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.

  Schools,business' and cities all over the state are waiting in a holding pattern for money that the state of Illinois owes them.The state is bankrupt.I look for them to rob the lottery to pay their bills.

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.

It is brand new, it will take a while for players to open an account, and right now it's only for MM and Lotto games. Anyone planning on spending $20 on MM will probably continue to buy their tickets the old fashioned way.

Matter of time before the rest of the lottery states goes online. Personally I perfer actual ticket slip from store. However online will come in handy for when I cannot be out during tornado storm or when my car breaks down. Good backup plan to have.

I do hope we can print out the ticket after purchasing online this way there is proof.

I personally love the concept due to the ability to eventually play other state lotto's without actually driving to them. I'm not pleased however to hear about the mortgage application requirement for participating. Illinois being the first to adopt fits the mold, since O' is from Chicago but what happens when Illinois can't pay their bills or winning lotto participants.

i dont trust this new fangled internet, id rather trust my tickets to the patels of the world...

anyhow, if the disabled the geographic checks to see you are actually in the state, im sure sales would go thru the roof!

I wouldn't mind giving my information for a US run online lottery.  One of the "online sites" NOT US based asks for picture identification, driver's license, soc security card, Visa card,bank account information.  To me it was not worth it giving up that information to someone who is in some place I can't even spell.

That is one of the things I don't understand about this too. Why are only Illinois residents allowed to play? If I drive into Illinois and play their lottery and win I am entitled to whatever winnings the ticket has so I don't see why you should not be able to play wherever you live. 

Personally I believe that this whole online scheme is partially a way to track your winnings and tax you down the road, hence the need for your Social Security number. Think about it, when you win small jackpots normally the government has no idea beacuse the retailer just pays it out, now however it will all be tracked and if you win enough I bet they will hit you with a tax bill for your winnings.

In the United Stated the Patels own all the hotels and motels, the Singhs are the ones that own the convenience stores and gas stations.

If I lived in Illinois, in no way I would divulge my personal information such as my SSN. With all the systems being hacked not only would I worry about that but the bigger issue would be the corrupt state itself.

Absolutely no doubt they will tax your total winnings but yet they will not let you claim your losses.

You can claim your losses up to the amount that you won.  Say you won 5,000.00 today but it costed you 4,999.00 to win that 5,000 dollars.  You can claim your 4,999.00 loss on your taxes for next year.  Keep those losing tickets.  Let me make this clear, you still have to cliam the 5,000.00 as winnings but you can offset the amount by whatever it costed you to win it.

Somewhere on the black market of the internet, someone may be trying to sell your information already so what does it matter?

That may be,but the Singhs have enough Patels working for them that theft of lottery tickets (and winnings) is common place and rampant in America.I've never heard of any horror stories concerning the Singhs,but I've heard hundreds of horror stories concerning the Patels and they all have two things in commen,they are theives and they work in convenience stores.

I rather play anywhere but here,most folks in this country shouldnt do their cying if they had to play in Tennessee.

And their reply to my email..........We have one of the top state lotteries in this country.......Yea for ripping people off.

I get that same reply from the Iowa Lottery.I think they believe it,too.

Dude, that's not cool.  After all the smack that one member took for saying blacks never win and rich whites always do, you should have been smacked down a while ago for 'going here' with racial comments against Indian-Americans.  This is not cool, and it's not cool of the site or its members to allow one and not the other.

Please take what you wrote back.  Individuals screw up.  It's not right to blame an entire race or ethnicity, though.  And I say that having been on the wrong side of an incident, but it's okay because I was also on the wrong side of an incident with someone who was anglo.  Bad customer service is bad all over.  But it's the customer service.

"Why are only Illinois residents allowed to play?"

The Wire Act of 1961 was intended to assist the states in enforcing their gambling laws. While gambling online is legal in Illinois, it's illegal in many other states. Because of that Illinois and any other state for now must restrict their online gambling to residence of their state.

"If I drive into Illinois and play their lottery and win I am entitled to whatever winnings the ticket has so I don't see why you should not be able to play wherever you live."

Since you buy and cash your tickets in another state, your state gambling laws don't apply unless you sell or cash those tickets in your state. It's never been illegal for a Utah resident to gamble in the Nevada casinos.

"Think about it, when you win small jackpots normally the government has no idea because the retailer just pays it out, now however it will all be tracked and if you win enough I bet they will hit you with a tax bill for your winnings."

Off track horse racing betting was legal before the common use of the Internet. Because it was legal to bet on racing on other state tracks, in other states, and tracks around the world, it's legal to make the same wagers online. Again the individual state gambling laws apply. If it's illegal for Utah residences to bet on horse races, Utah residence couldn't open an online betting account.

Federal law requires form W-2G must be filled out for some one time winnings over $600 and that includes the SS number of the winner. Since your SS number is already on your online account, you'll be automatically issued a W-2G if you win over $600. Your local retailer does not know the owner of the winning ticket and it's possible to have someone else cash it for a percentage. If you saw the Date Line NBC story on the lottery, they mentioned some players seemed to be extraordinary lucky because they cashed many times. Those players probably were cashing other player's tickets and getting a percentage.

If providing your SS number is a problem, you can still purchase your tickets the old fashion way.

I DID NOT come down on a whole race or ethnicity!I spoke the TRUTH;people by the name of Patel are in the news constantly for STEALING lottery tickets.Why do some people always have to turn EVERYTHING into something racial?Get a life and get a freaking grip on yourself!!!!!

As far as taking it back,that ain't going to happen!

If you want to pick on someone just because they happen to be ANGLO,then it is you,not me who is racist!

LOL I'd probably be mad too if i knew i might be handing out a 363 mill dol ticket.

Actually the Patels right now are being investigated for massive Medicare fraud and many of them have been arrested recently. They are probably going to lose a ton of their stuff including their hotels. I doubt he meant anything racial by it, they kind of are criminals. Every race and ethnicity has criminals, it is just the nature of life.

That has never happened to me, but there is a gas station near my brother's work and there is a clerk there who acts the same way. She is very nasty to him when he buys the lottery and always makes comments about people buying the lottery. I have no idea why she cares, and personally if I were a gas station clerk I might try to play the lottery to get out of a crappy job like that, but whatever. 

I bet if he won though she would be the first person with her hand out asking him to give her some cash for selling him the winning ticket.

My wife ran acrooss one these people when she was buying scratch off tickets a couple of years ago.She complained to the manager and the clerk was fired.It isn't any of their business how much you spend on the lottery or how much you win or lose.All they need to be concerned with is taking your order and not ripping you off in the process.

And thank you for coming to my defense.My post was NOT racial in any way.Everything that I said can be documented.I'm not saying that everyone named Patel is a crook,but enough of them are that I don't buy lottery tickets from anyone with that last name if I know that is their last name.

Don't think it was anything personal, she might have been having a horrible day, especially considering the non-stop traffic these places see when there's a record lottery or a national emergency.

I've done a little cashier work in the past, namely at a gas station on 9/11/2001. There was no time that day to get other duties done around the store with the nationwide mass panic in progress, by the time business died down the store looked like a hurricane had hit it. The store manager was too busy doing his drugs to help out cleaning up the aftermath.  The job can be extremely stressful at times, customers screaming at you because everything is not perfectly the way they want it, people throwing a fit because they have to prepay for gas . I'd venture to say the stress is even worse than having multiple Drill Sergeant's up in your face and pulling you to the four-corners in Army BCT.  

She's probably not aware of ways to cope with stress, but it is still no excuse for her behavior. She could have made an effort to remain non-abrasive.

 Seems like online lotto sales will be a good idea. Customers have the convenience of buying tickets from home and cashiers can focus on selling gas, it's a win situation all around.

I agree, were all human and do whatever it takes to make ends meet. Sometimes we don't realize the stress that some of these cashiers/clerks

go through facing sometimes thousands of people and stressful situations daily. Cut them some slack. Put yourself in their shoes sometime.

As soon as I hit the jackpot tonight, I will be plotting my move to another state or country!  I bought most of my plays for tonight's drawing online...I will gladly grant a press conference to tout that knowing I have no plans to stay in one spot for long.  Vultures and scam artists prefer a non-moving target...good luck and "Catch Me If You Can!"

It's a marketing test.

Here's some more info:

Internet Lottery Bill (SB 3497) Amended – Could be voted on Today!

            SB 3497 expands the Internet Lottery Pilot program to include Powerball tickets, which are sold in 45 states. The original bill is limited to Lotto and Mega Million tickets (25% of Lottery sales).

             SB 3497 was amended to create an Internet Lottery Study Committee to determine the feasibility of the sale of stored value cards. While this seems commendable, there is no guarantee the program will ever be implemented. The bill just requires the committee to issue a report.   Several Legislators voted for the Riverboat Gambling Act because they thought it contained Loss Limits. On May 11, 1990, the Gaming Board decided not to implement a loss limit on riverboat gambling based upon the recommendation of Nevada and New Jersey gambling regulators and representatives of the gambling industry.

The amendment also authorizes the Lottery to appoint investigators with the power of peace officers to prevent the perpetration of fraud. The Lottery asks people to submit their credit card information, social security number, phone number, date of birth, and e-mail address for the privilege of purchasing Lottery tickets online. How confident can the public be that the confidential information is secure and the Internet Lottery system will not be hacked?

A new study of Internet gamblers found online gamblers were involved in more types of gambling and spent more money and time playing than those who gambled off line. 

A “pilot program” is a test to see how the program works and is limited in scope.   Rather than expand Internet Lottery, the pilot program should remain as is to test the computer programs to make sure the safeguards protect the public and keep underage gamblers and out of state gamblers from purchasing tickets online.