🚨 Jackpot Alerts (FREE)
Get updated jackpots alerts and news. The best source for worldwide lottery results online.
Lottery Glossary
#
6/49 – A frequent game format in many lottery games. It means that players need to choose six numbers within the range of 1 to 49. The jackpot is obtained by matching all the six numbers.
1-Off – A play or bet in drawing games in which the order of the draw matters. Playing that way, you can win a prize if your number is higher or lower than the drawn number by just one.
A
Add-on – A feature that is only available in a game for those who purchase a ticket. It is added for an additional cost and usually adds another chance or increases the odds of getting a prize.
Advanced Play – Activate this feature whenever you want to play in future drawings and guarantee your participation in advance. It is also called a “Multi-Draw” or “Advanced Drawing”.
Advertised Jackpot – The jackpot that you see advertised by the lotteries is often not equal to the real amount that you receive. The actual jackpot is closer to the advertised amount if you pick an “Annuity Payment”.
Agent – A company responsible for purchasing tickets on your behalf, either for privacy or convenience. The tickets are yours and do not belong to the agent. Some lotteries may call their retailers agents (refer to “Lottery Agent” below).
Annuity Payment – Prize option that guarantees a smaller annual prize, usually for the period of 30 years, instead of a single prize.
B
Ball – An object that carries the number that is drawn during the lottery drawing.
Ball Set – The audited group of balls that is used during the drawings. You will find details on the ball set of a specific game in its official rules.
Bearer Instrument – The instrument that proves your ownership of something. In the lottery, that is the ticket that must be signed and delivered by you to guarantee your prize. When you play on online lottery sites, you will eliminate the risk of losing it.
Beneficiary – The person who receives the prize from a lottery.
Bet – A synonym for playing or the wager that is made to validate a ticket.
Betting Site – Lottery site where you bet on the results and receive the same prize that you would get if you were playing with an actual ticket.
Bonus Ball/Number – The extra number or digit on a ball that is drawn within or separately from the main drum and that usually gives a primary or secondary prize.
Book – Collection of instant-win games that may include lotteries and scratchcards.
Box – A play type for games where the order of the drawn numbers matters. It allows you to win regardless of the order in all or in some cases.
Bundle – The special package includes entries that may include lottery syndicates. In exchange for purchasing the whole bundle, you often get a discount.
C
Canceled Ticket – When a ticket is considered void due to incorrect filling or the player’s option.
Capped Jackpot – A jackpot that can only grow up to a certain level. When it happens and nobody wins, the rollover stops, and the prize is often shared with lower-level winners.
Cash Option – The most common way of receiving the jackpot. It is a one-time payment that often reduces the total prize considerably.
Claim – Act of requesting the prize you deserve with your valid ticket.
Claim Form – A document that is necessary to claim prizes, usually those bigger than approximately $600.
Claim Center – The place where you can take your valid ticket, possibly a claim form, and request your money payment.
Claim Period – The total period during which you can claim any prizes that you have won. It always varies from one lottery to another and might be anything between 30 days and a full year.
Claim Process – The specific process through which you need to go to claim your prizes. It is usually much easier to claim lottery winnings online.
Cold Number – A number that has been out of the drawn numbers for a while and is considered essential to determine the strategy according to the hot and cold lottery numbers theory.
Combo – The play type that combines several Straight bets or the combination of Straight and Box bets, depending on the rules of the game that you are playing.
Commission – The reward that retailers receive when they sell lucky tickets or the percentage you need to leave at an agent. Most of the websites that we recommend do not charge commissions.
Concierge Service – A synonym for “agent”, meaning that it purchases tickets on your behalf. We have a full guide on lottery agents.
Consecutive Numbers – Numbers that follow a numerical order. For example, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are consecutive numbers.
D
Daily Game – A lottery game that occurs every day, and it is usually a synonym for lotteries limited to digits from 0 to 9, like Pick 3, Pick 4, and Pick 5.
Digit – A number from 0 to 9 that composes a lottery game.
Discount – A special offer that allows you to pay less for the same odds and number of tickets.
Draw – Drawings or a draw is how we refer to the actual results of a lottery game. The numbers are drawn manually or by a machine and shown to the public. They always occur in a transparent manner, usually through a broadcast.
Draw Game – Every lottery that involves drawing numbers is considered a draw game.
Draw Machine – The machine defines the numbers that are drawn by randomly selecting them.
E
Electronic Funds Transfer – A direct transfer of funds to your bank account, usually for small prizes at online lottery agents or for any prizes when using lottery betting sites.
Estate – The assets of a person who has passed away.
Estimated Jackpot – When the jackpot is not possible to be determined and depends on a pari-mutuel basis. In other words, the sale of tickets determines the total jackpot.
Extra Game – A game that can be played in addition to the regular lottery game for an additional cost. It may have a drawing of its own or result in a possible instant prize.
F
Fixed Jackpot – The jackpot does not roll over and is always the same.
Fixed Prize – Any prize will always have a fixed value.
Free Lottery – Lotteries that do not cost you anything to participate in. Those are often not recommended and have a great chance of being scams.
G
Game Matrix – The format of a lottery game composed of the total number to be picked by the player and the pool of numbers separated by a slash. For example, 6/49, like in Lotto 6/49.
Good Causes – The destination of most of the profit from some lottery games. They donate to non-profit organizations or government departments that redirect the money to support health, education, and charity, for example.
H
High Number – Numbers that are on the higher portion of the total number pool of a certain game. Mega Millions has 70 numbers, which means that numbers between 35 and 70 are considered high.
Hit – When a number appears in the drawing.
Hopper – A cylindrical machine used to draw numbers in the past.
Hot Number – Contrary to a cold number, that is a number that has been appearing in the last drawings. The best lottery software and prediction tools use statistics to determine the hottest numbers.
I
Inheritance Tax – A tax that is due by anyone who inherits estate or money, if applicable in the country.
Instant Game – Games that do not require a drawing and result in prizes instantly. The EZ Match add-on in Virginia Cash 5 and scratch cards are good examples.
International Lottery – Lotteries that occur in other countries and in which you can participate thanks to the lottery sites that we recommend.
J
Jackpot – The biggest prize in a lottery game.
Jackpot Cap – The limit imposed on the jackpot that cannot be overcome when it is a progressive prize.
Jackpot Fatigue – When the lottery sales drop and may indicate that players are waiting for the jackpot to roll over and increase.
K
Keeper – The lottery number that you always keep in your tickets.
Keep-Out – Numbers that you do not want in your ticket, maybe from a lottery numerology perspective.
L
Last Drawn – The last drawing in which a specific number appeared.
Lottery – A game that is completely random and based on luck, in which you choose your lucky numbers and hope for them to be drawn.
Lottery Betting – Playing the lottery without real tickets but placing a bet on the possible drawn numbers instead.
Lottery Commission – A group, mostly a government authority, that determines how a lottery will work in a given jurisdiction.
Lottery Prediction – The attempt to predict the results of the lottery using tools, theories, strategies, or any other way.
Lottery Results – The numbers that were drawn in a lottery drawing. You can check the lottery results by country live.
Lottery Retailer – A distributor that is authorized by the lottery organization to sell the tickets locally.
Lottery Scam – A fraud that pretends to be a lottery but only wants to put their hands on your data or money.
Lottery Tax – Any tax that is withheld in the lottery’s country and/or in your country for winning a lottery prize.
Low Number – Numbers that are found in the lower half of the total number pool. For example, Lucky for Life has 48 numbers, and the range 1-24 contains its low numbers.
Lump-Sum Payment – The same as “Cash Option”, when you receive the jackpot in a single payment.
M
Match – When your number is equal to the one drawn in the lottery.
Maximum Liability – The maximum value that a lottery will pay for a primary or secondary prize. If the number of winners would result in a higher prize, that maximum liability value is divided among the winners.
Multi-Draw – The play option that purchases tickets to future drawings for you.
Multi-state / Multi-jurisdiction – Lottery games that are offered in more than one state or country, like Euromillions across Europe.
Multiplier – A feature that multiplies the total prize. Powerball has a multiplier called Power Play.
N
National Lottery – The official lottery of a country.
Number – The value that is found on the drawn ball.
Number Checker – One of the lottery tools that can help you figure out what numbers you have matched.
Number Generator – A tool that generates numbers for you to play in a lottery game, like our Quick Picks for the most popular lotteries.
Number Range / Number Pool – The pool from which the player can select the numbers that will be played with the ticket.
Numbers Game – A term that usually defines simple games with digits from 0 to 9 and anything between 3 and 6 total numbers.
Number Trend – Patterns that might be noticed by checking the statistics of previous drawings.
Numerology – The study of numbers and how they exert influence over many matters, including luck in lottery games.
O
Odds – The probability of winning a prize, or simply your chances of becoming a winner. You will always find that information on our website for your favorite games.
Offline Lottery – Lotteries that are played without the use of an internet connection. You will play with paper tickets, which are riskier than online tickets since you can lose them.
Online Agent – A lottery agent that works online and allows you to purchase tickets from wherever you are. You will find the best ones among our recommendations here at LotteryTexts.
Online Syndicate – An anonymous syndicate formed by players who purchase group entries on the lottery websites. See “Syndicate” below for more information.
Overdue Number – Numbers that are past the definition of “cold numbers” because they have not been seen in a long while.
P
Pair – A type of bet that pays a prize if you match a specific pair, even if you do not match the other numbers.
Pari-mutuel – When prizes are based on ticket sales and not fixed, sharing the total percentage of sales allocated to that tier among the winners.
Payout – The payment is done by a retailer, operator, or the lottery organization to the winner.
Pick Game –A synonym to draw or numbers game, in which you pick digits from 0 to 9 and decide how you want to play it.
Play Slip – The physical or digital card that players fill by choosing the numbers that they want to play or letting the system decide for them. When you pay for them, you receive the printed tickets.
Play Type – How you decide to play your play slip. That is available in some games with more than one play type, like Pick 3 and Pick 4 games, for example.
Prize Percentage – The percentage of the total money available for prizes that are allocated to a prize tier to be distributed among winners.
Prize Pool – The total amount of money from ticket sales will be distributed as prizes.
Prize Tier – One of the many levels of prizes that a lottery game can have. The jackpot is the top prize tier, while the lowest prize tier is usually around the same ticket cost or just a free ticket.
Progressive Jackpot – The most common type of jackpot, which keep increasing until they reach their cap or until someone wins.
Q
Quick Pick – Also called “Easy Pick”, it chooses the numbers for you. That is especially useful when you want to purchase several tickets.
R
Raffle – A game that is similar to lotteries but in which the odds vary according to the number of participants, and someone always wins.
Result History – The past drawings are summarized in a way that can help you check tickets or simply identify your next numbers according to your best lottery strategy.
Rollover – When nobody hits a progressive jackpot, the prize is transferred to the next drawing and increases according to a predetermined ratio or according to ticket sales.
S
Scanned Ticket – The paper format of lottery tickets that is still in use but is much less efficient than the digital ones on online lottery sites.
Scratchcard – A type of instant game in which you need to scratch the slots or circles to find possible prizes if you match a few of the same symbols. It is already available online on the recommended sites.
Skip – The absence of a given number in the past drawings. It is determined by pure randomness.
Starting Jackpot – The value with which the jackpot begins before rolling over if nobody matches all the necessary numbers.
Straight – A play type that requires that you match not only the digits but also the order in which they were drawn.
Straight+Box – The play type that combines both Straight and Box plays. In exchange for the better odds of covering both the possibilities, the prizes are lower.
Subscription – A recurring payment for automatic participation of all drawings of a certain lottery game.
Sweepstakes – A game that draws one or more participants to win a prize instead of numbers.
Syndicate – A group of players playing together to share both the cost of tickets and the prizes. It is really useful to participate with many entries for a low price.
T
Terminal – The electronic equipment that enters and prints the tickets to participate in lotteries.
Ticket – Your entry into any lottery game. It can be physical or digital, if you play online, and it is mandatory to have it in order to claim any prize.
Total Sum – The sum of the numbers that you have played in the lottery. It may be used to win in add-on games or to plan your strategy, for example.
Triple – A three-digit number made up of three consecutive digits, e.g., 222.
U
Unclaimed Prize – When the claim period is over, the prize is considered unclaimed, and the winner loses the right to it.
V
Validation – The process that confirms that it is a winning ticket and that the holder has the right to claim the prize. Bigger prizes require validation at the headquarters of a lottery organization.
Vendor – The distributor of lottery tickets, also called a “Retailer”.
W
Wager – A synonym of bet, the sum that you place and pay to predict the results of the lottery drawing. The total amount that you can wage is usually predefined by the game.
Wheeling System – The system is normally used for many lottery strategies, including Pick 3 strategies, generating many possible combinations for a given pool of numbers.
Winner – The person who has the right to claim a prize for owning a ticket that matches the drawn numbers.
Withholding – The act of taking a part of the payment to cover taxes. The winner already received the prize after the withheld amount.
