotions | Regular discounts and bundles |
| Prizes | Transferred to the player | Claimed in person |
| Lotteries | Real and exclusive ones | Only real lotteries |
| Trust | You must trust the company | Real ticket on your behalf |
The Main Advantages of Lottery Betting
Most of the advantages of playing on a lottery betting site become clear just by looking at the characteristics listed above. Lottery betting sites do not need to profit from the price of tickets since they do not purchase real ones. As a result, you might find websites charging 3x, 4x, and even 5x less than by purchasing on lottery agent websites.
Those symbolic tickets found on your account are not only cheaper, but they give access to all the real prizes – except that they are paid by insurance companies. Although it may take up to 30 days to receive your prize, you do not need to travel to claim them.
You will also find games that were created by the lottery betting sites to diversify their offer and that cannot be found on lottery agent websites. For all the games, there usually is a welcome bonus or at least frequent promotions to get an extra ticket or two.
The Advantages of Purchasing Ticket With Lottery Agents
If you purchase with lottery agents, you know you are the rightful owner of real tickets. Basically, you have access to real lotteries from all around the world without having to leave your house, just by paying a little extra to cover the staff expenses.
Therefore, on top of the recommendations made regarding the best lottery sites that let you trust them, you will have a verifiable ticket. Although the price is a bit higher than the original, you can often get discounts up to 25% and special bundles that combine many different tickets. Also, playing on online lottery pools is a possibility to explore.
If you want to know more about that method that is used to play the lottery online, check our lottery agent guide.
Why Do Lottery Betting Sites Not Purchase Lottery Tickets?
Lottery betting is a different type of business. Although both explore lottery games, do not see lottery betting sites as a failed attempt to provide real lottery tickets. They decided to go that way intentionally, and that is a business model with much less intensive logistics. You may even find cases that match both, like LottoAgent.
Winning and Prize Claiming
Among the characteristics that are not related to buying the tickets, the claim of online lottery prizes is the most important advantage in the case of lottery betting. When you purchase lottery tickets online with an agent and hold real digital tickets, you will have to claim prizes above around $2,500 in person. Yes, that includes traveling and all.
Lottery betting sites, on the other hand, require you to do nothing but wait for the insurance company to transfer the necessary amount. Then, you will receive everything in your bank account, regardless of where you live. That sounds like a dream, and it often is what makes people prefer betting sites over lottery agent websites.
Now, in both online lottery play models, you do not need to worry about having an unclaimed lottery ticket. They will warn you in every possible way and, if it is a small prize, you will receive it automatically.
Keep in mind that the fact that lottery betting deducts the same lottery taxes paid by someone playing a real lottery. In order to make it fair, if a real ticket for Powerball is reduced by 60%, counting both the lump-sum payment discount and the taxes, you will receive the same 40% as anyone with a real ticket. Therefore, betting on the lottery results does not increase your payment – unless you activate a special jackpot boost or something.
If you want to know how much money you might receive after winning the lottery, check out our lottery tax calculator.
The Bottom Line: Lottery Betting or Lottery Agents?
Lottery betting has many interesting advantages compared to lottery agent sites. For example, you will pay less for a chance of winning the exact same prize, and you can even count on a welcome bonus and a jackpot boost. On top of that, you do not even have to claim your prizes in person. No wonder why there is way more lottery betting sites out there.
Of course, to play on a lottery betting site, you must really trust it. After all, you will have no real lottery ticket to claim. That is why it is highly recommended to stick to our recommendations, only made after a thorough review based on our experience and that of real users.
