Can You Buy Lottery Tickets Online In Minnesota
- Can You Buy Lottery Tickets Online In Minnesota Right Now
- How To Buy Lottery Tickets Online In Minnesota
25,000+ Ratings on the App Store. 'The easiest, most hassle free way to play the lottery. Jackpocket does all the work, they check all the tickets for winnings. Using the app is actually part of the fun.' 'Great app for people who lose track of time and miss chances to play their favorite games.' In these states, you can either buy your tickets in person like normal or visit the official state lottery website to buy lottery tickets online. You can enter state-level drawings from home or even major, multi-state drawings such as Powerball and Mega Millions. Some state lotteries also offer instant win scratch cards online. Our customer service team is here to help. Fill out our online contact form, LIVE CHAT, or give us a call at (804) 692-7777 (option 3) for more information about playing Virginia Lottery games online. See our official online gaming rules. See our official online gaming promotion rules.Overall odds of winning a prize in King of Clubs: 1 in 2.30. You can keep your original ticket for free and it will remain eligible to claim any advertised prize associated with your ticket based upon the new game rules. The Minnesota Lottery must receive your refund claim form and copies of qualifying tickets on or before December 31, 2020 for reimbursement.
St. Paul, Minnesota resident, Brandon Stevenson won $1 million in the Powerball on July 11. Stevenson didn’t buy his ticket at the corner gas station, though. Instead, he purchased the ticket through the mobile lottery app, Jackpocket.
Stevenson is the first big winner for the company that counts two states in its portfolio: New Hampshire and Minnesota.
“This is by far the biggest winner we’ve ever had,” said Peter Sullivan, the CEO of the lottery app Jackpocket to Fox 9 News.
Jackpocket launched in Minnesota last month and has been a topic of discussion ever since.
The controversy comes from the fact that online lottery gambling is illegal in Minnesota. It seems there is a disagreement about whether Jackpocket is considered online gaming.
Basically, the app allows the player to buy a lottery ticket virtually, skipping the visit to the local convenience store.
What exactly is Jackpocket?
The five-year-old Brooklyn, New York mobile app company allows anyone in New Hampshire or Minnesota to purchase a ticket through the app. A lottery player doesn’t need to be a resident of those states; they just need to be within the borders of either state.
Jackpocket has a team that physically walks into a store and purchases lottery tickets on its customer’s behalf. After purchasing the ticket, it is scanned and sent to the customer via the app.
Winnings under $600 are automatically deposited back into the customer’s Jackpocket account. Big winners, like Stevenson, must take their ticket to the lottery office to claim the winnings. Jackpocket makes arrangements to transfer the physical ticket to the customer.
The company makes its money from a seven-percent service charge on each customer deposit. Jackpocket is also forming relationships with retailers for a portion of the commission the retailer makes when it sells a winning ticket.
Think of Jackpocket as the Uber, GrubHub, or InstaCart of lottery tickets.
Questions surround Jackpocket’s legality
There are questions around whether Jackpocket is legal in a state where online gambling is illegal.
It is legal for someone to buy a lottery ticket for someone else. It is also legal for someone to gift a lottery ticket to another person.
A person is still physically purchasing the ticket at a retailer. Does it matter whether it is the winner purchasing the ticket or not?
The Minnesota Lottery thinks the company is operating U.S. online gaminglegally and signed a Memo of Understanding to that effect.
“They operate under Minnesota statutes to make these purchases for their customers,” said Adam Prock, the director of communications for the Minnesota Lottery to the Star Tribune.
As far as we’re concerned [Stevenson] is just like any other winner, and this is like any other brick-and-mortar purchase. We’re excited we have a new millionaire in Minnesota.
Jake Grassel, the executive director for Citizens Against Expanded Gambling, disagrees. Grassel says an app that allows someone to sit on their couch and gamble by purchasing a lottery ticket is online gambling.
“What’s next — can you pay someone to sit on the slot machine while you push the button on your phone from the couch?” Grassel said.
There is certainly a case for both sides. Stevenson bought his lottery ticket virtually. He also could have emailed a friend and asked him to buy a ticket for him. Is there a difference?
Sullivan says no. “It’s not online gambling. What Jackpocket does as a service is we buy that ticket on the user’s behalf,” he said.
Will the Minnesota legislature take up the issue?
Grassel contends the legislature did not intend to create this kind of loophole in outlawing online gambling. He asserts that Citizens Against Expanded Gambling will lobby state legislators to address this issue specifically.
Can You Buy Lottery Tickets Online In Minnesota Right Now
State Representative Greg Davids (R-Preston) agrees with Grassel. Davids sent a letter to Robert Doty, the director of the Minnesota Lottery, expressing his concern.
The Minnesota Lottery’s continued refusal to work within the confines of state law is a source of ongoing frustration for state lawmakers.
Given the legal uncertainty and risk posed to our state, I urge the Minnesota Lottery to immediately rescind the MoUs and work with the Alcohol Gambling and Enforcement Division to suspend operation of reseller services until these issues can be resolved.
The Minnesota legislature convenes next in January 2019. Only time will tell whether the legality of mobile lottery apps will be on the calendar.
For now, Stevenson, a Concordia University student was able to take the ticket purchased by Jackpocket on his behalf and claim the $1 million prize. He used the credits Jackpocket awarded for referring a friend to buy the ticket.
Stevenson might want to keep his referral link handy. Chances are he is likely to get asked a lot about Jackpocket in the coming days.
As of Tuesday, Minnesotans can use their smartphones to buy tickets for Powerball and other lottery games based on the drawing of numbers.
How To Buy Lottery Tickets Online In Minnesota
New York-based Jackpocket will take orders for tickets and then buy them for customers from lottery retailers. Players will typically pay a 7 percent fee for that. Jackpocket CEO Peter Sullivan says his company will also keep track of tickets.
'Users don't have to worry about losing their tickets,' he said. 'They're automatically provided an email that attaches their identity to the serial number on the ticket. And they get to see a high-resolution image of the front and back of the ticket.'
Players cannot bet more than $100 a day.
The Minnesota lottery briefly sold scratch-off tickets online but the state Legislature halted that in 2015.
The state lottery says it has no affiliation with Jackpocket or another company, Lottery.com, that plans to offer a similar service. But both companies agreed to follow some lottery guidelines, including limiting ticket sales to adults within the state's borders.
Jackpocket's business model is legal under state law, which permits so-called 'lottery service businesses.'
'They purchase lottery tickets on behalf of customers or subscribers for a fee,' said Minnesota State Lottery spokesperson Adam Prock. 'They essentially operate as a courier service.'
So far, for the state's current fiscal year, which ends Saturday, Minnesotans have bet $587 million with the lottery. They've won $344 million. The state has netted $135 million, after operating and other costs.
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