California Lottery Exposed — Spice Up Your Life!
California Lottery Review
Wouldn’t it be nice to get CA lottery tickets online? After all, so many states have finally decided to launch their official websites and apps dedicated to that very “innovative” feature.
Is California one of these pioneers? We will find the answer by reviewing the state’s official lottery website – CALottery.com.
While the site’s design is a little bit dusty, it could still have a lot to offer. This review will check out the functionalities, the opportunities, and how lottery enthusiasts can benefit from CALottery.com.
Is TheLotter legit in California? Find out in our review
Games at California Lottery Online
Let’s start by answering the most important question first. Does California State Lottery offer an online ticket-buying option? Unfortunately, the answer is no.
The only thing you can do right now through the website and the app is to check your numbers to see if your paper ticket slip has won you anything.
As far as games go, California has so much to offer that the lack of an online ticket-buying option is a major pity.
CA Lottery Powerball and CA Lottery Mega Millions are the two contenders for the state’s most prominent game. Cal Super Lotto is also there, reaching the top for the most popular Californian lottery games.
In California, you can choose among a couple of other smaller draw-style lotteries like Fantasy 5, Daily 3, Daily 4, Daily Derby, and Hot Spot. It’s such a pity that you can access these games only if you are in the state. Let’s hope that laws will change soon, but the situation isn’t that very optimistic. The US has some pretty rigid rules about how lottery games can be played. Unfortunately, online ticket purchases are still not that widely accepted on a regional level.
CA Lottery and Claiming Your Prizes
Since you cannot buy lottery tickets online or through California Lottery apps, you will also have to claim prizes in person. It doesn’t matter if you’ve won one of the regular draw-style games or additional opportunities like California Lottery Second Chance. The procedure is always going to be the same.
For most CA Lottery draw games and scratch-off lotteries, smaller sums can be claimed immediately at any retail location of preference. This rule applies to prizes of up to 600 dollars.
If you win larger prizes, you will need to visit a Lottery District Office in California.
The only difference is that a claim form will have to be filled out, and the claim form differs for regular games and Second Chance.
Keep in mind that if you win anything in California, you’ll have to agree to a public disclosure clause. That means your identity will not be protected, and you’ll lack the opportunity to remain anonymous.
Who Can Play at Cali Lottery?
You probably already have an idea about this one, don’t you? It doesn’t matter if you want to play draw-style games or CA scratchers. You have to be on the state’s territory, and you also have to visit one of the numerous retail venues to get your tickets.
There is absolutely no way to participate if you’re out of state or out of the country. Some lotteries like Powerball and Mega Millions are being offered by international online lottery agencies. For the strictly California-based games, however, you will have no chance to partake from a distance.
If you are in California and want to play the lottery, you have to be aged 18 or older to buy tickets.
Who’s Behind California Lottery Online?
The California Lottery website and the mobile app are created by the actual company behind organizing lottery games and distributing prizes.
The California State Lottery was set up in 1984 after the passing of the California State Lottery Act. Since 2005, the California State Lottery has been offering national games like Mega Millions (it became the 12th jurisdiction to start offering the game). Initially, California did not want to offer Powerball to locals but eventually, it was launched in 2013.
As you can see, it takes some time for certain new things to get adopted in California (which makes us hopeful for the future introduction of online playing).
Right now, you can buy tickets the old-fashioned way without worrying about being scammed.
Other Bits and Pieces
We don’t have too much to talk about since California Lottery offers virtually no digital services to its clients.
Even now, when social distancing is being recommended, there seem to be no plans for a quick change in the way lottery tickets are sold.
We haven’t talked too much about the California Lottery app, so let’s briefly pinpoint some of its key characteristics.
The app is only good for scanning tickets to find if you’ve won anything, entering Second Chance draws (after you have bought an actual ticket elsewhere), checking winning numbers, finding a nearby lottery retailer, and seeing the latest Second Chance promotions.
This may seem like a good start (and it would have been back in 2000). Still, there’s quite a lot missing in terms of convenience and digital service provision. Given that it is going digital’s become so simple in this day and age, there really is no excuse.
Let’s end this review by summarizing the key advantages and disadvantages of the California Lottery.
Why You Should Register with California Lottery
Pros:
An official state lottery operator that is working under California laws
There are both a website and an app dedicated to the lottery
You can enter Second Chance draws through the mobile app
Lots of additional information is available
Why You Shouldn’t Register with California Lottery
Cons:
California does not allow the online selling of lottery tickets
You have to physically be in California to buy tickets and participate in games
You have to claim prizes in person
Is California Lottery Legit?
It is. However, if you live in California, you will be missing out on opportunities that are already available in other states. You cannot purchase lottery tickets online, and we don’t know how long it would take for the situation to change.
So there you have it. We will update you as soon as the situation changes, but currently, the California Lottery website is way behind what other state digital portals have to offer.
Carlos ramos
You guys I’ll let you know no one’s winning on scratchers they are broke I don’t know from the source save your money that’s why you haven’t been waiting on your scratchers especially California there is no return of even what you put out I’m sorry maybe a ticket keep your money for a while learn how to be without you by scratchers Try not to give it too much to corporate just put it away in your pocket I’m at home banks are corrupt scratchers are corrupt do you win money is oil companies to try not to go out and use so much gas we as a people here in America are tired of supporting the kids and the family This is not a handout I hope they choke in the food of their miserable life thank you audience
David Charles
Well if you know anything about California then you know the corruption and dishonesty, unethical practices, and lack of any oversight, has been going on for a long time. So now that the population has grown what do you think happens to all those things they just get better and bigger and uglier so wouldn’t surprise me that the lottery people are anymore honest than the LAPD.
Suzy Forwood
$60 in $5 Mega Crosswords. ONE FREE TICKET.
Jeffrey Rochowicz
Been playing all sorts of draw tickets and scratchers for over 23 years and only won small prizes between $1 and $500 out of all those 23 years while losing over $12,000 so far in 23 years. Yeah, I’d say this system is not honest with the public in that it does not really have large prizes in circulation at any given time as it advertises on its website. Each scratcher ticket has an inventory control number that can be traced by the computer system and is closely monitored or even controlled in circulation for recall purposes, loss prevention, or budget adjustments, hence, the lottery commission can take all the large prizes out of circulation if they wish and nobody will even notice or do anything about it. People will still keep buying scratcher tickets blindly thinking they actually have a chance to change their life while the reality is there may not be any large prizes in circulation.
Bri Swanson
I say SCAM!!! The California lottery is set up so that if you win anything over $599 you must redeem your ticket at one of the CA lottery offices… California is a BIG state and although there are multiple CA lottery offices throughout the state – the only ones that will issue you a *check* upon the receipt of a valid winning ticket ($600 – $999) and a completed claim form are in Sacramento, Fresno, and San Diego. If you are not able to travel to one of these locations your only other option is to mail your documents (winning ticket & completed claim form) to the main CAL office and then you will be issued a check (to be sent via USPS) which you *should* receive in 8-10 weeks. What TF??!? Ok, so my takeaway is that you MUST have adequate means to travel to (whatever distance that may be) one of the THREE offices that will issue you a check on the spot. If this is not possible, you must have adequate means to travel to one of the other offices ( I believe there are 9? Or so) to have your ticket validated and fill out a claim form – at which point the office will send your documents to the main office (in Sac) and they will issue you a check (in 8-10 weeks) that will be sent to the address provided on your claim form….
But what if a winner cannot travel to one of the three offices to claim the prize? What if the winner is without a mailing address due to the severity of the housing crisis here in CA? What if the winner is indigent and hs no way to travel, no time to wait out the 10 weeks for the prize, no address for the check to be sent to, and/or no bank account to deposit or cash said check??? Honestly, I’m appalled that there is so much red tape and bureaucratic bulls*** for one to deal with after winning!!!
And frankly, after reading the previous posts I have little confidence that I will ever see the $1000 I won on a scratcher. I even debated selling the ticket for $800 but alas this is against the rules. 🤮 I’m born and raised here in CA and over the past 2 years I find myself closer and closer to leaving for a myriad of reasons and this is literally the cherry on top. #byeCA #byeNIMBYnation #BYENewsome