Florida Lottery Exposed — Grab Your Ray of Sunshine!
Florida Lottery Review
Florida – the sunshine state!
That sun definitely shines brighter for anyone with a bit of lottery luck, and if you want to be that person, the Florida Lottery app may be the answer to your prayers.
Launched by the official entity operating lotteries in Florida, the app and the corresponding website add to the Florida lottery operator’s range of services.
In the US, there are some federal and local limitations on the online sale of tickets. Is Florida one of the states affected by such restrictions? That’s a valid question, and we’re on a mission to give you a comprehensive, reliable answer today.
Online Games at Florida Lottery
If you are a Floridian, you already know the abundance of lotteries available to test your luck. Today, however, we’re talking about the Florida lottery website and the games you can play online through the portal.
And here is the bad news: right now, you cannot buy tickets online through the official FlaLottery portal. There are other operators and websites out there that provide such services. However, if you want to go down the official route, you will benefit from no such opportunity.
The same applies to the Florida Lotto App that was recently updated.
As per the official presentation, you can do a couple of things via the app, but the purchase of tickets isn’t one of those. The current range of functionalities includes checking your ticket to determine if you have won anything, entering your already purchased ticket into a second chance game, and creating digital payslips that you can later use for ticket purchase at an authorized retail venue.
That last one is a big disappointment. The only thing it does is speed the process up. Unfortunately, payment processing through the app isn’t available right now, and you need to walk yourself to a store to buy a ticket.
Is there an ongoing Jackpocket scam in Florida?
Fla Lottery and Claiming Your Prizes
It’s pretty straightforward for prizes less than $600. These can be claimed at any Florida Lottery retailer. If you are playing online, then this will be automatically credited to your account. For prizes from $601 to $250,000, wins can be claimed at any Florida State Lottery district office or Florida Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. Any prize over $250,000 awards must be requested at Florida Lottery Headquarters within 180 days of the draw.
Scratch-Offs have their own set of rules with specific dates that apply to start as short as 60 days after the end of the official game. Some folks try and monitor the number of Scratch-Offs sold per game and buy more and more tickets as the game is coming to a close.
Annuity Versus Cash Option
Lotteries at Flalottery.com offers two options for getting your big jackpot – an annuity or cash option. Florida Lotto and Powerball are paid out over 30 years, FL Mega Millions over 26, and Florida Mega Money for over 20 years. If a player opts for the cash option, then the amount of the jackpot won is (remember I am not a mathematician) less than the published jackpot. The amount published is based on the accrued value over the term of an annuity. Sounds confusing? It’s not. It still means winning a pretty colossal jackpot!
Who Can Play Via the Florida Lottery Website?
As already mentioned, Florida does not offer online ticket sales. Here’s an exact quote from the FlaLottery FAQ section:
The Florida Lottery does not offer the sale of Lottery tickets by mail, fax, or via the Internet, nor do we currently offer a subscription service. Tickets must be purchased from any of the more than 13,000 authorized Florida Lottery retailers in the state of Florida. Find an authorized Florida Lottery retailer.
This means that if you want to buy a ticket, you have to be physically present in Florida (whether you are a US citizen, a tourist, or someone who has a valid visa. As long as you meet this requirement, no additional restrictions are applying to you.
You will still have to go to a registered Florida Lottery office to get your ticket, however.
Who Is Behind the Florida Lottery?
This is a state-run Lottery governed by the Inspector General. It was set up to support education in the State of Florida. Each of the lotteries offered has different percentages of how much goes to the state and how much goes to prizes.
The Florida Lottery website is a reflection of this policy. It is an official digital representation of state policies, and you can rest assured that both the online platform and the app are 100 percent legitimate.
Other Bits and Pieces
There isn’t an awful lot more to say about the website because the range of functionalities is limited.
Florida lottery does offer a couple of interesting opportunities like the Second Chance previously mentioned. This is an option you can access via the website and the app. The additional game includes non-winning tickets in an extra drawing that can result in some additional prizes. If you haven’t won anything from the regular drawing, Second Chance may be the option to pursue.
The pros and cons of Fla Lotto include the following:
Why You Should Register with Florida Lottery?
Pros:
A website created by an official lottery entity
There is also a mobile app that was recently updated
You can enter into games like Second Chance via the website and app
A lot of information, extensive FAQ section
Good customer support
Why You Shouldn’t Register with Florida Lottery?
Cons:
Florida does not allow the online buying of tickets
The app also doesn’t support ticket buying; you can only enter Second Chance through it
If you want to play local lotteries, you’ll have to be physically present in Florida
Is Florida Lottery Legit?
Florida Lottery USA offers some great games. It is a legitimate platform. Unfortunately, however, the range of possibilities via the website and app is limited.
And that’s pretty much it! Sorry to disappoint with the information featured here, but we hope that the situation changes for the better shortly.
Matt Ventrelli
The FL scratch offs are an absolute and total ripoff. I have been playing scratch offs since 2003 and up until about 2017 did ok. I played only $10 and $20 games and believe me, I NEVER went more than 2 weeks without hitting a $500 ticket…and pretty much NEVER went more than a week without hitting a $100 ticket. But I played daily and usually spent $30 – $40. No, I didn’t break even but at least I was winning enough to cover at least 50 – 60% of my losses. Then, about 3 or 4 years ago, a new dude started running the FL Lottery in Tallahassee. Within weeks, various tickets disappeared and new versions replaced them. Those “new” versions vastly reduced the chances of “winning” a $100 – $500 prize.
We need to form an internet association whereby we build up a list of at least a half million scratch off players. We need to be a legitimate non-profit association that represents all Florida players. WE NEED A SEAT AT THE LOTTERY HQ TABLE. This crap has to stop because what is going on here is damn near out and out larceny. We should have a web page that (members could access) would give us the results of TRUE audits of the systems and games that are being played along with a very powerful voice in matters concerning exactly how this FL Lottery is spending OUR money.
For instance, there are WAY TOO MANY scratch off tickets. There should only be 2 tickets of any denomination…..they are very expensive to print, warehouse, distribute etc. Did you know that on top of the normal money retailers receive to carry each book of tickets in their stores they also have “spiffs” that the store personnel can earn when new games are released AND if a ticket happens to be sold that pays a high dollar prize, these same dealers receive bonuses that amount to tens of thousands of dollars of MONEY THAT COULD HAVE BEEN IN THE NORMAL PRIZE POOL? This is ridiculous. It’s ridiculous all the way around.
Bear in mind, everybody in the chain gets paid FIRST except US. Think about it: suppliers, printers, security systems, personnel and secure warehousing, UPS shipping, stores and then add the overhead costs involving FL Lottery personnel. It’s mind boggling. And we get paid the least and we get paid LAST.
Like so many others have commented, as of this calendar year, I have gone from spending about $200 per week to ZERO…and yet, I would love to be able to play. But I have to be able to justify that play and not just be yet another sucker being taken to the cleaners.
So, until we have a player’s association that has some teeth and is a check and balance to FL Lottery decisions, until they vastly decrease the waste of players money with way too many games, until they stop paying retailers a bonus with our prize pool money, until they get back to a simpler, HONEST experience…..well NO THANKS. I won’t play.
Darren Lipschitz
This biggest scam I’ve ever played are Florida scratch offs. I’ve played at least fifty of the $30 scratch offs in the past couple of months. Highest I hit was 200 on one. Most were nothing. The other few were just the face value. The last 7 I’ve played have been zero. I even switched it up and bought thirty $2 scratch offs IN A ROW. 6 were winners, OUT OF THIRTY. And they were only $2 and $4 winners. They’ve made it so bad it just isn’t fun anymore.
Alexander James Lopez
$40 worth of struck by luck tickets losers. Really?!!! 4 back to back losers?!!! This makes me never want to buy another scratch off in my life. What a scam
Jaime fernando
Is the Powerball in Florida fixed?? Quick pick 10 tickets no even ONE number, none, is because Florida Lottery wants to go another couple days so the jackpot goes bigger, and naturally makes more money?
Jeff Hradek
Never win unless it matches the ticket cost. The last year it has been impossible. I am done