Buy New York Lotto Tickets Online

As the USA is home to some of the biggest and best lotteries in the world, any American lottery has its work cut out to stand out from the masses.

Thankfully, New York Lotto has no problem doing just that.

In this guide, we will look at what makes this lottery special. We will also see whether or not it is worth it to buy New York Lotto tickets online.

About New York Lotto

New York Lotto was first launched in November 1978. The game began a massive 12 years after the New York Lottery foundation was founded.

When it began, the lottery became a crowd favourite and quickly claimed the title of the largest lottery available in New York state. This was largely due to the fantastic minimum jackpot of $3 million that the game offered.

Sadly, because of the rise of even bigger lotteries in the country, such as US Powerball and Mega Millions, the popularity of New York Lotto slowly began to diminish.

However, after reducing the jackpot and keeping strong in their aim to support education in the state, New York Lotto is still going strong.

New York Lotto Draws

Initially, this great lottery only held a single draw each week. Thankfully, the organisers changed this, and you can now try your luck on a bi-weekly basis.

Draws are held at 11:21 pm EST every Wednesday and Saturday night.

As is the standard, results of these draws are posted online shortly after the draw is over.

How to Play New York Lotto

Getting a ticket for New York Lotto is incredibly simple thanks to the game’s single-matrix (6/59) format.

To play, you only need to choose six numbers from a number range that goes from 1 to 59. There are no additional numbers that you have to select.

Like most modern lotteries, if you don’t feel like choosing your own numbers, there is a quick pick option. This will allow a random number generator to select your numbers for you.

During the draw, a total of seven numbers are drawn.

To win the jackpot, you will need to match the first six numbers only.

The seventh is only used to determine the winner of the second prize tier.

A single ticket costs just $1 when bought in the USA.

However, unlike most lotto games that only give you one line, New York Lotto gives you two lines of play. All for just $1!

If you choose to play through an online lottery site, the price might be slightly higher.

New York Lotto Prizes and Odds

There are a total of five prize tiers available to claim from.

The top of these tiers is the jackpot, which starts at a minimum of $2 million and rolls over each time it goes unclaimed.

One of the greatest things about this rolling jackpot is that there is no limit to how high it can grow. This has led to some spectacular wins in the past.

The odds of winning this jackpot are 1 in 45,257,474, which are significantly lower than the other two lotteries that stole the limelight when they launched.

By comparison, US Powerball has odds of 1 in 292,201,338 and Mega Millions has odds of 1 in 302,575,350.

The remaining prize tiers don’t have any set prizes allocated to them.

Instead, each tier is given a specific percentage of the total prize pool as outlined below:

Claiming New York Lotto Prizes

Cashing in your winning New York Lotto ticket is a straightforward process.

For any winnings under $600, you can simply go to any authorised retailer that sells New York Lotto tickets.

If your prize is higher than this limit, you will need to visit one of the New York Lottery Customer Service Centers.

Alternatively, you can claim your winnings by mailing in your winning ticket.

If you are fortunate enough to be a jackpot winner, you will have to claim your winnings at the New York Lottery offices.

You will also have the option of a cash lump sum or a 26-year annuity.

Notable New York Lotto Winners

As we mentioned earlier, the rolling jackpot offered by New York Lotto can lead to some impressive amounts. This is evidenced by the largest jackpots the game has paid out.

In October 1994, the game paid out its still unbroken record jackpot of $72.5 million.

Since then, massive jackpots include $65 million won in 2007 and $58 million that was claimed in June 2006.

New York Lotto-Should You Play?

New York Lotto roared onto the scene many years ago only to be overtaken by lotteries that offered much higher jackpots.

However, this lottery is still going strong, and for good reason.

With decent odds, fantastically priced tickets and jackpots that can grow to significant figures, there is not much to dislike about this game.

In fact, if you want to buy lottery tickets, then we strongly suggest you grab tickets for this great game. Especially if you see that the jackpot is about to make history again.