Last updated on April 4th, 2023
Online Lottery in New Jersey
Online lottery games are one of the biggest and most popular forms of online gambling in the state of New Jersey. It’s not difficult to see why, as lotteries give players the chance to win huge cash prizes for as little as just a few dollars. You can even tailor your experience, by playing the smaller lottery draws for more chances to win, or by going for the bigger draws to land the jackpot prizes. You can even get your tickets for the infamous Powerball draw online, giving you the chance to land the country’s biggest prize draw from anywhere!
Where to Play Online Lottery
- A well-known and trustworthy name
- Generous welcome bonus
- A huge selection of games
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- Multiple apps to access all products
- No bingo games in catalog
- Fantastic, easy to use app
- Offers a variety of fast and secure payment methods
- Has 24/7 customer support, including a live chat facility
- One of the world’s leading online betting sites
- A safe, reputable company that you can trust
- Still fairly new to the New Jersey online gambling scene
- Welcome bonus offer isn’t the best out there
- It’s not clear if bet365 Casino has loyalty rewards
- Their choice of games is limited compared to some competitors
If you want to legally participate in an upcoming lottery draw, there’s only two places you can do so – the Jackpocket app and the Lotto.com website. Both allow players from all participating states to enter local and national lottery draws such as; Powerball, Mega Millions, Quick Draw, Cash4Life and many more. As well as national lotteries, you can also enter local, regional draws, for more chances to win big. You can even head to the official New Jersey Lottery website to track every lottery draw as it unfolds both in the Garden State and across the US.
Offline Lottery in New Jersey
Offline lottery refers to any lottery game type that doesn’t require a computer terminal to validate an entry. The most common form of offline lottery is a scratch card. Scratch cards can be purchased in any participating retailer and are increasingly popular with lottery enthusiasts. The main appeal of scratch cards and other instant-win lottery games is that they can be played anytime, anywhere and you can find out straight away if you have won a prize – no need to wait for a specific day and time for a draw to take place.
Generally, the prizes for offline lottery games are significantly lower than those of regular lottery games. However, to counteract that, the odds of you winning are significantly higher. This, along with the fact that most prizes (up to a maximum) can be instantly claimed over the counter, make offline lottery games very appealing to players.
Lottery Rules
If you’re thinking of getting involved in playing any form of lottery, local or national, one of the most important things to do is to ensure you understand the rules of the lottery game you’re playing. First up, figure out which lottery game you want to play. The in-house draw games in New Jersey that you can play are:
- Pick-3 – a three digit draw game with draws taking place twice daily
- Pick-4 – a four digit draw game with draws taking place twice daily
- Jersey Cash 5 – daily draw game consisting of five balls ranging from numbers 1 through 45
- Pick-6 – drawn twice per week (on Mondays and Thursdays) it draws six numbers from balls ranging from numbers 1 through 46
- Quick Draw – a quick-fire lottery draw that occurs every four minutes between 5am and 2am every day
- And Cash Pop – another quick-fire daily game with draws taking place every four minutes throughout the day
As well as the in-house draw games that are limited to the state of New Jersey, you can also play some multi-jurisdictional lottery game such as:
- Cash4Life – players choose 5 of 60 numbers and one of four “Cash Ball” numbers. First prize is $1,000 a day for life, while second prize is $1,000 a week for life
- Mega Millions – available in 44 states, the District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands, this game has a minimum jackpot of $15 million
- Powerball – probably the best-known lottery game in the US, with a minimum jackpot of $40 million
While there are so many variations of game types to choose from, all lottery games ultimately have the same aim – to choose a set amount of numbers in the hopes of matching as many as possible. The more numbers you match, the more you win!
Depending on the game you’re playing, there are various ways to win and various minimum amounts that need to be spent in order to play. Minimum spends tend to range from $0.50 up to $3 with prizes ranging from a few hundred to millions of dollars. The most common ways you can win on the lottery include:
- Straight – matching all of the numbers exactly as they are drawn. This is usually the way to get the biggest payout
- Box – matching all of the numbers that are drawn, but in a different order
Best Lottery Strategy
Obviously, there’s no way we can provide you with a formula that will 100% guarantee that you win, such is the randomness of a lottery draw. However, there are definitely some strategies that you can use to increase your chances of winning the jackpot. Below, we’ll outline some of the most effective tactics:
- Pick odd and even numbers – one of the best strategies you can use is to mix up between odd and even numbers, never pick all odd or all even numbers
- High and low numbers – similar to the odds and even strategy, this tip is to choose numbers across possible field, rather than sticking to a particular half/section of numbers
- Number group strategies – use the information available to you to strategize. Review previous draws and identify any groups of numbers that occur often and which ones don’t appear as much
- The sum strategy – when playing a game with six numbers (such as Pick-6), ensure all of the numbers you have chosen sum up to a total between 115 and 185. Numbers within that range account for around 70 per cent of all winning lottery jackpots
- Hot and cold numbers – like when playing roulette, it can pay to know what the “hot” and “cold” numbers are. There’s no telling when a cold number’s run might come to an end, so it’s usually best to focus on the hot numbers
- Join a syndicate – pooling your money within a syndicate is a classic way of increasing your chances of winning
Lottery Glossary
A
- Add-on feature – many lottery games offer the chance for add-ons. For an extra fee, they give you more chances to win.
- Advanced draw – this allows you to play upcoming draws in the future. The more games you choose to play, the more you pay for your tickets.
- Agent – a retailer that offers the opportunity to purchase lottery tickets.
- Annuity – a common term in reference to the lottery. A payout option available to winners that allows you to collect your prize at annual intervals, instead of a one-time lump sum.
B
- Ball – this is what’s used to determine the outcome of lottery draws. A set of numbers balls are drawn at random.
- Beneficiary – this refers to a player who receives any relevant lottery winnings.
- Bet – also known as a ‘wager’. This is the money that is used to purchase your lottery ticket.
- Bonus number – a set of additional numbers that are drawn separately from the main draw and have the potential to greatly affect prizes.
- Book – a collection of instant-win lottery tickets and/or scratch cards.
- Box – a type of bet that allows you to still win if the numbers you choose match those drawn, but in a different order.
C
- Capped jackpot – a jackpot prize that has reached a certain, pre-defined limit. Any additional funds that would have gone into the jackpot are often distributed across the lower prize tiers.
- Cash option – if you’re fortunate enough to win the jackpot prize, you can elect for the cash option, which is a lump sum payment of the winnings.
- Claim form – also called a ‘Prize claim form’. A form that must be filled in by players if their prize exceeds a certain amount.
- Claim period – this is the time in which a winning lottery prize must be claimed.
- Cold number – a number that has not appeared in a draw for a long time.
D
- Daily game – a lottery game in which draws take place every day.
- Date game – a lottery game that is played on specific days.
- Draw – the process during which the winning numbers are drawn.
- Draw machine – the machine that is used to randomly select the winning numbers of a draw.
E
- Estimated jackpot – this is an approximate of the jackpot prize. It can fluctuate due to ticket sales and other factors.
F
- Fixed prize – this is a prize that does not change in value from draw to draw.
- Fixed payout – the cash amount that you are guaranteed to receive if you match a certain amount of numbers.
H
- High numbers – numbers that are found in the top half of the numbers set.
- Hit – the appearance of a particular number in a draw.
- Hot number – a number that has made numerous appearances in draws.
I
- Instant game – also referred to as “scratch cards”. You must scratch away a coating in order to reveal whether or not you have won a prize.
J
- Jackpot – this is the top prize that is offered in a lottery game.
- Jackpot fatigue – a phenomenon in which ticket sales are below the expected amount, affecting the jackpot. It’s usually an indicator that players are waiting for the jackpot to rise.
K
- Keeper – a number that you frequently use when playing a ticket.
- Keep out – a number that, for whatever reason, you decide not to play.
L
- Last drawn – refers to the last time a particular number was drawn.
- Lottery retailer – a company or store that sells lottery tickets.
- Lottery taxes – the taxes that you must pay on a winning ticket depending on your location and the amount won.
- Low numbers – refers to the numbers that are in the bottom half of the number set.
- Lump sum payment – a one-off payment of the winnings in total. Also known as the “cash option”.
M
- Match – a match is when a number you have selected is drawn in the corresponding game.
- Multi-jurisdiction lottery – a lottery that takes place across various states, offering bigger jackpots.
N
- Number checker – an online tool that allows you to check if you’ve won and how much.
- Number generator – an online tool that can randomly select lines of numbers for you.
- Number trend – a pattern of numbers that have appeared in previous draws.
O
- Odds – the probability of a prize being won, based on all of the possible winning combinations.
- Offline game – a game that doesn’t use a computer terminal to register an entry. Scratch cards are the most common example of an offline game.
- Overdue – if a number has passed its average draw percentage, it can be referred to as an “overdue” number.
P
- Payout – a monetary payment made by a lottery operator to a winner.
- Play slip – the physical card that you use to mark your number choices when playing at a store.
- Prize pool – the total amount of money from ticket sales that is distributed as prize money.
- Prize tier – The prize levels in a lottery, normally defined by the amount of numbers matched in any given draw.
- Progressive jackpot – this is a jackpot that continues to rise everytime there is no winner of a draw.
Q
- Quick pick – an option that allows you to leave the choice of your lottery numbers to a machine or computer that randomly generates them.
R
- Results – the outcomes of previous lottery draws. You often go back and view draws from months previously online.
- Rollover – when a jackpot prize is not won, it is carried over to the next draw. This is referred to as a rollover.
S
- Scratcher – a colloquial term for a scratch card.
- Skip – refers to a given number that is absent from a draw.
- Starting jackpot – the minimum default jackpot for a game.
- Sweepstakes – A game in which prizes are awarded to a certain number of randomly selected entrants.
T
- Terminal – an electronic device used by retailers to enter, print and payout lottery tickets.
- Ticket – the printed document with your numbers.
- Triple – a three-digit number consisting of the same number three times.
U
- Unclaimed prize – a lottery prize that has been won by somebody with a ticket, but hasn’t been claimed by the winner.
V
- Validation – the process of ensuring a winning ticket is legitimate and that a prize can be claimed.
- Vendor – another term for an establishment that sells lottery tickets.
W
- Wager – also known as a “stake” or a “bet”. It is the amount of money you put down to predict the outcome of an event. In this case, a lottery draw.
- Wheeling – A popular lottery system. A player selects a set of numbers, and then additional ticket lines are made for every possible combination of that set of numbers.
- Withholding – the amount that is deducted from a winning prize to cover the relevant taxes.