Lottery fans have never been more spoiled with choice than now. Not only can you enter the draws of your local lottery via the internet, but you can also play the world’s best lotto games from the comfort of your home and try your luck at the biggest jackpots. You can play the lottery online with official tickets using the services of lottery messengers such as theLotter, you can bet on lottery results via beting-on platforms such as Lottoland. Your choice! Just choose your favourite lottery from the impressive range of games available online and start playing!
Wondering where to start? Which is the best lottery to play online? You are in the right place! Read on and you will find out everything you need to know in order to choose the lotto game that best suits you.
Which lottery has the biggest jackpot?
When it comes to big jackpots, the American lotteries hold the top of the list. The biggest jackpot ever belongs to Powerball. It was won on January 13th, 2016 on three tickets: John and Lisa Robinson of Munford, Tennessee, Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt from Melbourne Beach, Florida, and Mae and Marvin Acosta from Chino Hills, California. The three lucky couples split the mouth-watering amount of $1.58 billion.
The famous American lottery Mega Millions got very close to this in October 2018, when the jackpot got to $1.537 billion. This is the biggest jackpot won on a single ticket. The winner is from South Carolina and decided to keep its identity private.
This is not to say that the two American giants are the only lotto games offering mouth-watering jackpots. The two pan-European lotteries EuroMillions and EuroJackpot display life-changing record jackpots as well. They might not get to level of the American lotteries, since these lotteries have a jackpot cap, but hitting one of their top prizes can certainly turn your life around in a second.
EuroMillions is the European record holder with a current record of €210 million:
Top EuroMillions Jackpots
Jackpot | Winner(s) | Date |
€210 million | Anonymous from Switzerland | February 26th, 2021 |
€200 million | Anonymous from France | December 11th, 2020 |
€190 million | Anonymous from the UK | October 8th, 2019 |
€190 million | Gillian and Adrian Bayford | August 10th, 2012 |
€190 million | Anonymous from Portugal | October 24th, 2014 |
€190 million | Anonymous from Spain | September 15th, 2017 |
Eurojackpot has a cap of €90 million for its top prize and so far a number of 12 €90 million jackpots have been won in the different participating countries. Germany was the luckiest EuroJackpot country so far, home to 6 of these top jackpots.
EuroJackpot‘s record payout is of €91,938,695. This amazing prize was won on a single ticket purchased in Finland for the draw on August 23rd, 2019. The prize amount was higher than the €90 million jackpot cap because the winners (a 50-member syndicate) had purchased a systematic ticket. To the jackpot amount, two 5+1 wins were added as well as several other small wins.
Which lottery offers the best odds of winning jackpot?
Although the American lotteries Powerball and Mega Millions attract most eyes with their mouth-watering jackpots, they are far from the top of the list when it comes to offering the best odds of scooping the top prize. The absolute no. 1 is the beloved Mexican lottery Chispazo, which offers a chance in less than 100,000 to hit the jackpot. These amazing odds are explained by the small guess range: to win the Mexico Chispazo jackpot, you need to match the 5 winning numbers from 1 to 28. Moreover, this is a lottery with daily draws, offering 7 chances a week to take home the top prize.
Game | Jackpot Odds |
1:98,280 | |
1:169,911 | |
1:324,632 | |
1:376,992 | |
1:850,668 | |
1:1,221,759 | |
1:1,832,600 | |
1:3,262,623 | |
1:3,262,623 | |
1:3,838,380 |
Which lottery offers the best odds of winning a prize?
When playing the lottery online, everyone has the eyes set on the jackpot. But, you should not forget that Lady Luck has many ways and might bring also other lottery prizes. Even if not life-changing, a lottery prize is always welcomed. So, here are the best lotteries to play if you want to have better odds of winning just any prize:
Game | Odds of winning a prize |
1 in 6 | |
1 in 7 | |
1 in 8 | |
1 in 8 | |
1 in 9 | |
1 in 10 | |
1 in 12 | |
1 in 13 | |
1 in 13 | |
1 in 16 | |
1 in 18 | |
1 in 20 | |
1 in 25 | |
1 in 26 | |
1 in 31 | |
1 in 32 | |
1 in 37 |
Which lotteries offer special features?
When it comes to special features, the competition is tough. There are multipliers and game extras; some lotteries offer ticket refund as a special prize category; there are those offering special chances divisions and bonus balls.
Probably the best known special feature belongs to the American lotteries: the multipliers!
- Powerball’s Power Play has the power to boost the bottom 7 prize categories of up to 5 (and even 10) times. The $1 MILLION second prize can only be doubled for Power Play winners, regardless of the drawn multiplier. When the US Powerball jackpot is $150 MILLION or less, a x10 Power Play option is available.
- Mega Millions’ Megaplier can make you win up to $5 million instead of the standard $1 million second prize, and the same for all other secondary prizes.
- Lotto America offers the All Stars Bonus, which can boost the value of all non-jackpot prizes by up to 5 times.
- The XTRA multiplier brings better prizes for Florida Lotto. The 2nd and 3rd tier secondary prize will be multiplied by the value of the XTRA for the draw. If you guess 3 of the winning Florida Lotto numbers and win the 4th tier prize, the XTRA option will earn you a $25.00 prize, regardless of the drawn XTRA number (5x the 4th Tier Prize, every time)! If you match 2 of the winning Florida Lotto numbers, the XTRA feature will earn you a Free Ticket in the Florida Lotto, regardless of the drawn XTRA number.
- NJ Pick-6 also offers an XTRA number drawn that determines how many times (up to 5) the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th tier prizes are increased. If you guess 2 of the winning numbers, the XTRA multiplier earns you $2.00 regardless of the drawn number.
- Oregan Megabucks has Kicker, a special feature with the power to increases the 2nd and 3rd tier prizes by 4. If you match 3 of the winning numbers, the Kicker will earn you a $4.00 guaranteed prize.
- Cash4Life tickets purchased in New Jersey can have a Doubler option, which can double the amount of any of the “not-for-life” prizes won in the game.
- Texas Lotto offers Extra, a special feature that can multiply secondary prize divisions by up to $10,000.
If the American lotteries are those famous of their amazing multipliers, you should know there is also a European lottery offering such a feature. Italy’s SuperEnalotto has its own extra feature called SuperStar. When playing SuperEnalotto, you choose an additional number between 1-90 on top of your regular SuperEnalotto numbers. If you win, this amazing game feature adds €2 million to the jackpot prize!
FAQs about the best online lottery
The absolute best any-prize odds of the world lotto games offered online is the French lotto, with any-prize odds of 1 in 6.
Mexico Chispazo is the top of the list offering a chance in 98,280 to scoop the top prize. Moreover, this is a daily lottery. So, not only does this Mexican lottery offer the best jackpot odds in the world, you also stand a daily chance to cash amazing prizes.
Powerball is the holder of the world record for biggest jackpot with the prize of $1.58 billion dating from January 2016. Very close, on second position comes Mega Millions with the $1.537 billion jackpot from October 2018.