CHICAGO, Ill. — Illinois Lottery officials say the first day of online lottery tickets brought in more than $15,000 in sales.
On Sunday Illinois became the first state to offer the games of chance online. The first ticket was bought at 7:03 a.m., just minutes after Mega Millions and Lotto tickets became available online. Within hours, hundreds of people had purchased tickets.
Lottery officials say they believe the pace of sales will be fast until Tuesday evening. That's when the Mega Millions drawing takes place. The estimated jackpot is $356 million.
Those who want to play online have to register and verify their age.
Online sales got a federal OK in December when the Justice Department reversed itself on allowing Internet gambling. Other states are considering similar programs and are closely watching Illinois.
It was bound to happen. I'm glad Illinois have started the trend.
That's it? only 15k$? epic fail for a much heralded opening.
I thought it was a good idea until I read their terms of service and the information that they wanted. It is like an identity thief's dream.
If you sign up for it you are pretty dumb. Go to the store, buy your tickets and if you win big, let your lawyers handle it from there.
I love it when stuff gets "ok'ed" from the feds..like they're the nice parent from the 50's
..must be nice to be 'supremacy claused' in making the calls for us adults.
Won't be long before they tell us there are designated times to fart too
.
I saw a guy buying MM tickets from a gas station clerk, and she was taking this customer's money with a nasty attitude.Most lottery players that were behind the guy left the store complaining about her manners.
I told the clerk and store manager that Illinois started selling tickets online. I told them that we will not have to deal with arrogant people once it goes nation wide.
I can't wait for Indiana to go online.
Illinois ......... yawn ................... everyone is a crook there!
I'm from IL. Since this is only open to IL residents, I figured I'd explain how the online tickets work.
There have been yearly subscriptions sold online for some time now. I got one of those in January so I already had an account on their site with all my info entered. I also had $2 won from the subscription sitting in my account balance, and I just used that to purchase 2 plays of Mega Millions.
The process worked similarly to setting up the subscription and it was really easy. You can manually enter numbers, or do quick pick and then modify some or all of numbers before you submit them (which is what I did). All purchases and winnings are listed in your account history. Winnings up to $600 get deposited back into your account, otherwise you have to go through the claims process and will receive check I believe.
Pros:
You don't have to leave your house, both for purchasing and collecting winnings
No losing tickets
You can pay using a credit card (which normally aren't accepted for lotto purchases)
You don't have to check the winning numbers because they'll email you if you win
Cons:
You have to give them all your personal info including SSN (no anonymous purchases)
No paper proving your purchase, so you have to trust that their system doesn't screw up
I don't know if you can still claim jackpots as a partnership/trust (as I said they already know your SSN)
Only Mega Millions and Lotto for now (more games including instant games surely to come)
Personally I think the pros outweigh the cons and all of my future purchases will be online.
@ Adapt, welcome to LP,you are what is called an early adopter,
like one guy i know that had a microwave oven in 69 and a vcr in 75.
Of all the corrupt states in this country, Illinois is probably the most corrupt of all. Gee, I wonder why?
Would I give that pack of hyenas all my vital information?
Nope, not a chance.
Thanks for the welcome. I've read this site before but first time posting :)
IL has had some corrupt politicians but I don't think it's as bad as portrayed. Also, all the personal information I provided, the state would already know. I don't really care if they now also know how many lotto tickets I buy.
I'll see you Illinois and raise you Rhode Island. Cuz I believe that while we may be small, we are JAM packed with the crooked-est of the crooked.
I signed up for an account and bought a couple of mega millions quickpicks Sunday night. Yeah, they have all my info and I'm not sure about accepting it with a trust or llc if you win so thats a potential downside and problem. Though its a problem Im willing to deal with if my 1 in 175,711,536 chance comes through.
A weird thing is that they send you a visa debit card to use. Your winnings or any money you put in your account to buy tickets can be used with it like any other debit card as far as I understand it.
I never once saw a commercial on tv or even a story on the news about Sunday being the first day to be able to purchase tickets online so Im not surpised that it was only 15k worth of sales the first day. I only ever found out about it through this site as its the only one I ever really look at concerning lottery games. I dont believe many people know about the online sales yet.
I will more than likely still buy at the local gas station/quickie mart but online will come in handy for the times you forget/dont have the time/are lazy to go hit up the convenience store for a ticket or two. The convenience of it makes it worth it in my opinion.