Calculate the total number of possible combinations. (For a lottery that requires you to pick six numbers from 1 to 40, that means 3,838,380 combinations.) Find lotteries where the jackpot is three.

  1. Get our new walottery app. Scan and check your tickets!
  2. Today we show you how to win on each lottery ticket every time you buy a ticket. Remember to gamble responsibly and only spend what you can afford to lose.

This page provides all the information you need to claim prizes won on New York Lottery games, so you can find out what to do if you win the lottery.

You can claim lottery prizes of any value in New York as long as you bought your ticket within the state. Prizes for multi-state lotteries such as Powerball and Mega Millions must be claimed in the state in which the ticket was purchased.

You have one year from the date of the winning draw to claim your prize. Any money left unclaimed after this period will go back into the prize pool for future draws or it will be used to subsidize special events or jackpots in the future. All scratch-off prizes must be claimed within one year after the announced cash deadline date.

How to Claim Prizes up to and including $600

You can claim your prize from any licensed retailer in New York. Simply take the winning ticket to a retailer to have it validated and if the prize is worth $600 or less you will be paid out immediately. You can also claim Take 5 Quick Pick free plays from licensed lottery retailers.

If you turn in your winning ticket at a retailer and you have won a prize worth more than $600, you will be given a File Claim receipt to show that the ticket has been validated. You will need to take this receipt, along with your winning ticket (make sure to get it back from the retailer), to one of the New York Lottery’s Customer Service Centers. Please see below for further details.

You can also claim prizes up to $600 directly from a Customer Service Center, without the need to visit a retailer first.

How to claim Prizes over $600

Prizes of this amount must be claimed from one of the NY Lottery’s Customer Service Centers or by mail. Due to coronavirus, some of the Customer Service Centers are temporarily closed. Go to the Customer Service Centers page to find a list of those that are currently accepting claims.

To claim, you must schedule an appointment at one of the centers that is currently open; walk-in claims are not accepted. You must also wear a face covering to your appointment and present the following documents:

  • Signed winning ticket
  • Valid government-issued ID
  • A completed Winners Claim Form

You are advised to make a copy of your winning ticket and completed claim form prior to your appointment, as the original documents will not be returned to you. Prizes will be processed at the Customer Service Center, unless it is a Mega Millions prize over $500,000 or a Powerball prize of $50,000 or more. Claims for those prizes will be forwarded to the NY Lottery’s Schenectady office to be processed.

Long Island Prize Claim Drop Box

You can also claim prizes of any amount by using the secure Prize Claim Drop Box at the Long Island Customer Service Center. You do not need to make an appointment to use the Drop Box, but you must deposit your ticket during regular business hours and include the following documents for your claim to be processed:

  • Original winning ticket, signed
  • Completed Winners Claim Form
  • Copy of valid government-issued ID

Winning tickets must be deposited in the Prize Claim Drop Box at least one day before the ticket’s expiration date.

Claim by Mail

Prizes of any value can also be claimed by mailing the winning ticket to the New York Lottery’s headquarters at the address below. For prizes of $601 or more, you will need to send a completed claim form with the winning ticket. If you bought a ticket for a New York Lottery game but reside overseas, you can also claim prizes by mail.

New York Lottery
PO Box 7533
Schenectady
NY 12301-7533

Mail-in claims must be postmarked at least 24 hours before the expiration date of the winning ticket. You are strongly encouraged to send claims by certified mail and include a return address.

Lost and Damaged Tickets

You can still claim prizes with damaged tickets, as long as they can be validated. If you have a winning ticket but it is damaged to the extent that it cannot be validated by a retailer, you should sign the back of it if possible and mail it to the New York Gaming Commission at the address below. Make sure to include your contact details, such as your telephone number and email address, so a representative can get in touch with you if necessary.

New York State Gaming Commission
One Broadway Center
P.O. Box 7500
Schenectady, NY 12301-7500

If you lose your lottery ticket you will not be able to claim any prizes it wins. New York lottery tickets are bearer instruments, meaning that whoever is in possession of a winning ticket is able to claim the prize. Always sign the back of your ticket and if you lose it get in touch with one of the New York Lottery’s Customer Service Centers as soon as possible.

We all want to know how to win the lottery.

Winning the lottery is the dream for many of us. It’s a great way to make money without a job! Having a ton of cash to spend on whatever you want and of course the financial security that comes along with a lottery win is why players bought more than $83 billion in tickets in 2019.

While the lottery sure is popular, your chance of winning it is pretty slim.

In fact, the odds of winning a Powerball is roughly 1 in 292.2 million and your odds of winning Mega Millions are roughly 1 in 302.5 million.

How To Win Lottery Tickets

But still, somebody has to win the lottery and that somebody could be you.

How
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Although there may not be any winning formula to picking up a prize, there are things you can do that may increase your chances.

Tips on How to Win the Lottery

Here are some simple tips to help you win the lottery.

1. Purchase more tickets

If there ever was a “key to winning the lottery“, that would be it!

To win in gambling, you have to obviously play the game!

The more tickets you have, the more chances you have of winning the lottery. It’s that simple. But, if you buy multiple tickets, you’ll be spending more cash upfront. And there’s no guarantee you’ll get any of that cash back. But it definitely improves your odds of winning the lottery.

2. Start a lottery syndicate/pool

Like I said above, buying more tickets improves your chances of winning the lottery. But it can get expensive. A good alternative is to join a lottery pool. This allows you to get more entries without spending more money.

So you improve your odds without having to part with the extra cash. Of course, you have to share your winnings, but sharing millions of dollars is still better than not winning at all!

3. Most winning lottery numbers

Whether or not the stats on previous draws can help you to win in the future is questionable. But looking back on the stats could help you to choose the winning numbers.

According to statistics from LottoNumbers.com, the most commonly drawn numbers for the Mega Millions lottery between 2017 and 2020 are:

  • 10 – Drawn 28 times
  • 17 – Drawn 28 times
  • 31 – Drawn 28 times
  • 48 – Drawn 28 times
  • 70 – Drawn 28 times
  • 14 – Drawn 27 times
  • 62 – Drawn 27 times
  • 4 – Drawn 25 times
  • 8 – Drawn 25 times
  • 11 – Drawn 25 times
  • 28 – Drawn 25 times
  • 43 – Drawn 25 times
  • 24 – Drawn 24 times
  • 34 – Drawn 24 times
  • 42 – Drawn 24 times
  • 1 – Drawn 23 times
  • 60 – Drawn 23 times
  • 3 – Drawn 22 times

The site also reports that the most commonly drawn numbers for the Powerball lottery between 2015 and 2020 are:

  • 23 – Drawn 52 times
  • 32 – Drawn 52 times
  • 64 – Drawn 47 times
  • 69 – Drawn 46 times
  • 61 – Drawn 45 times
  • 68 – Drawn 44 times
  • 41 – Drawn 43 times
  • 59 – Drawn 43 times
  • 3 – Drawn 42 times
  • 12 – Drawn 42 times
  • 28 – Drawn 42 times
  • 63 – Drawn 42 times
  • 53 – Drawn 41 times
  • 21 – Drawn 40 times
  • 56 – Drawn 40 times
  • 62 – Drawn 40 times
  • 20 – Drawn 39 times
  • 57 – Drawn 39 times

So depending on which lottery you’re doing you could choose some of those numbers.

Keep in mind that LottoNumbers.com also has lists of common numbers for other lottery games, so it’s definitely worth having a browse of the site’s stats.

4. Don’t choose consecutive numbers

So, don’t go with 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 for example.

If, for example, you’re playing a lotto with 5 numbers where the numbers go up to 55, then make sure the total numbers fall between 104 and 176, as studies show that 70% of jackpots have numbers that fall in this range.

5. Don’t choose numbers from the same group or ending with a similar digit

Another tip for increasing your odds is to avoid choosing numbers that end with a similar digit or that fall in the same number group.

6. Choose rarer numbers

You may have to split your winnings if you do win the lottery. If you want to keep more of the pot for yourself, then try to choose rarer numbers.

These rarer numbers that can increase your chances of getting a higher payout, rather than your chances of winning.

You could look up some stats to find out which numbers are chosen least often.

According to one paper, the twelve most unpopular lotto numbers for a lottery between 1 and 80 are 32, 29, 10, 30, 40, 39, 48, 12, 42, 41, 38, and 18.

These numbers are chosen 15 percent to 30 percent less often than other numbers.

7. Don’t miss out on a lottery win

More often than you’d think, people forget to check their numbers and don’t realize that they’ve actually won!

Billions of dollars in lottery prizes go unclaimed each year.

So don’t be one of those people who forgets and has money sitting there to claim. Always double-check your lottery tickets so you don’t miss a win.

Keep your ticket safe and then set a reminder to check your ticket on the drawing date.

8. Check tickets you find

I have read many stories of people who win the lottery scratch off by simply picking up scratch cards on the ground and having it checked in a convenient store.

You can do the same with lottery tickets. The odds of winning may not be in your favor, but it doesn’t cost you anything to check the tickets you find.

Someone else’s lost ticket might be your win! Sometimes people throw out what they think is a losing ticket, but in fact, they just didn’t bother to check the numbers, they misread the ticket, or they checked the wrong drawing.

So it’s always worth checking a discarded lottery ticket if you find it.

9. Increase your chances of winning the lottery with second-chance games

Some lotteries offer second-chance drawings on non-winning tickets. So it gives you another chance to win!

Free tips on how to win lottery tickets

Just complete the form on the back of the ticket, send it in, and you’ll have another chance to win money. Don’t give up just because you didn’t win the first time!

How

10. Play the right games

While there are no lottery winning systems, playing the right games can improve your chances of winning the lottery. The lottery isn’t just one game. Every state has a variety of lottery games, each of which has different odds of winning.

So before you spend money on a ticket, make sure you read the odds of each one, and choose games with better odds to increase your chances of winning.

Also, consider rarer lotto games.

Since Powerball and Mega Millions are national lotteries, lots of people enter them, meaning you often end up splitting a jackpot. This lowers the value of your prize.

11. Secure your winning ticket

The last thing you want to do is lose a winning lottery ticket.

To make sure you keep your lottery win secure, sign your ticket on the back. This can help to prove it’s yours if it gets lost or stolen.

Also, I remember hearing of a cashier nearby who pretended a customer’s lottery ticket was a losing one, when in fact it was a winning one. Sadly, there are unscrupulous clerks who will pocket your ticket and tell you it was a losing one.

So never give your ticket to a clerk and ask if you’ve won. Check the ticket yourself beforehand to see if you’re a winner. Then you can verify the ticket yourself. You can easily check online or in newspapers for the winning numbers.

Which Lottery Ticket Wins More

Also, if you decide to cash a lottery ticket by mail, make copies of both sides of the ticket in case it gets lost on the way.

Good Luck!

While there’s no winning formula I can give you to increase your chances of winning the lottery, there are tips you can try like choosing commonly drawn numbers and joining a lottery pool that can help you to increase your odds.

How To Win Lottery Scratch Off Tickets

So follow our tips on how to win the lottery and let us know if you have any tips of your own in the comments section below.

How To Win Lottery Tickets

Please remember to gamble responsibly, and never spend more than you can afford. Playing the lottery should be considered entertainment, and not as a way to make money.

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