Lottery Glossary

Learn the most up-to-date lottery terminology to start playing your favourite lotteries online with confidence!


Term Definition
Advertised Jackpot The minimum prize amount the lottery estimates it will pay to the winner of a specific draw.
Annuity Payments made to a prize winner that is annuitized over an extended period, typically 25 to 30 years. The other payment option offered by lotteries is a Lump-Sum payment.
Beneficiary The designated recipient(s) of a lottery's profits. This term is usually used in the context of an heir who will receive the remaining money after the winner's passing.
Bonus Money Promotional money, or Bonus, such as cash-backs, refunds, prizes, syndicate prize shares, deposits and refunds. Bonus money can be used towards participation on the site and cannot be withdrawn from your account.
Bonus Number A number drawn in some games in addition to the regularly-drawn set of numbers. This additional number usually boosts the second division prize, or can create one or more of the lottery's prize categories.
Bundle A bundle is a ticket purchasing option that combines a personal entry to the draw in addition to shares in a lottery syndicate.
Cash for Life A lottery game which offers a set prize payment to be made in weekly, monthly, or yearly installments to the winner for the duration of the winner’s life. One such game is the American Cash4Life lottery.
Cash Option A one-time single payment awarded as a prize to a winner rather than annual installments. The cash value is determined by bond rates under which an annuity is purchased.
Claims Center A location where players can have their tickets validated and collect prize amounts which exceed those that are payable by lottery retailers, such as jackpots and some secondary prizes.
Claims Process The procedure and/or paperwork involved in in the process of awarding a prize to a player. When you win online at theLotter, all secondary wins are transferred to your account for withdrawal after receipt from the lottery operator. In the case of a jackpot win, you will most likely be required to collect the winnings in person.
Daily Lottery A lottery game, such as Italy MillionDAY , that stage draws every day. Some lotteries, such as Mexico Chispazo, even offer multiple draws per day!
Due Numbers Sometimes called overdue numbers or outstanding numbers, these are numbers that haven’t appeared for the longest amount of time, and therefore, are due to be drawn.
Entry A lottery ticket.
Estimated Jackpot A jackpot payout amount that can be more or less than the advertised value based on the expected sales and number of winners.
Fixed Payout The number and amounts of prizes established for a draw, regardless of how many tickets are sold. An example of a lottery with a guaranteed prize amount Australia Monday Lotto and Wednesday Lotto, which offer players a fixed jackpot of AU$1 million at every draw.
Game Matrix The configuration of the amount of numbers matched and the payout amounts for each match. For example, Italy's SuperEnalotto has a 6-of-90 game matrix.
Guess Range The range of numbers from which players can select their lottery numbers. For example, EuroJackpot players can select any five numbers from 1-50, as well as two bonus numbers from a range of 1-10.
Hot and Cold Numbers The frequency that lottery numbers are drawn. Cold numbers are rarely selected while hot numbers are frequently picked in draws.
Jackpot A lottery game's top prize. If the prize is not won, the amount will be increased either by a fixed amount, or determined by ticket sales and interest rates.
Jackpot Cap The maximum jackpot prize amount. For example, the New Zealand Powerball jackpot prize can reach up to NZ$50 million before it needs to be won. EuroJackpot can roll over until it amounts to €120 million. Other lotteries such as Spain La Primitiva and US Powerball, and Mexico's Melate have no jackpot caps and can grow until they're won.
Line A set of numbers a player must select in order to participate in a lottery draw. For example, a line for Japan Loto 6, which must consist of 6 numbers from a range of 1-43, could be 4, 15, 21, 29, 38, 42.
Lottery A game of chance in which numbers are drawn at random for a prize. The prize, which is usually monetary, is distributed among players who have matched all or a partial amount of the selected numbers.
Lottery Draw The process of selecting numbers to determine which previously sold lottery tickets are winners. Lottery drawings are usually conducted using mechanical devices with balls, spinning devices, or computerized random number generators.
Lottery Messenger Service An independent third-party service that purchases official lottery tickets on a player's behalf.
Lottery Operator An organization that operates or administers lottery games – usually a governmental or a corporation licensed by a government. For example, France Loto is operated by Française des Jeux - government-owned organization that has a monopoly on most games in the country.
Lottery Raffle A lottery raffle drawlottery raffle draw that takes place in parallel to the regular lottery draws, such as Austria EuroMillions Österreich Bonus, or independently like Spain's Loteria de Navidad.
Lump Sum A lump-sum payment is an often large sum of money that is paid out to the winner in a single payment as opposed to annuity in which the payment is broken up into installments. (See "Cash Option").
Match In which the number displayed on a player's ticket matches the number selected in the draw.
Multi-Jurisdiction Lottery Lottery games that are offered in more than one jurisdiction, allowing lotteries to generate larger jackpots than they could individually. An example of one such lottery is Mega Millions, which is offered in 47 jurisdictions.
Multiplier An extra feature that can be added on to a player's ticket to increase the payout if the ticket is a winner. The drawn additional number (Y) will multiply the player’s prize (X) by that drawn (Y) value. A multiplier option usually requires the player to add on to the cost of the ticket. Some lottery multipliers include US Powerball's "Power Play", Mega Millions "Megaplier", and SuperEnalotto's "Superstar".
Multi-Draw Packages A package that allows players to pre-order a set number of lottery tickets. At theLotter, multi-draw packages can be purchased in sets of 5, 15, 25, or 52 consecutive draws.
Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL)

An American non-profit, government-benefit association owned and operated by agreement of its member lotteries. MUSL was created to facilitate the operation of multi-jurisdictional lottery games, such as US Powerball and Mega Millions .
Must Be Won

When a jackpot reaches its cap or the maximum number of draws, a must-be-won draw is staged. If the top prize is still not won, the money is split amongst the winners of the next highest prize division. For example, EuroMillions stages a must-be-won draw after the jackpot cap is reached and the prize is not won within another four draws.
Odds

In lotteries, odds are a numerical expression of the likelihood or probability of a player winning a lottery prize. The winning odds are calculated using the lottery's guess range, how many numbers can be selected, and the number of combinations that can be produced from these.
One Time Entry

A lottery ticket limited for use in a single lottery draw.
Online Lottery Service

A platform offering players the ability to play lotteries online. There are several types of online lottery services, including betting-on services and ticket-purchasing services like theLotter.
Pari-Mutuel A payout method in which the total available prize pool is split between all winners of the specific prize category, and the amount each winner receives changes depending on how many tickets were sold for that particular draw.
Payout Per Winner The prize amount a winner will receive. If a prize division has several winners, the money will be split amongst them evenly.
Prize Division A category in which the prize amount is defined by the number of winning balls a player could match. Each lottery has its own prize division setup, defining the prizes and odds for matches.
Prize Payout The percentage of sales returned to the players in the form of prizes.
Prize Pool The amount of money collected to award as prizes to the winners
Quick Pick A feature which assigns a set of randomly generated numbers to a players ticket.
Random Number Generator (RNG) A computerized system used in place of draw machines to select a random sequence of numbers for a lottery draw. This is usually used in lotteries, lottery-style games, like Quick Draws, and slot machines.
Reintegro A "refund number" that features in all Spanish lotteries. Matching this bonus number will refund players the cost of the official lottery ticket. This refund applies to all the lines on the ticket.
Responsible Gaming Responsible gaming means staying in control of the amount of time and money one spends spent on playing lotteries. Lotteries and gaming providers are required to Information and resources about responsible gambling to encourage self-awareness of one's playing habits, and provide support and assistance to players who think they may have a gambling problem.
Retailer An entity, such as a convenience store or drug store, that is authorized and licensed by a lottery to sell lottery products, i.e. official lottery tickets and scratchcards.
Rollover The continued accumulation of a jackpot when drawn numbers are not matched by any ticket sold.
Scratchcard A small card with concealed numbers or symbols that must be scratched off in order to reveal if the player won a prize. Online scratchcards are played by clicking the concealed numbers or symbols to uncover if a prize has been matched.
Secondary Prize All prize divisions below the top prize category, i.e. non-jackpot prizes
See Your Ticket Service A feature on some online ticket messenger services that enable customers to view a scanned copy of the official lottery ticket purchased on their behalf.
Shares (See "Syndicate") Each syndicate is divided into equal parts, made available for purchase. These parts, also known as shares, determine the portion of the syndicate’s prizes that you stand to win.
Subscription A ticket purchasing option in which a player is entered into every consecutive draw of the chosen lottery. At theLotter, the player will receive a message before the upcoming draw to confirm their ticket payment.
Superdraw A special lottery event staged once to several times a year that offer players a guaranteed boosted jackpot prize. Australia Saturday Lotto Superdraw offers a boosted AU$20 million approximately six times a year. In Europe, the wildly popular EuroMillions Superdraws have a boosted jackpot that start at €100 million - €130 million!
Syndicate A group of players who buy lottery tickets together. Each syndicate player owns a portion of these collective tickets and will receive a proportionate part of any winnings. When joining a syndicate online at theLotter, players benefit from being able to participate in up to 200 lines.
Systematic Forms A play option in which the player is allowed to enter more numbers than required on the standard ticket. When playing with systematic forms, lottery entry will contain every combination of the selected numbers to increase the chance of winning a prize.