There are lotteries available in nearly every state (plus the District of Columbia) and many countries around the world. Most people are intimately familiar with seeing advertisements for lotteries in their area, but they may not be as familiar with some of the offerings that are available to them. A lot of people still only think of the lottery as the huge jackpot drawings that occur on a weekly basis. There are a lot more offerings than just that, and it is important to recognize the variety of games available.
Scratch-Off Games
The second most well recognized style of lottery game (and the largest money maker for most state lotteries) is the scratch off game. These are also referred to simply as scratchers in some states. They involve the player forking over some amount of their own money to purchase the ticket. Once in hand the player uses a coin or a key or even their own finger to scratch off specially designed material that masks the winning numbers or symbols.
The cost per ticket ranges from as little as one dollar to as much as fifty on particular tickets sold in the state of Texas. The one to two dollar tickets tend to be the most popular with players as they reflect similar prices that they pay for a drawing style game. Of course, the more that a ticket costs the higher the maximum prize that a player can win in most cases.
Keno
Another offering in some lottery jurisdictions are keno games. These are games that offer players the opportunity to pick a range of numbers between 1 and 80 and then wait to see if their lucky numbers happen to come up. It is similar to a drawing style game except that in Keno there are 20 winning numbers drawn. The more numbers that you match the more you can win. You can choose to play as few as one number or as many as ten. The more numbers you play and successfully match, the more winnings you can get.
Selling Winnings
No matter what your particular game of choice may be it is a good idea to at least consider selling your lottery annuity if you happen to be one of the lucky ones who hits a big score and was awarded an annuity. Peachtree and other third party companies are willing to hand over lump sums of money now for the rights to cash in your lottery winnings when those winnings come in.
People like to do this because it means that they can get their money right away and not have to jump through all of the hoops that are put up in their way. There is just something about having that money in hand that makes it feel more real. It also allows you to start using it for things like paying off debt, investing, or perhaps starting your own business. Whatever your dreams are they can be accomplished more quickly with money in hand as soon as possible.