Florida Lottery Online: The Best Online Lotto Sites for March

Lotto Games in Florida
Powerball Will Be Legal: TBD
Florida Lotto Will Be Legal: TBD
Fantasy 5 Will Be Legal: TBD
Cash4Life Will Be Legal: TBD

Florida Lottery has been going strong since the first tickets were sold in 1988. Over three decades have passed since then, in which we’ve seen the lottery expand to offer an innovative array of games. As of yet, there is no legal online lottery in Florida. This doesn’t mean that Floridians are short on ways to play though. There are MUSL and local draw games as well as scratch-cards. There’s something for everyone, from low dollar tickets to high stakes mega jackpots. If you’re unlucky the first time, you can even try your ticket again for a Second Chance win!

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Legal Online Lotteries Available in Florida

At the moment, there are is no online Florida Lottery. Tickets may only be purchased from authorized retailers. There’s no shortage of them though, in fact Florida Lottery have over 13,000 retailers. Online lotteries are still a relatively new development and haven’t been widely rolled out yet. It is highly possible that Florida Lottery could start offering online lottery games in the future, especially considering how much success it has already had.

Legal Online Lotteries Available in the USA

There are many lotteries present in Florida for players to enjoy, and something to please everyone. For fast play and instant results there are loads of Scratchers, with varying price points and payouts. For the high-rollers, the MUSL lottery draws are the go to for tremendous jackpots. Local draws offer generous prizes with better odds, for a better chance of winning. We’ve put together this list of Florida Lottery’s most popular games you can play.

Powerball – A Chance At The Biggest Jackpot

It’s no surprise that Powerball is way up there with the most popular lottery games played here. It’ss a multi-state lottery responsible for generating the biggest jackpot in history. Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt were lucky enough to take home a third of that $528.8 million prize. Plenty of Floridians keep buying their Powerball tickets in the hope that this luck will rub off on them too. To hit the jackpot, players just need to purchase a $2 ticket and match numbers for 5 white balls and 1 lucky red Powerball!

Florida Lotto – The Sunshine State’s Own Draw

It goes without saying that Florida Lotto is the sunshine state’s exclusive lottery draw. You can get your hands on a ticket for just $1 to be in with a chance of winning a jackpot of $2 million – or more! If the jackpot isn’t won, it rolls over until it is won. This means that sometimes there are absolutely massive jackpots to be won. All players need to do to win the lucky jackpot is match 6 numbers between 1 and 53. Drawings take place every Wednesday and Saturday at 11:15 pm.

Fantasy 5 – Lottery Fun Every Day

For players who can’t get enough lotto in their lives, Fantasy 5 is the perfect solution. There are drawings every day, which means plenty of chances to win. 5 balls numbered from 1 through to 36 are drawn. To win the jackpot all 5 numbers must be matched by the player. It doesn’t even matter what order you put them down, so long as they’re the same digits. Due to this, there are often lots of winners who share the prize money. On August 28th in 2012, an incredible 98 people picked the right numbers!

Cash4Life – Life-Changing Wins

Players in other states will most likely be familiar with Cash4Life already, as it is a multi-jurisdictional game. As is the case with these cross-state games, huge jackpots are on the table. What makes this one stand out from the rest is the way the jackpot is paid out. The lucky winner receives $1,000 every day for the rest of their life! Second place runner-ups get $1,000 a week too. To be in with a chance of getting this life-changing prize, players must match 5 numbers plus 1 green Cash Ball.

Lottery Regulator in Florida

Florida Lottery is self-regulating. As a result of this, a Department of the Lottery has been set up to regulate how the lottery is carried out and ensure that it’s done with integrity. The Division of Security and the Inspector General are also instrumental in this role. Another function is to make sure that revenue is given to benefit deserving recipients.

Other Lotto Draws You Could Pick

Whether you’re after something different to Florida’s televised lotto draws or not, scratch-offs are a popular choice. Florida Lottery has loads to offer, catering to every budget. Many scratch tickets are sold for only $1. It’s generally the case that the higher the price point of the ticket, the bigger the jackpot prize. There are even some $30 scratch-offs such as $15,000,000 Gold Rush and Florida 100x The Cash. The odds are slimmer, but the jackpots are massive!

Florida Lotto History

The Sunshine State has had it’s own lottery since 1988, and Floridians have loved playing it ever since. From in-house draws, to scratch-off tickets, to multi-state jackpots – Florida has taken every opportunity to exceed expectations. Find out how the Florida Lottery has grown and been embraced into the heart of it’s community.

Florida Lotto History
1986 Florida passes legislation to introduce a state lottery. Governor Bob Martinez is responsible for organizing this legislation. Revenue generated from lottery sales will go towards funding public education in the state.
January 12th, 1988 Florida Lottery launches its first lottery sales, six days ahead of schedule. A $1 scratch-off ticket called Millionaire is first on the market. It sets a lottery record, raising over $95 million in sales. This rapid success means that Florida Lottery are able to pay back start up money borrowed from the state’s General Revenue Fund in only 17 days.
April 29th, 1988 Florida Lotto and Cash 3 are the first draw games on offer and are both launched on the same day. Just four months later, Florida Lotto sets a world record with a $52 million jackpot.
July 2008 By now Florida Lottery is offering a variety of draw games to its enthusiastic players. To add to this, the Lottery decides it is going to join the Multi-state Lottery Association and will add Powerball to its roster of games the following January.

Famous Winners – Hitting the Jackpot and Making History

On January 13th 2016, one lucky Florida couple managed to get their hands on a pretty special lottery jackpot. In fact, their winning ticket earned them a piece of the biggest lottery jackpot in history, worth $1.586 billion. After splitting the win three ways and paying taxes, Maureen Smith and David Kaldschmidt’s Powerball ticket paid out $187.2 million. Asked what she’d do with the money, Maureen Smith said ‘I just know I want to help the special people in my life’. They aren’t the only Floridians to have won big though. On May 18th 2013 another massive Powerball jackpot was won – this time for $590.5 million. Gloria MacKenzie, was the lucky ticket-holder and the sole winner, along with her son who helped her buy the ticket. Things haven’t gone smoothly though, as she is now suing her son and his financial advisor for ‘mismanaging’ her winnings.

Lottery Legal Age in Florida

In Florida the law requires that all lottery players must be aged 18 years or older. Florida has a number of racinos, Indian casinos and offshore casinos. There are other forms of gambling in Florida too. Floridians can place pari-mutuel bets and play poker from the age of 18. As the drinking age is 21, Indian and offshore casinos typically don’t admit anyone below that age. Gaming machines are also inly permitted for use by players aged 21 or over. Underage gambling is a serious crime and penalties vary from state to state. Depending on the extent of the crime, prison, fines and probation are possible punishments.

  • Lottery Age
    In Florida the law requires that lottery players must be 18+ years of age.
  • Alcohol Age
    The drinking age in Florida is 21 years old, in line with the national drinking age.
  • Weed Age
    Marijuana is illegal for recreational use in Florida.

Floridians can play the lottery online elsewhere. The US Lottery is widespread, and only 6 US states do not have one. At the moment there is a number of states with online lotteries. Among them you’ll find Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kentucky and Georgia. It is also legal to buy tickets at MI lottery sites. These states will be joined by many more over the coming months.

Online lotteries have become a global phenomenon. The very first to pop was in Liechtenstein in 1995. For once, the US is actually behind the rest of the world. To the north, Lotto 6/49 is the biggest online lottery in Canada. To the south, Mega Sena is the largest lottery in Latin America. In Europe there are two continent-wide jackpot draws to pick from – Eurojackpot and Euromillions.

The Best Lottery Mobile App

Florida Lottery has produced its own app. The FL Lottery Collect ‘N Win app runs on iOS and android devices and offers a range of useful features. Players can scan their tickets for extra chances to win. This is a good way for players to boost their odds and let their tickets go the extra mile. Scanning a ticket earns one symbol. Collect four symbols to complete a Play Card, which gives entry to one of three prize drawings. There is a big jackpot prize as well as lots of small cash prizes for runner-ups.

Online Lottery Promotions to Take Advantage Of

Without an online lottery, Florida Lottery does not have much competition in terms of promotions. Promotions can be found on the Florida Lottery website. These change from month to month, so it’s a good idea to stay abreast on what’s available. Each month there are Second Chance promotions, in which players can scan tickets for a chance to enter an extra drawing. The FL Lottery Collect ‘N Win app is necessary for this. We’d like to see more diverse promotions on offer, such as match bonuses or points for prizes, but unfortunately this is not the case at the moment. You are welcome to take a look at our extensive page on gambling in Florida for more information on other fields of the online gambling sphere, as well as any related promotions.

How to Choose the Best Lottery Promotion in Florida

Taxes on Lotto Winnings in Florida

As is the case in any other US state, all lottery winnings are subject to taxation. Florida Lottery will hold on to 24% of a win for federal tax, if it is over $5,000. If the winner has any outstanding debts to a state agency or owes child support, that may by withdrawn from winnings too. Luckily for Florida winners, they won’t have to pay income tax on top of that. Florida is one of the few US states with no state income tax. The Florida Departments of Revenue has more useful information on tax in the Sunshine state.

Upcoming Regulation Changes for Online Lottery

There is no current news that regulation in Florida is going to change soon. There are several reasons why an online lottery would be a smart move for Florida. Firstly, it’s important to keep stable numbers of people playing the lottery. If these numbers drop off, jackpots will shrink and players lose interest. These days, people rely on mobile phones and the Internet. This technology isn’t going anywhere, and by ignoring it the lottery risks falling behind the times. Bringing in an online lottery could boost interest, and in turn boost revenue to the state’s education programs. Florida hasn’t taken the leap with other forms of online gambling either. The Sunshine State doesn’t offer daily fantasy or online sports betting either. An online lottery doesn’t look like it’s on the table just yet. We will keep this article updated with any new legislation that affects the Florida Lottery.

Lottery Guides for Nearby States

Jessica Whitehouse, Editor at online-gambling.com
Jessica Whitehouse

Jessica Whitehouse is among the professional online-gambling.com editors in charge of ensuring that our readers get the best and most reliable news and details from the online gambling world. Her focus is on blackjack and roulette reviews, lottery, and more.

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