The Lottery Dilemma - An In-Depth Analysis of Lottery Dynamics

Introduction

In many aspects, the lottery stands out as one of the most perplexing types of gambling. If you've landed on this page, it's likely that you're seeking the most advantageous betting options within this sphere. best possible odds , and the lottery is not that .

This section addresses the query: How detrimental is the lottery? We will conduct a thorough analysis, state by state, to evaluate the returns for players across various lottery formats, assessing the impacts of the recent pandemic. lottery The most undeniable truth about the lottery is that it might be the singular gambling avenue where a fortunate participant could potentially win a staggering amount of money, sometimes reaching several hundred million dollars. Naturally, this is predominantly applicable to national lotteries such as

As you will soon understand, these national lotteries typically offer poorer returns compared to other lottery formats , which in themselves are generally not favorable. Mega Millions and Powerball Imagine a person inserting a $100 bill into one of those instant ticket vending machines – consider it a rather unpleasant version of an ATM! Can you envision withdrawing money from an ATM only to find you've lost more than half of what you originally took out? That's essentially the reality with these lottery machines, where you're feeding them cash instead.

NOTE: A handful of states now feature online lottery platforms, allowing individuals to set up accounts, deposit funds, and engage in instant games; fortunately, this is not yet widespread. Consequently, while we may mention states with such online lotteries, they won’t be part of our concluding data table, which will focus on revenues from instant tickets, 'Scratch-Offs', and drawing tickets.

Our aim remains to achieve the most accurate apples-to-apples comparison possible; however, due to differing fiscal years among lotteries, we will focus on the most recent data available, ideally concluding no later than December 2019.

Tickets

You might find highlights detailing the return-to-player figures for specific instant ticket values; however, these statistics are rarely made public. Thus, our final table will display only the combined total for instant and drawing tickets, the return-to-player percentage, and the average loss incurred by players for each type of lottery.

One recurring observation is that states hosting Commercial Casinos generally witness a lower per capita loss compared to states restricted to lotteries alone . This is particularly evident in locations where casinos are easily accessible to the majority of the population.

States engaging in Limited Video Lottery, like

, will reflect a loss per resident in the forthcoming table that includes this limited video lottery, which will be marked with an asterisk. Additionally, we will add a note for the loss per resident that covers only instant and drawing tickets. El Gordo If you've managed to digest all this information and still feel compelled to invest in lottery tickets, despite my skepticism towards luck, I'll simply offer you a parting wish of Good luck. You’re certainly going to need it! It might even be wiser to take half of what you intended to spend on tickets and just dispose of it.

This would enable the state's voters to express their desires regarding the establishment of a lottery and select limited forms of casino gambling.

El Gordo

For the time being, and including the time period being reported on this page, the State of Alabama is one of only a few to not have a state lottery.

€ 10,300,000 Tickets The proposed measure still requires a vote in the state house, but the Senate has already passed a bill laying out the foundational structure for the lottery. Any commercial gambling introduced would also be accessible at tribal venues within the state. In general, only Native American casinos necessitate a pact with the state in regions without commercial casinos, or if the tribe intends to provide gambling options unavailable at state-run casinos.

It's important to note that the Alabama Legislature is NOT unconditionally sanctioning the lottery and casino gambling simultaneously. The current discussions revolve around a proposed Constitutional Amendment that would empower public voting on these matters. Thus, keep an eye out for a potential vote later this year (2021) at the earliest.

In Alaska, the only gambling types legally recognized are Charitable Gaming and certain Tribal Gaming forms. Charitable Gambling includes activities like Bingo, Pull Tabs, and occasionally hosted, limited 'Monte Carlo Nights,' regulated to restrict the number of such events annually. Tribal Casinos don't provide the same expansive gambling options found in many other states; they primarily focus on Bingo and Pull Tabs.

Lotto

The State of Alaska is another one of five states that did not have a state lottery during this time . Currently, there is something of a limited charitable lottery that takes place within the state, but it does not seem to be conducted by the state itself. The way the current lottery works is essentially akin to a 50/50 raffle that takes place weekly.

NOTE ON TRIBAL GAMING: For those curious, all types of gambling (apart from lotteries) permitted by state law are subsequently allowed for tribal operations. This was previously evident in

, where the four Tribal casinos were styled after 'Vegas-Style'. Although Wyoming lacks any form of commercial casinos, it recognizes all games for social engagement. This led the Northern Arapaho Tribe to conclude they could legally offer any gambling type they desired. Lotto Following this, the State of Wyoming sued the Northern Arapaho Tribe, arguing that the permitted social gambling games were NOT intended for commercial use, thus exempting them from this federal ruling. Ultimately, the Northern Arapaho Tribe prevailed in that case. € 6,000,000 , which have signed agreements with individual states to permit gambling types otherwise deemed illegal in those jurisdictions, like Commercial Casinos. In such cases, states are open to engage in what is known as a 'Compact' with tribes, with terms mutually agreed upon.

In states lacking a gambling compact with tribes, Tribal Casinos, or Casinos in Alaska, can only operate games that are otherwise legal within the state.

Tickets Lotto 6/49 In any case, Alaska does not generate any lottery revenues .

Once more, it is pertinent to clarify that we are referencing 2019 figures for this analysis (where available) because 2020 posed significant challenges to many lotteries due to the fallout from Covid-19 . It is unsurprising that states enforcing stricter regulations regarding masks, social distancing, and closure of non-essential enterprises experienced a markedly tougher year for their lotteries.

This was especially true in states like

Lotto 6/49

Arizona is an interesting case because 2019 was a record Fiscal Year for them, but believe it or not, they were one of the few states for which 2020 was even better!

, where operations for anything remote from essential services were halted for approximately three months. To add to this, indoor dining was prohibited throughout December 2020, a crucial month for restaurants seeing an influx of holiday shoppers.

In any case, the shutdowns impacted not only individual finances, but the Pennsylvania lockdowns were severe enough to lead to numerous lottery retailers shutting down! While grocery stores and gas stations remained operational, liquor stores—which also sell lottery tickets—found themselves completely closed, even to customers at points. Other businesses like restaurants, bars, and casinos bore the brunt too. Overall, these closures and the ensuing economic uncertainty, compounded by layoffs and furloughs, caused a significant downturn for the lottery. CA$ 9,000,000 Interestingly, Arizona stands out as one of the few states that didn’t face similar troubles; 2020 actually surpassed the lottery's performance in 2019, which had previously set a record.

What’s essential to note is that 2019 was also the inaugural year for the Arizona Lottery when it surpassed one billion dollars in sales , marking a notable success for the lottery division, though perhaps not so much for the residents, who lost about 50% of their ticket purchases to the lottery. The analysis states that to maintain profitability, the Arizona Lottery aims for a minimum return to players of 50%, indicating that instant games are likely to compensate for the less favorable returns on national games like Powerball and Mega Millions.

The Lottery must allocate no less than 50% of its yearly income towards prizes while limiting operational expenses to a maximum of 18.5% of its total revenues (which encompasses commissions paid to retailers). The leftover funds are designated by law for various state beneficiaries. Below is a chart that highlights how Lottery funds were utilized during the fiscal year 2019:

Tickets Oz Lotto .

The chart indicates that a total of 65.6% of all lottery revenues were spent on prizes, positioning this lottery among the more advantageous state lotteries. This will be evident when compared with the table shown at the bottom of this page, revealing several factors attributing to this above-average return:

Oz Lotto

Arizona, as previously mentioned, MUST ensure an overall lottery return-to-player rate of no less than 50%, necessitating a cautious approach towards their instant tickets and in-state games to offset the lower overall revenue generated by Powerball and Mega Millions, which typically offer less favorable returns.

You will have the chance to view this in the table below, where you can discern that Powerball and Mega Millions (and indeed, drawing tickets in general) account for a smaller portion of Arizona Lottery revenues compared to many other states.

1. The Lottery Report: An In-Depth Look at Why Lottery Isn't Worth It
2. Find the Top Online Casinos Available in Your Country
3. Calculator for Estimating Lottery Jackpot Ticket Sales

In many respects, the lottery stands out as one of the most perplexing types of gambling. If you are navigating this website, it likely indicates your curiosity about securing a better risk in the lottery system.

This section aims to address the question: How unfavorable is the lottery? We will conduct a thorough analysis of player returns across various game types for each state.

The impact of Covid-19 has significantly affected lottery revenue in the most recent year discussed here. Additionally, we aim to compare state returns fairly by referencing the closest lottery reports that do not go beyond 2019.

One undeniable fact about the lottery is that it might be the singular type of gambling where sometimes, individual players can scoop hundreds of millions of dollars . However, this typically applies only to national lotteries, such as

AU$ 10,000,000

Arkansas is one state that conducts an annual lottery, but is otherwise relatively limited in other forms of gambling. Arkansas' Fiscal Year 2019 Lottery Annual Report is available Tickets .

Lotto 6aus49

As you will soon discover, the returns on these national lotteries are lower than those of other lottery games —which, in their own right, are not particularly great either.

Imagine a scenario where someone inserts a $100 bill into one of those instant ticket vending machines; it resembles a highly dysfunctional reverse ATM! Picture this: you go to an ATM, withdraw money, and only receive slightly over half of what was deducted from your account. This is essentially the experience these lottery machines provide, where you're putting in cash.

NOTE: Currently, some states have online lottery platforms allowing users to create accounts, deposit funds, and engage in instant games. Thankfully, this isn't widely adopted yet. Therefore, although states offering this lottery format will be mentioned, they won't be incorporated in the final table, which will solely reflect revenues from instant ticket, \"Scratch-Off,\" and drawing ticket sales.

Once again, our objective is to maintain as close an apples-to-apples comparison as possible, but given that lotteries have varying fiscal years, we will strive to use the most recent data available that concludes no later than December 2019.

We may include highlights regarding the returns for specific instant ticket denominations, although these details are rarely reported. Consequently, the final table will summarize only the total revenue from instant and drawing tickets, the player return rates, the return percentages, and the average loss per player for each lottery type.

A noticeable trend to observe is that states with Commercial Casinos typically report lesser losses per resident than those states relying solely on lotteries . This is especially true in areas where casinos are conveniently accessible to the majority of the population.

In states with Limited Video Lottery, such as

Lotto 6aus49	€ 4,000,000	Tickets	Powerball
Powerball	34,162,016	16,302,877	47.72%
NZ$ 7,000,000	33,552,661	16,059,601	47.86%
Tickets	15,329,643	12,127,184	79.11%
Powerball	9,303,843	4,957,513	53.28%
Powerball	7,677,433	3,415,250	44.48%
AU$ 6,000,000	4,430,761	1,745,300	39.39%
Tickets	3,211,636	1,632,505	50.83%

, the loss per resident in the table will include this limited video lottery, although this will be indicated with an asterisk. Furthermore, a note will be added to distinguish the loss per resident based solely on instant and drawing tickets.

If you’ve made it through all this information and still feel inclined to buy lottery tickets, while I personally don't subscribe to the idea of \"luck,\" I’ll wish you \"Good luck.” You’re certainly going to need it. It might be wiser to just take half of what you intended to spend on tickets and throw it away.

This would empower state voters to decide on the implementation of a lottery, alongside limited forms of casino gambling.

While a bill outlining the basic framework for the lottery has cleared the Senate, it still requires a vote in the state legislature. Should it pass, any future commercial gambling introduced would also be available at Tribal locations within the state. Usually, Native American casinos in states that lack commercial gambling are those mandated to strike a compact with the state, or offer games unavailable in state-run casinos.

It's worth noting that the Alabama Legislature is NOT single-handedly legalizing the lottery and casino gambling. The current discussions revolve around a Constitutional Amendment enabling public voting on these matters, so it's advisable to watch for a vote on this issue later in the year (2021) at the earliest.

Moreover, the only permitted gambling formats in the State of Alaska include Charitable Gaming and a limited scope of Tribal Gaming. Charitable Gambling features Bingo, Pull Tabs, and occasional events known as \"Monte Carlo Nights,\" which are regulated by the number of times an organization can host such events in a year. Tribal Casinos in Alaska primarily offer Bingo and Pull Tabs, significantly less than what’s available in many other states.

FDJ Loto

For California, we will be using the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2019 Annual Report, which can be found FDJ Loto .

IMPORTANT NOTE ON TRIBAL GAMING: In general, all types of gambling (excluding lotteries) legalized by a state are also permissible for tribes. This holds true even in

, where the four Tribal casinos feature “Vegas-Style” games.

In Wyoming, while Commercial Casinos are absent, all casino games are permitted for social purposes. Consequently, the Northern Arapaho Tribe interpreted the law to mean they could offer any gambling they wished.

The State of Wyoming subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Northern Arapaho Tribe claiming that games classified under social gambling laws were NOT commercial and did not align with existing Federal mandates. Ultimately, Wyoming lost this case.

, have struck agreements with various states to facilitate gambling formats otherwise deemed illegal within those states—like Commercial Casinos. In these instances, states can negotiate a \"Compact" with the tribes, drafting terms agreed upon by both parties.

In states without a gambling compact with tribes, Tribal Casinos, or \"Casinos" in Alaska, can only provide gambling options that are already legal within that state.

In any case, Alaska does not generate any lottery revenues .

Again, the rationale for referencing 2019 figures on this page (whenever applicable) stems from the fact that 2020 was an exceptionally challenging year for most lottery systems affected by Covid-19 . It’s not surprising that states with stringent mandates on mask-wearing, social distancing, and closures of non-essential businesses observed drops in lottery revenues during that year.

This was particularly evident in states such as

€ 3,000,000	Tickets	Saturday Lotto	Saturday Lotto	AU$ 4,000,000	Tickets
5,170,791,532	3,587,479,416	69.38%	2,217,258,784	1,128,113,257	50.88%

, where operations other than essential were shut down for roughly three months. Moreover, from December 2020, indoor dining was prohibited, a crucial period for the restaurant sector, especially with the surge of Christmas shoppers.

Unquestionably, the lockdowns didn't just impact people's financial situations; the closures in Pennsylvania were so extensive that they even shuttered several lottery retailers! While grocery stores and gas stations remained operational, lottery tickets were still sold at liquor stores, which faced complete shutdowns and only allowed restricted access thereafter, alongside restaurants, bars, and casinos. Consequently, these closures, along with the economic instability from broader shutdowns (job furloughs, layoffs), culminated in a disastrous year for the lottery.

Conversely, Arizona managed to fare relatively well, as its 2020 performance actually surpassed 2019, which had previously been the lottery's best year on record.

It’s important to highlight that 2019 marked the first instance where the Arizona Lottery surpassed the billion-dollar sales milestone , making it a thrilling year for the lottery division, though perhaps not so much for residents who collectively lost approximately 50% of their lottery expenditures. According to the findings, the Arizona Lottery must ensure a return to players of at least 50%, hinting that the profits from instant games often compensate for the lower returns of national lotteries like Powerball and Mega Millions—this trend usually holds true in practice.

The Lottery is obligated to allocate a minimum of 50% of its annual revenue towards prizes and limit its operational expenditures (including retailer fees) to no more than 18.5%. The surplus funds are statutorily designated for various state beneficiaries. The subsequent chart outlines a broad overview of the Lottery's financial allocation for FY 2019:

The chart illustrates that a total of 65.6% of lottery revenue went to prize payouts, rendering it one of the more favorable state lotteries. You’ll be able to compare this with the data in the table presented at the bottom of this page. Several factors contribute to this above-average return:

As previously mentioned, Arizona MUST achieve a minimum return-to-players rate of 50%, which means they have to tread cautiously with their instant ticket offerings and in-state games to balance out the overall revenue lessened by Powerball and Mega Millions, as both games typically yield lower returns.

You’ll find comparative data in the table below, revealing that Powerball and Mega Millions (and indeed drawing tickets overall) represent a lower proportion of Arizona Lottery revenues when contrasted with many other states.

Ontario 49

The Lottery Disappointment - An In-Depth Analysis of Lottery Systems Ontario 49 .

Explore the Top Online Casinos Available in Your Region

CA$ 2,000,000

Calculator for Estimating Lottery Jackpot Ticket Sales

In numerous respects, the lottery stands out as one of the most confusing types of gambling. If you're perusing this website, it's likely that you're curious about obtaining the most advantageous odds in the

This section will provide insight into the query: How detrimental is the lottery, really? We will conduct a thorough analysis of player returns, examining various game types on a state-by-state basis.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted lottery revenues for the most recent year available at the time of writing. Our objective is to analyze different states' returns consistently, using the closest lottery reports that don't go beyond 2019.

Tickets	Daily Million 2PM	Daily Million 2PM	€ 1,000,000
Tickets	443,409,967	299,240,160	67.49%
Daily Million 9PM	86,147,274	40,950,837	47.54%
Daily Million 9PM	28,034,842	14,529,352	51.83%
€ 1,000,000	72,719,920	34,900,730	47.99%
Tickets	16,571,656	9,159,621	55.27%
Powerball	3,041,876	1,777,359	58.43%
Powerball	12,902,998	6,209,327	48.12%
R 19,500,000	16,951,078	10,171,758	60.01%
Tickets	679,779,611	416,939,144	61.33%

One undeniable fact regarding the lottery is that it may be the sole gambling form where a player could potentially win hundreds of millions of dollars . However, it's important to note that this applies mainly to the nationwide lotteries like

Of course, without instant tickets, the Colorado Lottery would actually be violating the law on a minimum return of no less than 50%, so that's pretty awful!

which, as you will soon discover, offer poorer returns than other lottery types —and those options aren’t particularly favorable either.

Imagine someone inserting a $100 bill into one of the instant ticket vending machines; think of it as a truly awful reverse ATM! Picture the scenario where you withdraw money from an ATM only to receive just a little more than half of what was deducted from your account. That's essentially how these lottery machines operate, except you’re putting in your own cash.

IMPORTANT: Some states now host online lottery platforms where users can set up accounts, deposit funds, and engage in instant games. Thankfully, this isn't the standard yet. Hence, states offering this mode of lottery may be referenced, but they will be excluded from the final summary table, which will focus on instant tickets, \"Scratch-Off,\" and Drawing ticket revenue.

Once again, our aim is to facilitate a fair comparison amongst states, but since each lottery has different financial reporting timelines, we'll attempt to select the most recent fiscal year closing no later than December 2019 when the data is accessible.

We may include highlights for return-to-player metrics for specific instant ticket denominations; however, these are infrequently published. The concluding table will consist solely of the aggregate data for instant and drawing tickets, along with their return-to-player percentages and average losses per player for every lottery type.

Thunderball

Fortunately, the 2019 Annual Report for the Connecticut State Lottery is available Thunderball :

A common observation is that states boasting Commercial Casinos typically experience lower losses per resident compared to states relying solely on lotteries . This is especially true in states where casinos are geographically convenient for most residents.

States with Limited Video Lottery, such as

, will have their loss per resident reflected in the table, which will include these limited video lottery numbers, identified with an asterisk. Moreover, we will note the loss per resident pertaining solely to instant and drawing tickets.

£ 500,000	Tickets	Monday & Wednesday Lotto	Monday & Wednesday Lotto
AU$ 1,000,000	736,443,000	516,523,000	70.14%
Tickets	72,253,000	37,311,000	51.64%
Megabucks	72,656,000	29,791,000	41.00%
Megabucks	54,460,000	32,350,000	59.40%
Tickets	50,328,000	23,472,000	46.64%
Lotto Texas	35,032,000	18,537,000	52.91%
Lotto Texas	31,168,000	19,794,000	63.51%
Tickets	81,446,000	40,702,000	49.97%
Fantasy 5	72,634,000	36,466,000	50.21%
Fantasy 5	18,872,000	13,052,000	69.16%
Tickets	5,696,000	3,680,000	64.61%
Powerball	102,923,000	66,759,000	64.86%

If you manage to go through this information and still feel compelled to buy lottery tickets, while this author doesn't abide by the notion of 'luck', they would like to wish you 'Good luck'. You're going to need it. It might be smarter to simply take half of what would be spent on lottery tickets and toss it down the toilet.

This measure would empower state voters to decide whether or not they wish to implement a lottery alongside certain restricted forms of casino gambling.

A legislative vote is still required for this proposal, but the Senate has already passed a bill outlining the basic framework of how the lottery would function. Any Commercial Gambling allowed in the state would also be accessible to Tribal entities within the region. Generally, Native American casinos necessitate a compact with individual states only when those states lack commercial casinos or when tribes provide unique offerings not available in state-run commercial casinos.

Be aware that the Alabama Legislature is NOT solely responsible for legalizing lotteries and casino gambling. The current legislative agenda only introduces a Constitutional Amendment to enable public voting on these matters, so keep an eye out for a potential vote later this year (2021) at the earliest.

1. Moreover, the only forms of gambling that are explicitly legal in Alaska include Charitable Gaming and limited Tribal Gaming. Charitable Gambling encompasses Bingo, Pull Tabs, and occasional 'Monte Carlo Nights,' which are restricted in the frequency of such events per organization. Tribal Casinos here do not offer the full range of gambling options seen in many other states and are primarily limited to Bingo and Pull Tabs.
2. REGARDING TRIBAL GAMING: For those interested, generally speaking, any type of gambling (excluding lotteries) authorized by a state is automatically permitted for tribes. This was the case even in
3. , where the four Tribal casinos feature 'Vegas-Style' games.

While Wyoming does not host any Commercial Casinos, social gambling laws allow all casino games. Consequently, the Northern Arapaho Tribe decided that according to legal definitions, they could host any gambling activities they wished.

Powerball Tickets The State of Wyoming subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Northern Arapaho Tribe, claiming that games permitted under social gambling regulations were NOT commercial and thus not subject to this federal ruling. Wyoming lost the case.

, have established agreements with state governments to permit certain forms of gambling that are otherwise prohibited in those states, such as Commercial Casinos. In such instances, states can enter what is known as a 'Compact' with the tribes, with mutually agreed-upon terms.

Jersey Cash 5

In states lacking a gambling compact with tribes, Tribal Casinos, or 'Casinos' within Alaska, can only provide those types of gambling that are explicitly authorized by the state. Jersey Cash 5 .

In any case, Alaska does not generate any applicable lottery revenue .

Once again, the rationale for utilizing 2019 figures on this page (when possible) is that 2020 was an exceptionally challenging year for most lotteries due to the Covid-19 pandemic . It’s not surprising that states enforcing stricter regulations on mask-wearing, social distancing, and shutting down non-essential businesses experienced significantly tougher lottery years.

Tickets

This was especially the case in states like

Hot Lotto	Hot Lotto	Tickets	Two Step	Two Step	Tickets
79,808,944	53,114,641	66.55%	116,507,746	58,773,996	50.45%

, where only essential businesses remained open for around three months. Additionally, indoor dining was forbidden in December 2020, the peak month for the restaurant industry due to the holiday shopping season.

In any case, the lockdowns affected people’s finances directly; the Pennsylvania shutdowns were so extensive that many lottery retailers were forced to close! Although gas stations and grocery stores remained open, lottery tickets are also sold at liquor stores (which experienced full closures and limited access for a time), restaurants, bars, and casinos. These closures, coupled with the economic unpredictability from broader shutdowns (furloughs and layoffs), led to a disastrous year for the lottery.

Arizona was among the few states that did not experience severe issues, as 2020 actually outperformed 2019, which had been the lottery's record year until that time.

Notably, 2019 was the first year that the Arizona Lottery surpassed a billion dollars in sales , marking an exciting milestone for the lottery department, though not as favorable for residents who lost about half of their investment to the lottery. According to the report, the Arizona Lottery must maintain an overall return to player of at least 50%, suggesting that revenue from instant games might counterbalance the lower returns from the national lotteries Powerball and Mega Millions—this typically occurs in practice.

The Lottery is mandated to return a minimum of 50% of annual revenues as prizes and to cap Lottery operation expenses at 18.5% of annual revenue (including retailer commissions). The residual funds are statutorily allocated to various state beneficiaries. The following chart provides a high-level overview of Lottery expenditures for FY 2019:

According to the chart, 65.6% of all lottery revenue went towards prize distribution, making this one of the more favorable state lotteries you'll be able to compare in the table located at the bottom of this page. There are several factors contributing to this above-average return:

As previously mentioned, Arizona MUST ensure an overall return-to-player of at least 50%, which compels them to be cautious with their instant tickets and in-state offerings to compensate for the lower revenue impact from Powerball and Mega Millions, which typically yield less than that. SuperLotto Plus This can be further examined in the Table below, where you will see that Powerball and Mega Millions (and drawing tickets in general) constitute a smaller percentage of Arizona Lottery revenues when compared to many other states.

The category of Instant lottery games, particularly known as Scratch Tickets, constitutes almost 75% of the total lottery income generated in Arizona for this fiscal year. While engaging in any lottery game is generally a poor decision, barring exceptional or rare scenarios (you might want to look up the MIT Lottery case for insights), Instant Tickets provide the highest return among a poor selection of options . It’s also crucial to clarify that this doesn't take into account limited video lottery options, which can yield better results similar to casino slot machines in states where such lotteries are present. SuperLotto Plus , Tickets Sadly, Arizona is one of the relatively few states that fails to differentiate between the prizes of instant tickets and those from drawing tickets in its annual lottery report. While they do disclose the overall ticket sales in terms of total revenue, they unfortunately combine all prize amounts into a single line item.

The overall ticket sales reached a staggering $1,076,621,414, comfortably surpassing the billion-dollar mark. The total prize pool amounts to $706,491,066, leading to a calculated overall return to player across all types of games (given that there are no alternatives) of 65.62% .

Hoosier Lotto

The Annual Report for Fiscal Year Ended June, 2019, for the Florida State Lottery is available Hoosier Lotto .

Tickets

Sales from instant tickets alone totaled $750,278,323, and there's another segment known as Instant tabs which contributed an additional $9,913,074 in sales. This brings the total income from Instant Games to $760,191,397, while sales from drawing ticket games totaled $316,430,017, of which around $214 million came from the Powerball and Mega Millions draws.

The losses associated with the lottery are calculated as $1,076,621,414 minus $706,491,066, resulting in a total of $370,130,348. Given the estimated state population of 7.279 million, this translates to approximately $50.85 in losses for each resident .

On a brighter note, Arkansas is one of the states that provides a clear distinction between instant and drawing ticket sales and revenues, enabling a detailed comparison of those games in terms of return-to-player rates. Arkansas also takes part in multi-state lottery draws like Mega Millions and Powerball, usually returning lower amounts to players when contrasted with traditional drawing games like Pick 3, although it should be noted that even Pick 3 doesn’t offer an impressive return (49.9%).

Arizona's total lottery sales reached $515,493,507, of which $407,825,514 (79.11%) came from Instant Ticket sales, and the rest, $107,667,993 (20.89%), was made from various drawing tickets.

Players received $293,695,992 from Instant Ticket prizes, resulting in a favorable return-to-player rate of 72.02% for these game types, which, despite sounding grim, is surprisingly acceptable by state lottery standards! In contrast, drawing games paid out $56,240,230, leading to a return rate of just 52.23%, clearly subpar, yet it aligns with typical outcomes seen in state lotteries.

In total, prize payouts added up to $349,876,222 against total ticket sales of $515,493,507, culminating in an overall return-to-player percentage of 67.87% when factoring in all games .

The total losses are calculated at $165,617,285, translating to a loss of about $54.88 for every resident , based on a population estimate of 3.018 million.

Between the Mega Millions and Powerball draws, these two games together generated about $67,714,677, which indicates that they accounted for approximately 62.89% of drawing ticket sales and about 13.14% of the total lottery sales, ultimately adversely affecting the overall return-to-player rate .

The Arkansas Lottery provides a breakdown of prize returns from different drawing games, allowing for a closer examination of which games offer better returns through a simple table.

***Interestingly, Fast Play seems to operate as an instant ticket game, yet it’s not categorized alongside other instant tickets. If we exclude Fast Play, the average return from lottery drawing games would likely fall well below 50%. We might argue that classifying Fast Play as separate from other Instant Tickets is misleading, but that appears to be the lottery's choice—possibly to comply with a rule mandating that drawing games overall return more than 50%.

For those contemplating playing Arkansas Drawing Ticket games, we recommend this: Take half of your planned spending and donate it to a charity you support, and then keep the other half. This way, you eliminate the intermediaries and avoid unnecessary retail expenses!

Lotto

The Georgia Fiscal Year audit for the period ending June, 2019, is available right Lotto .

In conclusion, this Annual Report is quite informative. The granularity in the prize distributions by game type, as well as the specifics for individual drawing games, is beneficial. The information available on the lottery website might enable one to estimate returns for specific Instant Ticket Games alongside Drawing Ticket Games, should they choose to do the calculations.

One area that feels lacking in this annual report is the absence of details regarding Instant Ticket prize and sales figures segmented by the ticket cost. In Arkansas, the price of a single Instant Ticket can vary between $1 and $30, hence it would be insightful to understand how ticket cost influences game returns—likely implying that higher prices could correlate positively with higher returns, at least to a certain degree.

Regardless, lottery tickets continue to be regarded as one of the most disadvantageous legal gambling activities in the nation, and it’s worth noting that they are directly managed by state authorities! Instant tickets are marginally superior to Drawing Tickets, although many patrons tend to purchase a larger quantity of instant tickets compared to just one drawing ticket.

Nevertheless, one merit worth acknowledging is that the percentage of returns from instant ticket purchases performs relatively well when compared to those in other states.

Like many other states, California is engaged in various multi-state lotteries alongside its own state drawing games and Instant Games. With a vast and diverse population, Californians enjoy a wide array of gambling activities. Almost every permissible type of physical gambling exists in the state, aside from greyhound racing.

On a commercial level, the state oversees and regulates card rooms, and it also boasts numerous full-scale Tribal Casinos within its boundaries, ensuring residents have plenty of gambling avenues if they choose to indulge.

The critical point to consider is whether this will influence the sales of conventional lottery games!

For the fiscal year 2019, Instant Ticket pricing in California ranged from $1 to $30.

The initial figures reported by the lottery relevant to our interest include both the total sales and the prize amounts disbursed during the fiscal year. The total sales figure was an astounding 7,388,050,316, with prizes awarded totaling 4,715,592,673, leading to a return to player of 63.83% when all games are taken into account. The total losses across all games amounted to $2,672,457,643, which equates to $67.64 in losses per resident , based on an estimated population of 39.51 million.

The subsequent section of the report provides a division of sales and prizes into general categories of drawing and instant tickets, which are referred to in the lottery report as Scratchers.

Sales from drawing tickets reached 1,526,370,543, whereas Instant Ticket Sales amounted to 5,170,791,532, the Hot Spot Game contributed 313,779,077, and Daily Games accounted for 377,109,164. Keep in mind that Instant Tickets are represented solely by Scratchers as stated in the chart at the bottom of the page, unlike other games classified as drawing games.

Prizes from Scratcher Games totalled 3,587,479,416, while the total for drawing tickets is no longer itemized by game type, with total prize payouts reported at 1,128,113,257.

Tickets

Combining the various drawing games mentioned earlier, we determine that total sales for Drawing Ticket games amount to 2,217,258,784.

Pick 6

The State of Idaho has its own lottery that participates in a few of the multi-state lottery games.

As portrayed in the report, Instant Tickets return less than 70% of total funds to the players, while drawing tickets yield just over 50%. This aligns closely with the average outcomes for state lotteries, and given California's significant population and overall sales, it exemplifies what lottery players can expect from their involvement—generally unfavorable outcomes.

Other intriguing segments of the report include a demographic breakdown of lottery participants based on age and ethnicity. Notably, the representation of lottery players closely mirrors the state's racial demographics, suggesting that race does not significantly affect lottery participation.

Gender, however, shows a slight variance in California. Although the population exhibits a roughly equal male-female distribution, men are slightly more inclined (at 53%) to buy lottery tickets compared to women, who account for 47% of total lottery sales. Pick 6 .

Age plays a minimal role in influencing lottery participation, with the older demographic (16% of the population aged 65 and above contributing to 13% of lottery sales) and younger adults (13% of the 18-24 age group generating 11% of total sales) being somewhat less likely to engage. The age bracket 35-44 tends to participate the most, making up 21% of lottery sales despite representing only 18% of the population.

Tickets

Lotto

Lotto

Tickets

In conclusion, race does not seem to be a critical factor, age has minimal influence, and men exhibit a slightly higher tendency to engage with the California State Lottery compared to women .

Unsurprisingly, 44% of the state’s workforce is employed full-time and they represent a disproportionate segment (52%) of lottery participants. If anything, the true surprise may lie in their not constituting an even larger share of lottery players.

Interestingly, it's often assumed that individuals earning below $30,000 are the most avid lottery players , but in reality, they are less inclined to participate. Ideally, this group should refrain from engaging in the lottery altogether, even though they do make up a portion of the player base. When looking at sales, those earning between $30,001 and $50,000 play the lottery proportionally to their population size. In contrast, people with incomes of $50,000 or higher tend to purchase lottery tickets at a slightly increased frequency compared to other income brackets.

It is reasonable to assume that the findings from the demographic study conducted in California might be similar in other states, especially since California represents a substantial portion of the US population. To provide a context, around 12% of the entire U.S. population resided in California in 2019, suggesting that the conclusions drawn from this data carry statistical significance.

Locating the annual report for the Colorado Lottery for the Fiscal Year 2019 proved to be somewhat challenging, but ultimately, we succeeded in finding it.

For some unknown reason, the lottery's official website does not seem to offer a straightforward link to access this information easily.

The Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S.) Section 44-40-111(9) mandates that at least 50% of lottery ticket sales revenue must be allocated for prizes. Additionally, the legislation outlines the distribution of the net proceeds to designated beneficiary agencies. Article XXVII of the Colorado Constitution stipulates that the \"net lottery proceeds\" (which refer to the funds remaining after awarding prizes, covering expenses, and setting aside a reserve for upcoming operations) should be allocated to the Conservation Trust Fund within the Department of Local Affairs, to the Division of Parks and Wildlife under the Department of Natural Resources, and to the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund (GOCO). The distribution amount for GOCO is subject to a constitutional limit, which was determined to be $68.5 million for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2019.

In the state of Colorado, there is another stipulation that the return to player (RTP) should be a minimum of 50%, but this applies generally to the entire lottery system. For multi-state games like Powerball and Mega Millions, each game may exhibit a return of less than 50%, as long as the overall RTP from the state lottery remains at or above the 50% threshold.

Mega Millions

The State of Illinois, in general terms, is quite open when it comes to gambling . In addition to some riverboat casinos, the state is also home to some other Commercial Casinos and has an expansive Limited Video Lottery Terminal (VLT) availability similar to what might be found in states such as West Virginia and Montana.

Colorado's instant ticket offerings present a wider range of pricing options than many other states! You can purchase instant tickets starting at the low price of $1, but they can also go up to $50 each! Instead of buying a $50 instant ticket, you might find it more logical to simply take a $20 bill from your wallet and set it on fire. At least then, you would save $30 by doing so, in comparison. Mega Millions .

Thankfully, the Colorado Lottery provides detailed information about product sales and prizes across different game categories, although Instant Tickets are consolidated into a single entry. This allows us to examine the RTP for each category of drawing game for the Fiscal Year 2019.

Overall, sales of Drawing Tickets totaled $236,369,644, with $117,698,984 paid out as prizes. This results in a return-to-player rate of 49.79% for those tickets. While that is lower than in most state lotteries , it can be rationalized by the significant percentage that drawing tickets account for in games like Powerball and Mega Millions.

Over the course of the year, a total of $262,840,467 was lost by residents to the Colorado State Lottery; based on an estimated population of 5.759 million, this equates to a loss of $45.64 per person.

When comparing Colorado to other states, a few factors come into play. One is that, despite its reputation as a generally Liberal state with several urban centers, a large portion of Colorado's population resides in rural areas, including mountainous regions. Moreover, Colorado has various forms of gambling available, including casinos like those in Black Hawk. The state is also younger on average—by about 1.4 years—than the nation, which may indicate that younger residents, who are typically less inclined to play the lottery, make up a larger segment of the population there.

Perhaps the residents are simply aware that the lottery is a PUTRID gamble. Colorado ranks as one of the more educated states on average. Not only is lottery gambling an unwise choice, but the returns from Instant Tickets tend to be lower than those of other states across the country. What could be the reason for such disappointing instant ticket returns here? It's unclear. You might think that a 30% hold would be sufficient for the lottery, but it seems they are aiming for a higher percentage.

There are both positives and negatives to be noted. The positive aspect: If you were interested in finding out how much the Colorado State Lottery spent on employee sick leave during the Fiscal Year 2019, the report contains that information, making it easily accessible. However, the negative aspect: details about the return-to-player for each denomination of drawing ticket is lacking, but to be fair, this is a common shortcoming in most lottery reports.

Tickets

The State of Indiana is more open to gambling than some might assume, believe it or not, they are home to some Commercial Casinos and are fairly unrestrictive when it comes to their charitable gambling laws.

On a different note, a more beneficial use for funds allocated to the lottery could involve seeking out a homeless person in Denver and buying them a bottle of alcohol. Admittedly, while that may not be particularly helpful to you, at least a purchase would be made that serves a purpose for someone else. Methodology And Highlights .

With that in mind, we can extract our data from the report.

West Virginia	Alabama	All of that could be changing as a	bill has recently passed the house
Alaska	372,870,808	188,319,594	50.51%
Wyoming	974,884,849	671,678,121	68.90%

Firstly, it should be noted that Connecticut serves as another instance of a state participating in multi-state linked jackpot lottery games with disappointing returns to player . The pricing for instant tickets in Connecticut during the relevant Fiscal Year varied from $1 to $30.

Fortunately, the Connecticut State Lottery organizes ticket categories and prizes according to game type, although this information requires some effort to locate. The primary report differentiates sales based on game type, while prizes are presented as a separate line item. Regardless, we can analyze the return to player for each game type, which we will detail below:

Total Sales amounted to 1,267,592,000, with instant ticket sales reaching 736,443,000, leaving a remainder of 504,149,000 attributed to total drawing ticket sales. Total prizes distributed equaled 800,238,000, of which 516,523,000 were allocated to Instant Ticket prizes, resulting in 283,715,000 designated for Drawing ticket prizes.

Overall, drawing tickets yielded a return-to-player rate of 56.28% across all Drawing Tickets.

Class III gambling

In total, residents of Connecticut lost a staggering $467,354,000 to the Connecticut State Lottery. Considering an estimated population of 3.565 million in 2019, this translates to an average loss of $131.10 per resident.

These losses exceed the average loss per resident found in several other states for a variety of reasons:

Connecticut hosts a Keno Lottery game that appears to be quite popular. If we categorize it as a drawing game (which it essentially is), it stands as the most favored drawing game in Connecticut. For this particular game alone, residents of the state reportedly lost over 35 million dollars! Specifically, each Connecticut resident lost an average of more than $10 on this game.

Tribes in other states, such as	Oklahoma	Arizona	Pennsylvania
Putting that aside,	250,642,094	166,890,489	66.59%
let's take a look at the numbers	11,876,560	8,255,638	69.51%
From the report (Page 24):	7,871,469	4,670,681	59.34%
Arkansas	4,292,190	2,553,524	59.49%
here	54,833,508	25,454,010	46.42%
So, we will be using that.	36,322,749	18,473,201	50.86%
Game	5,427,678	3,111,848	57.33%
Sales	8,753,137	4,300,353	49.13%
Prizes	10,876,605	6,805,266	62.57%

Connecticut does not boast an abundance of gambling alternatives as seen in other states. While it does host Native American casinos like Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun and a few small card rooms, most residents are generally distant from significant gambling venues. This may help explain the Keno game’s popularity compared to other states.

Ranked fifth among U.S. states by median household income, Connecticut offers a relatively high living cost. Consequently, its residents tend to have a degree of disposable income, which they quickly spend on lottery tickets.

As indicated by the statistical analysis from California, it is notably the more affluent demographic—those earning $50,000 or more annually—who are slightly more inclined to participate in the lottery. Connecticut exemplifies a state with a higher proportion of such individuals compared to many others, which likely results in increased lottery engagement from this economic group.

..or when compared to any state featuring casinos, no slot machine in those establishments would be allowed to yield as poor a return as the best game offered by the Connecticut Lottery , namely, Instant Tickets. In essence, the lottery provides returns that would be outright illegal in any other context, so consider this before purchasing a ticket—what you could potentially win is worse than the least favorable odds you’d find elsewhere.

Regrettably, this lottery report does not differentiate sales and prizes for Instant Tickets according to their denomination, which is a common omission in most lottery reports. Nevertheless, having access to that information would certainly be beneficial.

The Delaware State Lottery is yet another example of a lottery system involved in multi-state draws such as Powerball and Mega Millions. Delaware presents a unique situation as its lottery encompasses various facets, including casino operations and a Sports Lottery. Luckily, the annual report can be located.

Return Percentage

Briefly, Kansas might not be the first state that comes to mind when people think of gambling, but believe it or not, the state is home to both Land Commercial Casinos and Tribal Casinos. Additionally, the state has a wide variety of charitable gambling locations, mostly Bingo and, of course, a state lottery.

This report classifies Traditional Lottery types (Instant and Drawing) separately from the other lottery ventures. In the following table, we will outline the lottery loss per resident, differentiating between these traditional lottery categories and the overall totals. Powerball .

The only exclusions from the lottery loss per resident figures include revenues coming directly from the casinos that are not related to the lottery, such as table games.

In examining the Traditional Lottery formats, the breakdown for Delaware is as follows:

From this breakdown, we can conclude that Delaware residents and visitors experienced losses totaling $84,428,053 to the Delaware State Lottery via traditional games, leading to an average loss of $86.70 per resident in the traditional lottery.

The Delaware Sports Lottery essentially involves placing bets on sports in a parlay format. However, it is overseen by the State Lottery, offering a return to players that averages 83.51% for the fiscal year 2019.

In addition to sports betting, the Delaware Lottery is also in charge of overseeing the video lottery and table games within the state's casinos. While it requires some analysis to calculate the average return for these activities, we know that the total gross revenue for the lottery reached $538,355,277 in FY 2019, which translates to an impressive $552.86 per resident . Mega Millions Fast Play

It's clear that the Traditional Lottery makes up around 15.68% of the state's overall lottery revenue. However, this figure is somewhat skewed since the management of casinos falls under the lottery department rather than a distinct Division of Gaming or an equivalent entity.

Natural State Jackpot

The lottery is quite popular in Kentucky and a good reason why is the absence of other, and more desirable (not to mention better returning) forms of gambling. Kentucky is arguably the biggest state for horse racing, but other than that, there are a few forms of legalized charitable gambling (such as Bingo) and not much else.

The total losses incurred by players in the Sports Lottery reached 26,156,699. When combined with the losses from the Traditional Lottery, the total losses attributed to the lottery amount to $110,582,037, not factoring in casino or video lottery losses. This results in a significant loss of $113.56 per resident . Cash 3 .

I place particular emphasis on the $113.56 per resident figure because Delaware was among the select few states that took advantage of a provision in the PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act) prior to its repeal, allowing them to establish a Sports Lottery. The disparity between this number and the $552.86 per resident is largely due to the minimal impact of online gambling, along with revenues from table games in casinos and video lottery products.

Delaware is not alone in managing casino regulations through its lottery department; the State of <...> follows a similar approach. This practice is rather exceptional, as most states typically maintain a separate Division of Gaming Enforcement independent of their lottery offices.

The data strongly suggests the potential revenue per resident that states can generate by broadening their gambling offerings to include more diverse options such as casinos and online gambling. States like <...> and West Virginia have effectively implemented Limited Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs) in bars and parlors outside of traditional casino settings. This not only boosts employment but also significantly increases state revenues, as evidenced in the comparative table below.

Cash 4	Lucky for Life	California	here
Instant Ticket Sales	741,063,000	523,684,000	70.67%
Instant Ticket Prizes	429,116,000	251,615,000	58.64%
Instant Ticket Return to Player	33,263,000	25,942,000	77.99%

Strangely enough, the traditional lottery performs poorly, yielding disappointing returns for players and shows no inclination to explore alternative operations . The statistics illustrate that diversifying gambling formats attracts a wider range of players, benefiting the financial health of the states. The inclusion of the Sports Lottery alone drives the annual loss per resident for the lottery significantly above that of many other states.

In summary, Florida stands out as a state that offers a variety of gambling options unlike many others . Notably, there are several Native American casinos throughout the state, and Florida exhibits relatively liberal social and charitable gambling regulations.

Though Florida ranks poorly in median household income, this is somewhat misleading. The state has a significant population of retirees, who typically relocate there. Additionally, Florida's status as a popular tourist destination means that while tourism bolsters state funding, many tourism jobs tend to be lower-paying. We will need to parse through the numbers in the lottery report to understand how all these factors interrelate and to assess Florida's standing compared to other states.

To begin with, it's notable that lottery sales in Florida amounted to $7,151,236,000, while total prizes paid out were $4,638,488,000. This resulted in staggering losses to the lottery of $2,512,748,000, equating to over two and a half BILLION dollars for the fiscal year. Considering Florida's population estimate of 21.48 million in 2019, this translates to about $116.98 per resident lost. Drawing Ticket Sales Drawing Ticket Prizes Drawing Ticket Return to Player The combination of high tourism numbers along with the financial demographics of those who might be more inclined to play the lottery (as suggested by California's report) leads to higher losses per resident in the Florida lottery compared to the average state. This outcome is not surprising.

Colorado

Briefly, the State of Louisiana has every form of gambling you could possibly think of. They've got Tribal Casinos, Commercial Casinos, Racetracks, Charitable Gambling, Simulcast Gambling, Daily Fantasy Sports...you name it, it's there.

While tourism may not initially appear to be a critical factor, it can influence lottery revenue significantly. Visitors to the state, looking to spend money, may also purchase lottery tickets, particularly for multi-state draws, potentially contributing funds to the Florida lottery from outside its borders. here .

Of the substantial $7,151,236,000 in total sales, approximately $4.9378 billion came from Instant Tickets, which yielded an overall payout of $3.6295 billion, reflecting about a 73.51% return. The remaining $2.2135 billion derived from Drawing games returned about $1.0965 billion in prizes, leading to a total return-to-player rate of approximately 49.54% .

Regrettably, obtaining insights specific to Instant Ticket prizes versus Drawing Ticket prizes requires diving deep into the report—almost to Page 100. There, one can find the only mention indicating how overall prizes are attributed to each type of game. Sales figures for both categories appear throughout the report, yet only one segment explains the prize distributions by game type.

As is typical with many lottery reports, the Florida Lottery does not provide a breakdown of prize returns against sales for various instant ticket denominations that range from $1 to $30. Furthermore, there's a notable lack of detailed information regarding prizes for each type of drawing game within the Florida lottery report. While it mentions sales for these games multiple times, it does not separate out the prizes distributed.

That said, Florida's Instant Tickets seem to provide a significantly better return compared to most states, landing just below 75% . However, Drawing games appear to have a less favorable overall return. This discrepancy is likely because a significant proportion of their sales arise from multi-state games, which often provide under 50% returns unless there are unexpected second-tier winners during a fiscal year.

Ultimately, as can be seen in many other locations, the Florida lottery's return to players is inadequate to meet the legal standards enforced in Nevada. In Nevada, a machine must return no less than 75% of all money wagered, and most other states featuring Commercial or Tribal Casinos demand even more favorable player returns.

Even though Florida's instant ticket returns for this fiscal year were superior to many others, the Florida lottery remains one of the least favorable bets legally accessible to players.

This will be the information we utilize for the current page.

In summary, Georgia maintains generally stringent regulations concerning various forms of legalized gambling, but there are signs of gradual change. In the absence of Commercial Casinos , Georgia uniquely acknowledges certain skill-based games like Banilla Games and Pace-O-Matic machines as LEGAL , and these can be found in various locations across the state.

Many of these skill-based games require players to make relatively simple choices to optimize their chances of winning a prize from a spin, when winning is even an option. With that said, these machines bear resemblance to traditional slot machines, and the Pace-O-Matic games stand out as perhaps the most distinctive. Other games often assist players in making the best selections by illuminating the correct choice among their options.

The Georgia Lottery Report includes a specific line item that deducts "Tickets provided as prizes" from ticket sales, which seems reasonable. We can assume that these prizes are not counted again in the overall prize payouts; otherwise, it would not make sense to have a separate entry for them. With this in mind, the Georgia State Lottery's total revenues for FY 2019 reached $4.776 billion, while total prize payouts amounted to $2.12 billion, culminating in total losses of $2.656 billion for the Georgia State Lottery.

As can be found in the report here:

There's really not too much in the way of gambling in Maine, though they do have legal horse racing, simulcast wagering and a couple of Commercial Casinos. Certain forms of charitable gambling are also legal.

Considering a 2019 population estimate of 10.62 million, this equates to a loss per resident of $250.09 . Game Type It seems logical to conclude that the losses per resident are partially the result of limited gambling options licensed and regulated by the state during that fiscal year. If more casinos had existed, we might have seen a decrease in revenues for the traditional lottery; however, these casinos would have likely generated substantially more tax revenue for the state.

In fact, no state has experienced negative outcomes due to the existence of casinos, at least regarding tax revenue flowing into the state from legalized gambling.

Sales from scratch tickets comprised $3.219 billion of the total lottery sales of $4.776 billion, leaving approximately $1.557 billion from Drawing Games overall. (The difference in total sales is due to instant tickets awarded as prizes not being included in either category; we are also classifying everything that is not an Instant Ticket as a drawing game, even though the lottery does not accurately do so.) The total prizes from scratch tickets reached $2.072 billion, translating to a return-to-player percentage of roughly 64.37% on Instant Tickets .

Sales

Prizes

Return to Player

That's basically all the analysis we're prepared to conduct on this report, as it's genuinely quite subpar. While it does provide a detailed breakdown of sales and prizes in paragraph form for each game type, and covers scratch tickets adequately, the classification of drawing games is inconsistent, making it confusing to figure out which games fit into which category.

The Delaware Sports Lottery operates essentially as a venue for sports parlay betting, yet it's overseen by the State Lottery. During the fiscal year 2019, players enjoyed a return percentage of 83.51%.

Instant Tickets	Powerball	Lotto
Mega Millions	Cash 5	Cash 5 EZ Match
Pick 3	Lucky for Life	Total
Connecticut	here	Game Type
Sales	Prizes	Return to Player
Instant Tickets	Play 3 Night	Play 4 Night
Play 3 Day	Play 4 Day	Lotto
Cash 5	Powerball	Mega Millions
Lucky for Life	Lucky Links	Keno
In any event, if you were to go to	Nevada	Delaware
here	Traditional Lottery:	Instant Ticket Sales
Instant Ticket Prizes	Instant Ticket Return to Player	Drawing Ticket Sales
Drawing Ticket Prizes	Drawing Ticket Return to Player	West Virginia
Montana	Illinois	Florida
here	So, that is what we will be using.	Georgia
here	Hawaii	Idaho
here	Drawing Tickets: $68,799,711	Instant Tickets: $170,464,207
Pull Tabs: $1,944,618	Touch Tabs: $46,704,400	Illinois
this	Indiana	here
Game Type	Sales	Prizes
Return to Player Percentage	Drawing	Instant
Iowa	Game Type	Sales
Prizes	Return to Player Percentage	Instant Tickets
InstaPlay	Pick 3	Pick 4
Powerball	Mega Millions	Lucky for Life
Lotto America	Pull Tab	Kansas
Fiscal Year 2019	Oklahoma	casinos, in many cases.
Kentucky	Annual Report for the Fiscal Year 2020	Game Type
Sales	Prizes	Return to Player Percentage
		In addition to managing the sports lottery, the Delaware Lottery also oversees video lottery operations and table games within the state's casinos. While it's challenging to calculate the average returns for those gaming options, we found that total gross revenues for the lottery reached $538,355,277 in Fiscal Year 2019, equating to approximately $552.86 for each resident .

Approximately 15.68% of the total lottery income in Delaware can be attributed to the Traditional Lottery. This figure largely reflects the state's unique structure, where casinos fall under the jurisdiction of the lottery department rather than a distinct gaming division.

The combined losses from players participating in the Sports Lottery reached a substantial $26,156,699. Including the losses from the Traditional Lottery, it totals to $110,582,037 in losses not considering revenues from casinos or video lottery games, which breaks down to about $113.56 per resident.

I tend to believe that the figure of $113.56 per resident is particularly telling because Delaware was among the few states to leverage the opportunity allowed by the PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act) before it was repealed, enabling it to run a Sports Lottery. The discrepancy between this figure and the $552.86 per resident can largely be linked to the relatively minor impact of online gambling, along with table games and video lottery options available in casinos.

Delaware is not unique in administering casino regulations through its lottery department; the state of does the same. Nevertheless, this practice is quite rare since most states maintain a separate Division of Gaming Enforcement that operates independently of the lottery department.

The data clearly indicates the revenue potential for states that broaden their gambling offerings, particularly through casinos and online betting. Similar to what states like and West Virginia have implemented, permitting Limited Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs) in bars and other establishments outside of casinos could be highly beneficial for both job creation and state revenue, which is evident in the comparative figures shown in the accompanying table.

Instant Tickets

Drawing Games

iLottery Games

Ohio

and

Indiana

Louisiana

Strangely enough, the traditional lottery performs poorly, yielding unsatisfactory returns for players, and continues operating without exploring alternative methods . The statistics reveal that diversifying gambling options attracts various player demographics, positively impacting state finances. Even with the inclusion of the Sports Lottery, the annual loss per resident from the lottery remains significantly higher than in most other states .

To provide a quick overview, Florida is a state that offers various types of gambling compared to many others . The state has several Native American-owned casinos, and its laws surrounding social and charitable gambling are relatively permissive.

While Florida's median household income ranks in the lower half nationwide, this figure can be somewhat deceptive, as the state has an older demographic, many of whom relocated for retirement. Additionally, Florida's economy is heavily reliant on tourism, which, although beneficial for state revenue, typically includes lower-paying jobs. We’ll need to analyze the lottery report's numbers to understand the interplay of these factors and how Florida stacks up against other states.

Firstly, the total lottery sales in Florida amounted to $7,151,236,000, against total prizes of $4,638,488,000. This led to a staggering loss for the lottery, totaling $2,512,748,000, which is over two and a half BILLION dollars for the fiscal year. Given Florida's estimated population of 21.48 million in 2019, this translates to a loss of about $116.98 for each resident .

The combination of high tourism levels and the socioeconomic status of likely lottery players, according to data from California, results in higher lottery losses per resident when compared to the average state. This isn’t particularly surprising.

here

Maryland is an example of a state to have expanded its gambling options to include Commercial Land Casinos relatively recently, and sports betting even more recently. In addition to those options, Maryland has had pari-mutuel wagering available in the state as well as various Charitable Gaming options and a state lottery for quite some time.

Though tourism might not seem overly significant, it becomes relevant when considering that visitors to Florida, likely spending money on various activities, may also partake in the lottery (especially for multi-state draws) that exist in their home jurisdictions. Consequently, we can reasonably conclude that some of the funds that benefit the Florida lottery originate from outside the state.

Out of the total $7,151,236,000 in sales, $4.9378 billion was attributed to Instant Tickets, yielding an overall return of roughly $3.6295 billion, representing about 73.51%. The remaining sales accounted for $2.2135 billion in Drawing Games, which paid out prizes totaling $1.0965 billion, resulting in a return-to-player rate of approximately 49.54% .

Maine Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2019 , Instant Tickets: 224,635,254 Drawing Games: 68,217,582 Fast Play Games: 6,598,860 Regrettably, detailed information separating Instant Ticket payouts from Drawing Game payouts is buried deep within the report, nearly on page 100. While the report does categorize sales for each type of ticket, it only mentions overall prize allocations for specific game categories in one isolated instance.

Like many lottery reports, Florida's version lacks a breakdown of the returns on prizes versus sales for the various denominations of instant tickets, which range from $1 to $30. Additionally, the report does not provide individual prize payouts for each specific type of drawing game, even though it does mention overall sales figures for these games a few times, failing to organize the data about prizes.

Ultimately, Florida's Instant Tickets yield a notably better return compared to those in many other states, approaching just below 75% . Conversely, the returns on Drawing Games seem less favorable, likely due to a significant portion of sales coming from multi-state games that often have payouts below 50% unless there are unexpected second-tier winners during the fiscal year.

Regardless, as is the case in many other states, Florida's lottery returns are so unfavorable that they wouldn’t meet legal requirements for casino machines in Nevada, where payouts must exceed 75% of all money wagered—most other states with Commercial or Tribal Casinos enforce even higher return-to-player ratios.

Despite Florida's Instant Tickets having a comparatively better return this fiscal year, the Florida lottery still ranks as one of the poorest gaming options legally available .

Thus, this information will serve as our reference point for this page.

In summary, Georgia has historically upheld strict regulations against various types of legalized gambling, yet it’s slowly evolving. Although Commercial Casinos are not present , Georgia uniquely recognizes specific skill-based games, like Banilla Games and Pace-O-Matic machines, as LEGAL , making them accessible statewide.

Some of these skill-based games require players to make straightforward choices to optimize their chances of winning on a spin (if winning is even feasible), or to secure any prize. Despite this, the machines closely resemble traditional slot machines, with Pace-O-Matic games often being the most distinctive. Other games assist players by highlighting their best options.

Game Sales

Massachusetts is another state that has opened up to the idea of expanded gambling recently, and the first of the Commercial Casinos in the state have opened just within the last few years. Of course, Massachusetts has had a lottery for as long as anyone can remember.

The Georgia Lottery Report features a distinct line that deducts "Tickets provided as prizes" from total ticket sales, which appears fair. We can reasonably assume these tickets are not counted among the prize totals, prompting the separate accounting format. Consequently, the Georgia State Lottery reported total revenues of $4.776 billion in sales for FY 2019, alongside $2.12 billion in prize payouts, leading to total losses of $2.656 billion.

Game Prizes Game Return to Player .

Given a population estimate of 10.62 million for 2019, the per resident loss stands at $250.09 .

We infer that the extent of lottery losses per resident stems from a lack of other state-sanctioned and regulated gambling options for that fiscal year. More casinos could reduce revenues directed towards the traditional lottery, yet they would likely generate significantly higher tax income for the state, as seen in other jurisdictions.

Indeed, no state experiences adverse effects from legalized casinos regarding tax revenue flowing from state-sanctioned gambling activities.

Sales of scratch tickets comprised $3.219 billion out of the total $4.776 billion in lottery sales, leaving approximately $1.557 billion attributed to Drawing Games overall. (The discrepancy in total sales arises because tickets awarded as prizes do not count, and we classify anything not considered Instant Tickets as drawing games, a distinction the lottery does not clarify.) Scratch-off prizes summed to $2.072 billion, producing a return-to-player percentage of about 64.37% for Instant Tickets .

This wraps up our utilization of the report, as it ultimately falls short in quality. While it effectively summarizes sales and prize data for different game types in paragraph form and adequately details scratch tickets, categorizing other games as either drawing or not drawing requires extra effort for clarity.

The Sports Lottery in Delaware essentially revolves around sports parlay betting, but it operates under the authority of the State Lottery, achieving an overall player payout rate of 83.51% during the Fiscal Year 2019.

INSTANT

Michigan is one of the least restrictive states when it comes to gambling . The State of Michigan has generally allowed for every type of gambling there is and has had both Commercial and Tribal casinos for several years. Additionally, they were one of the early states to join the push for the abolishment of PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act) that would allow states outside of Nevada to have sports betting.

In addition to overseeing the video lottery, the Delaware Lottery also governs table games situated in the casinos throughout the state. While analyzing the average return-to-player for these activities would require some calculation, we know that the lottery itself generated a total gross income of $538,355,277 in Fiscal Year 2019, translating to about $552.86 for each resident .

From the data, it's evident that the Traditional Lottery constitutes roughly 15.68% of the total lottery revenue within the state. This is largely due to the fact that the casinos fall under the jurisdiction of the lottery department rather than a distinct Division of Gaming or similar regulatory body. INSTANT .

INSTANT

The losses incurred by players in the Sports Lottery amounted to $26,156,699. When combined with the losses from the Traditional Lottery, it results in an overall loss of $110,582,037 associated with the lottery, excluding any casino or video lottery activities, which breaks down to approximately $113.56 for each resident.

I personally find the $113.56 per resident figure to be the most credible since Delaware was one of the select states allowed to operate a Sports Lottery under PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act) prior to its eventual repeal. The difference between this figure and the $552.86 per resident primarily stems from online gambling (which was minimal), table games in casinos, and video lottery options.

Delaware is not alone in managing casino operations through the lottery department; the State of follows a similar regulatory approach. Nonetheless, this practice is relatively uncommon, as most states have an independent Division of Gaming Enforcement that functions apart from their state lottery departments.

It’s evident that states can generate substantial revenue per resident by broadening their gambling offerings, specifically through the establishment of casinos and online gaming platforms. Other states, like and West Virginia, would benefit from allowing Limited Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs) to operate in establishments like bars and social clubs outside of casinos. Not only does this create job opportunities, but these locations also yield significant revenue for the states, as you can see when examining the comparative data in the table below.

$1 Instant-8,184,085	$1 Instant-5,025,982	$1 Instant-61.41%	Heritage Fund-1,852,878
Heritage Fund-1,134,686	Heritage Fund-61.24%	$2 Instant-25,202,894	73.69%
$2 Instant-16,655,443	$2 Instant-66.09%	$3 Instant-24,301,032	52.23%
$3 Instant-16,098,691	$3 Instant-66.25%	$5 Instant-67,891,895	66.66%
$5 Instant-46,751,162	$5 Instant-68.86%	?	?

For some unknown reason, the traditional lottery yields dismally low returns for players and seems uninterested in exploring other operational methods . The statistics indicate that diverse gambling formats attract varied demographics, which ultimately benefits the financial health of the states. Even including the Sports Lottery, the annual loss per resident to the lottery clearly surpasses that of most other states .

In summary, Florida is a state that offers a variety of gambling options compared to many others . This includes several Native American-owned casinos distributed across the state, along with relatively permissive laws concerning social and charitable gambling.

While Florida ranks low in median household income, the statistics can be somewhat misleading because the state's demographic skews older, as many inhabitants relocate there for retirement. Furthermore, Florida sees a high volume of tourism which, while beneficial for state revenue, often leads to lower-paying jobs in the tourism sector. We need to analyze the lottery report's figures to understand how these factors interplay and how Florida stands in comparison to its peers.

To start, total lottery sales achieved $7,151,236,000, while total prizes amounted to $4,638,488,000. This leads to a staggering $2,512,748,000 in losses for the lottery, exceeding two and a half BILLION dollars for the Fiscal Year. Given Florida's sizable population, estimated at 21.48 million in 2019, this results in a loss of around $116.98 per resident .

The state's robust tourism, coupled with the age and economic profile of those likely to engage with the lottery (as suggested by a report from California), contributes to a higher loss per resident compared to the average state. This outcome is hardly surprising.

Although tourism may not initially appear to be a relevant factor, it's important to note that visitors to the state often spend money, some of which could be directed towards playing the lottery, especially for multi-state draws. Therefore, it’s reasonable to conclude that some funds contributing to the Florida lottery’s income originate from outside its borders.

Out of the total sales of $7,151,236,000, $4.9378 billion derived from Instant Tickets, which returned approximately $3.6295 billion, resulting in a payout percentage of about 73.51%. The remaining $2.2135 billion came from Drawing games, which yielded total prizes of $1.0965 billion, leading to a return-to-player percentage of roughly 49.54% .

$10 Instant-44,511,030

Minnesota is pretty middle of the road when it comes to the gamut of gambling offerings available in the state . In addition to Tribal Casinos, the state's horse racing tracks are permitted to have poker and table games, though not $10 Instant-32,476,733 Unfortunately, one has to delve very deeply into the report, almost reaching page 100, to find detailed information that distinguishes Instant Ticket prizes from those of Drawing Ticket prizes. The sales figures for both products are outlined throughout the report, but there’s only one instance that clarifies what overall prizes correspond to each type of game.

As is common with lottery reports, Florida does not specify the return of prizes relative to the sales for the various denominations of instant tickets available, which can range from $1 to $30. Additionally, the Florida lottery report lacks details found in many other lottery reports regarding prizes associated with each specific drawing type game. While the Florida Lottery Annual Report mentions the sales for these games multiple times, it does not separate the prizes awarded. $10 Instant-72.96% .

In any case, Instant Tickets in Florida appear to provide a significantly better return compared to those in numerous other states, achieving close to 75% . However, the returns on Drawing type games seem to be lower overall, likely because a large proportion of their sales come from multi-state games, which often deliver under 50% returns unless a few second-tier winners exceed expectations during a Fiscal Year.

Just like in most regions, Florida's lottery returns to players are so poor that they would not meet the legality standards for casino machines in Nevada, which must offer players a minimum return of 75% of all bets placed—many states with Commercial or Tribal Casinos demand even higher return rates.

Even though Florida's instant ticket returns were comparatively better this specific Fiscal Year, the Florida lottery continues to rank among the least favorable bets legally available .

$20 Instant-22,516,540	$20 Instant-16,816,099	$20 Instant-74.68%	$25 Instant-30,174,900
$25 Instant-23,306,867	435,268,778	292,093,287	67.11%
$25 Instant-77.24%	201,541,475	103,498,719	51.35%

Hence, these figures will serve as the basis for the content of this page.

In summary, Georgia has generally maintained stringent restrictions on various types of legalized gambling, but there are signs of gradual change. Despite the lack of Commercial Casinos , Georgia is one of the few states to specifically acknowledge certain skill games such as Banilla Games and Pace-O-Matic machines as LEGAL , making them widely available throughout the state.

Some of these skill-based games allow players to make relatively simple choices to maximize their chances of winning a prize on a spin (when winning is feasible), or even simply to secure any reward. However, these machines closely resemble standard slot machines, with Pace-O-Matic games being particularly distinctive. Other games tend to assist players in making the best selection by highlighting the correct choice among the available options.

The Georgia Lottery Report includes a separate line item that deducts, \"Tickets provided as prizes,\" from total sales figures, which is a reasonable approach. We can reasonably assume that these tickets are not included again in the prize payouts; otherwise, there would be no reason to categorize them separately from the start. This leads us to conclude that during Fiscal Year 2019, the Georgia State Lottery brought in total sales revenues of $4.776 billion, while paying out $2.12 billion in total prizes, culminating in total losses reaching $2.656 billion for the Georgia State Lottery.

Instant Total-224,635,254

By considering the population estimate of 10.62 million for 2019, we derive a loss per resident of $250.09 .

We can infer that the lottery loss per capita is likely a result of the limited availability of state-sanctioned and regulated gambling options during that fiscal period. Were there more casinos present, the revenue directed to the traditional lottery would likely be diminished; however, the casinos would provide the state with substantially higher tax returns from their revenue, compensating for the loss.

To elaborate, no state has found itself worse off due to the presence of casinos, at least in terms of tax revenues generated from legalized gambling activities.

Scratch ticket sales accounted for $3.219 billion of the lottery's overall sales of $4.776 billion, leaving around $1.557 billion attributable to Drawing Games in total. (The difference in total sales is mainly because instant tickets awarded as prizes do not count toward either category; we also tend to consider anything not classified as Instant Tickets under drawing games, despite the lottery treating them differently) The total prizes for scratch tickets reached $2.072 billion, which means a return-to-player rate of approximately 64.37% for Instant Tickets .

Instant Total-158,265,663

Missouri has historically been one of the more liberal states when it comes to gambling and one of the first states to have Commercial, 'Riverboat,' Casinos, although, they did have some weird laws related to the maximum amount that a player could lose in one day, at one time.

This report will be the extent of our analysis since it is genuinely quite subpar. While it rightly details sales and prizes for each game type in paragraph form and gives a fair breakdown for scratch tickets, there's a confusing categorization where some games are deemed drawing games while others are not. It would require considerable effort to distinguish which games fall into each category. Instant Average-70.45% .

In addition to this, even though they present a detailed account of each game in the text, they fail to consolidate this data into a coherent table. Instead, the information is scattered across various sections, rather than providing a single section dedicated to summarizing everything about each game. One can logically infer that the structure of this lottery report is intentionally convoluted, making it challenging to comprehend.

Moreover, they do not categorize Instant Ticket Prizes by their specific denominations, although sales data is available. This information would be crucial for us if we want to identify any significant disparities in the return rates. However, it's likely that no substantial differences exist. As for the drawing games, they all perform poorly and there is little point in separating them since the report does not facilitate easy analysis.

This is particularly disappointing because, despite being the most comprehensive lottery report concerning individual games to date, the quality of writing and organization leaves much to be desired.

The State of Hawaii does not allow any form of gambling legally , which means there is no lottery operating within its jurisdiction. Technically, there is one legal form... outbound travelers can participate in games, but they lack a state-sponsored lottery altogether.

Aside from the lottery, Idaho tends to impose strict regulations on gambling activities. There are a handful of Tribal casinos, but as of 2019, the only types of lottery permitted by the state included pari-mutuel betting, certain charitable gambling formats, and, of course, the lottery itself.

We anticipate that the lottery loss per resident in Idaho will not be exceptionally high compared to many other states. For one, Idaho's population is relatively small, the dispersion of residents across the state is not dense, and there aren't many large urban areas. Even though there are limited gambling options, the lottery retailers are often not very accessible for a significant number of Idaho residents.

However, we can't draw any firm conclusions without further investigation, so let’s take a look at the Lottery Annual Report for the Fiscal Year 2019, which is available.

In reality, there are several types of lotteries in Idaho, including draw tickets, instant tickets, pull tabs, and touch tabs. We will compile the sales data for each of these categories.

DRAWING	DRAWING	DRAWING	Pick 3-5,394,851
Pick 3-2,698,992	914,449,548	666,811,269	72.92%
Pick 3-50.03%	437,528,006	245,716,968	56.16%
Pick 4-4,337,305	114,051,149	102,563,112	89.93%

Excluding draw tickets, the total sales amount to $219,113,225, and we will categorize this as instant tickets in our analysis, as they are the most comparable.

It’s important to point out that Raffle Ticket sales are recorded separately, but when combined with the Draw Ticket sales, they contribute to the total mentioned above. Thus, for general analysis, raffles are viewed similarly to drawings.

The total prizes awarded for drawing tickets, including Raffle Prizes, amounted to $34,283,682, yielding a player return of 50.62% across all drawing games .

Pick 4-2,175,962

Instant tickets provided total prizes of $119,504,580, equating to a return-to-player ratio of 70.11%. For Pull Tabs, the prizes were $1,364,151, which resulted in a return of 70.15%, aligning closely with the returns from Instant Tickets. Lastly, TouchTab Ticket prizes amounted to $37,447,814, yielding a return-to-player rate of 80.18%.

For our table below, we will include all these types of lottery sales under Instant Tickets, as they provide the most direct comparison. This results in overall prizes of $158,316,545 compared to total sales of $219,113,225, leading to a final return-to-player for Instant type tickets of 72.25%.

Overall, players lost $95,312,709 to the Idaho State Lottery in the Fiscal Year 2019. With a population estimate of 1.787 million for that year, this translates to a loss of approximately $53.34 per resident.

In summary, this lottery report is quite informative. Unfortunately, we cannot find specific data regarding the individual sales and prizes for various instant ticket denominations, but that is often the case. It’s likely that state lottery organizations prefer not to disclose that higher-tier instant tickets don’t significantly outperform the lower-tier options concerning return rates. After all, is it preferable to lose 40% of a $1 bet or 20% of a $20 bet? The losses per resident do not place Idaho as near the bottom of the rankings (though they do fall within the lower half of states), which might be surprising. The inclusion of TouchTabs significantly inflates the per resident loss figure; without these, Idaho could be closer to the very bottom. Pick 4-50.17%

Therefore, we would initially expect that revenues and losses per resident related to traditional lottery forms would be lower compared to many other states, but there may be unexpected findings. To gain clarity, we'll need to delve into

Megabucks-11,810,740	Megabucks-5,932,716	Megabucks-50.23%	Powerball-22,350,828
Powerball-11,194,437	18,531,003	11,110,279	59.96%
Powerball-50.09%	41,723,120	23,382,132	56.04%

The Fiscal Year Lottery Report for FY ending in June 2019.

Regrettably, this Lottery Report appears to provide little of value to players. It fails to differentiate between drawing tickets and instant tickets by game type, and does not offer more specific details beyond that.

All we can ascertain is that total lottery sales for the year reached 2,974,539,000, with total prizes amounting to 1,907,153,000, resulting in an overall player return of 64.12%, taking all games into account. The total losses incurred from traditional lottery games reached $1,067,386,000. Given an estimated population of 12.67 million in 2019, this leads to a loss per resident of around $84.25.

Hot Lotto-0

Overall, Nebraska is a fairly restrictive state when it comes to gambling . They have a few horse tracks, but most of those are in it for the simulcast and have only a few live racing dates per year, occasionally only one. The state is home to Tribal Casinos, but no Commercial Casinos and Nebraska doesn't seem likely to massively expand its gambling footprint in the state anytime soon.

We advise players against participating in the Illinois State Lottery, not only because state lotteries generally have poor returns (and this one is no exception), but also due to the lack of crucial information for players regarding which general game types (drawing, instant) yield what prize amounts. This is essential information that should be included in any Annual Report.

While it’s possible that this information can be sourced from other locations, Annual Reports should be inclusive and transparent. Players deserve to know the house advantage they face without having to search extensively.

Hot Lotto-0 Hot Lotto- Lucky for Life-3,713,174

Thus, refrain from playing any lottery—especially the Illinois Lottery.

Indiana also features a lottery, complete with a Comprehensive seven-page annual report for 2019, which can be accessed.

The positive aspect of this brief report is that it surprisingly contains more useful information for players than the Illinois Lottery's 2019 report. At least the Indiana Lottery specifies what prizes were distributed according to game type! Let’s take a closer look:

Lucky for Life-2,208,569

Despite being the first state with legalized Commercial Casinos, and the state that is borderline synonymous with gambling, Nevada lacks a state lottery .

So, according to the report, total sales amounted to 1,347,755,657, while prizes awarded totaled 859,997,715, leading to a net loss to the Indiana State Lottery of $487,757,942 for Fiscal Year 2019. With a population estimate of 6.732 million for that year, this results in a loss per resident of approximately $72.45.

Indiana has some larger cities, which provides a better population density compared to other states. However, the few casinos in the state are quite dispersed and do not necessarily cater to the most populous regions. Despite having a variety of gambling options, they may not be easily accessible to all residents.

Given this situation, it isn’t surprising that Indiana reports a higher annual loss per resident from the state lottery than might be expected based on population demographics and available gambling options. States with more accessible casinos typically experience lower losses in traditional lottery games compared to Indiana.

Lucky for Life-59.48%

When evaluating the returns from different types of lottery games, we find that they align closely with what one might expect, and there are no significant variances from the average. In simpler terms, the returns are dismal, and no legal casino slot machine in the United States would have a return as poor.

Interestingly, many might be surprised to learn that Iowa is one of the more liberal states in terms of gambling regulations. In addition to Tribal and Commercial Casinos, Iowa does not tax Charitable Gambling revenues.

We will need to examine the traditional lottery’s performance relative to other states, considering the varied gambling options available within Iowa. It is our assumption that the lottery holds its own, but let's confirm by reviewing The 2019 Annual Report.

This report stands out as one of the better annual lottery reports since it is concise and to the point! It consists of only 13 pages, with Page 12 providing significant information. It details the individual game types along with their respective sales and prizes. Let’s dig into the details: Lotto America 2018-1,980,196 Lotto America 2018-989,649

Total sales from drawing tickets (excluding pull tabs) were $129,376,821, with total prizes awarded from drawing tickets at $66,819,255, resulting in a player return of 51.65% across all drawing games.

The overall losses attributed to the lottery encompass drawing games, pull tabs, and instant tickets. The lottery considers promotional items as prizes for players and seems to have a loyalty program. However, we will not include these figures because their distribution is unclear, so we'll focus solely on the games:

(250,642,094-166,890,489)+(129,376,821-66,819,255)+(10,876,605-6,805,266) = $150,380,510 in total losses from traditional lottery games and Pull Tabs. This calculation is based on an estimated population of 3.155 million in 2019, leading to losses per resident of roughly $47.66.

It appears that the residents of Iowa are not particularly inclined to engage with the lottery. We attribute this tendency to the wide range of other (superior) gambling options available as well as the presence of rural residents who might not have easy access to a lottery retailer.

Lotto America 2018-49.98%	Gimme 5-1,079,847	Gimme 5-572,329	Gimme 5-53.00%
Mega Millions-16,300,415	250,477,088	170,732,028	68.20%
Mega Millions-8,615,907	26,959,048	18,491,109	68.60%
Mega Millions-52.86%	27,582,991	14,783,734	53.60%
World Poker Tour-1,250,226	69,227,769	33,492,462	48.40%
World Poker Tour-784,846	5,606,632	3,312,360	59.10%

Regardless of the case, the common outcome regarding games that involve a draw is that they tend to be quite poor. The returns on drawing games might be slightly better compared to some states, yet not nearly as good as what others might offer. Instant tickets, on the other hand, hover around the average return rate.

To summarize, the lottery system stands as one of the least favorable legal options for gambling in Iowa, and by extension, generally one of the least beneficial avenues for gambling everywhere. If you happen to witness a bushel fire during your time in the state, you might as well toss 25% of your planned lottery spending into the flames; what remains will still leave you better off financially!

First and foremost, we must express our disappointment in the Kansas Lottery for their lack of openness regarding their practices and finances. This is the most reliable information we could find.

If someone wishes to receive an annual report for a particular year, this webpage provides a phone number that theoretically connects you to a representative—someday, you might reach someone capable of assisting you. This is truly unfortunate in today’s digital age, where such information should be publicly available and easy to find, echoing the practices of other states.

World Poker Tour-62.78%

Second only to Nevada, New Jersey is the state best known for gambling in the United States as Atlantic City has been home to Commercial Casinos since 1978, which was the year that the first, Resorts, opened to the public.

As it stands, the information we can access on this page includes only the total sales figures for 2019 and the overall prizes awarded, so let’s analyze this limited data at our disposal:

Total sales amounted to 295,282,190 with total prizes disbursed totaling 172,676,708, leading to an overall return to player rate of approximately 58.48% . This data indicates that lottery players in the state collectively lost 122,605,482 that year, translating to an average loss of around $42.09 per resident based on a population estimate of 2.913 million. Drawing Sales-68,217,582 Drawing Total-35,173,407 Drawing Average-51.56% It’s not surprising that the Kansas Lottery does not report significant loss figures per resident. Given the state's expansive geography, many individuals who might typically partake in lottery games find themselves too far from a retailer. Residents in densely populated regions, like Kansas City, Kansas, may have access to nearby casinos, diminishing the lottery's appeal. Kansas City, Missouri, which lies just across the river, also hosts several casinos.

FAST PLAY FAST PLAY FAST PLAY

In the western regions of Kansas, those without nearby casinos may find themselves contemplating alternatives that don't involve gambling establishments.

In essence, despite a smaller population and the geographic dispersion within Kansas, residents generally have superior gambling opportunities available compared to the sub-60% returns offered through the various lottery products provided by the state. $1 Fast Play-761,412 While conventional gambling options are limited in Kentucky, the state lottery is quite active, resulting in significant losses for its residents. We will illustrate this through the data available.

We are analyzing the 2020 Fiscal Year for Kentucky, as it is the only annual report currently accessible on the Kentucky Lottery's site. Although we intended to obtain information from 2019, our attempts to modify the URL proved unsuccessful. Therefore, we are left to rely on the 2020 Annual Lottery Report for insights.

This report is brief yet informative, consisting of just thirteen pages. Let’s hope this document is rich in details relevant to players while maintaining brevity.

Regrettably, the report does not provide as much information as one might hope. The good part is that it does distinguish between Instant Tickets, Drawing Games, and iLottery Instant Play Games, which we will categorize as drawing games for the chart that follows. So, let’s dive in:

In total, the residents of Kentucky would lose a staggering $304,977,000 to the state lottery for the Fiscal Year 2020. At that time, the estimated population was around 4.48 million, leading to an average loss of $68.08 per resident .

$1 Fast Play-465,181

New Mexico has a wide range of gambling options, including Tribal Casinos. Additionally, Charitable forms of gambling include Bingo, Pull Tabs and Raffles. The population of New Mexico is sometimes concentrated in cities and sometimes spread out, depending on where in the state you are, though areas too far outside of the major cities tend not to be populated much at all compared to other states.

Given Kentucky's demographics, this figure may seem somewhat elevated. However, it is important to note that there aren't many other gambling options accessible for the residents of the state. Ironically, the lottery game with the best return (iLottery Keno) is the least popular among players. Curiously, Kentucky's iLottery Keno is the only lottery format in the state that has a returning rate sufficient to qualify as a legal gaming machine in Nevada. $1 Fast Play-61.09% .

Even so, its return rate would still fall short of meeting the minimum jurisdictional return standards imposed in most other states.

Next, we can only hope that Kentucky will see the introduction of genuine casino gambling in the near future. Many residents likely travel to neighboring states with casinos, such as

$2 Fast Play-1,257,453	$2 Fast Play-854,615	$2 Fast Play-67.96%	$5 Fast Play-4,040,035
$5 Fast Play-2,774,884	74,941,122	41,349,332	55.18%
$5 Fast Play-68.68%	26,926,003	13,543,102	50.30%
$10 Fast Play-539,960	22,539,843	11,313,822	50.19%
$10 Fast Play-398,158	7,293,605	4,340,822	59.52%
$10 Fast Play-73.74%	5,476,632	3,176,915	58.01%
Fast Play Sales-6,598,860	4,462,937	2,091,983	46.87%
Fast Play Total-4,492,838	1,060,208	607,997	57.35%
Fast Play Average-68.09%	859,871	572,334	66.56%
$1 Ticket: $0.3859	70,514	44,067	62.49%

. This raises the question: Why not keep that money circulating within Kentucky?

And yes, the state has a lottery too. You can find the Annual Report

Fortunately, this annual report provides statistics for both the 2020 and 2019 Fiscal Years, with the latter being the one we are especially interested in.

The summary covers figures for instant ticket sales, drawing ticket sales, and total prize expenditures. Instant ticket sales were recorded at 225,573,998, while drawing ticket sales reached 298,393,430, culminating in a total of 523,967,428. Prizes distributed amounted to 285,330,406, resulting in a return to player percentage of 54.46% overall (primarily due to a substantial amount of sales originating from low-return drawing tickets), leading to player losses of 238,637,022.

When considering an estimated population of around 4.649 million in 2019, the average person in the state would incur a loss of approximately $51.33 per resident from traditional lottery forms.

This relatively low figure can be attributed not only to the state's demographic makeup ( Louisiana is among the poorest states in the nation ) but also to the numerous other gambling options available outside the lottery. It is reasonable to assume that revenues diverted from the lottery are more than compensated by gains from alternative sources.

In 2019, there were quite few different drawing games, which makes it surprising that their sales exceeded those of instant lottery tickets. The available drawing games included Pick 3, Pick 4, Easy 5, Lotto, Powerball, and Mega Millions.

$2 Ticket: $0.6782

The Empire State has the full gamut of gambling options available to its residents. Among these are racing tracks with simulcast wagering, commercial casinos, tribal casinos, charitable gambling consisting of Bingo, raffles and Las Vegas nights and yes, of course, a state lottery.

Powerball and Mega Millions accounted for more than half of the drawing game sales in the state, indicating that those who participate in the lottery favor the least beneficial games, which is reflected in the overall return-to-player percentage.

Examining the individual game prizes reveals that instant prizes totaled 135,528,594 from sales of 225,573,998, resulting in a return to player percentage of 60.08% for those games . While this return is disappointing by instant ticket standards, it is still significantly better than the return from the drawing game types offered within the state. $3 Ticket: $1.0125 .

In Louisiana, for the year 2019, drawing games provided a total of 149,801,812 in prizes from overall sales of 298,393,430, culminating in an overall return to player percentage of 50.20% for drawing games .

These low returns are unacceptable for any legal slot machine, video keno, or video poker game across the United States. Sadly, it is the states who manage these lotteries that enforce such practices.

Rather than investing in the Louisiana Lottery, one could simply convert the amount they planned to spend into one-dollar bills, set aside 20% of those, and burn them. The fire won’t endure for long, but it might provide a moment of warmth, and the financial loss will still be lower than what you would typically face with instant tickets. Plus, it will all be over quite quickly.

$5 Ticket: $1.5570	$10 Ticket: $2.7040	$20 Ticket: $5.0640	$25 Ticket: $5.6900
Maryland	480,144	232,726	48.47%
Bordering states such as	69,311	24,643	35.55%
West Virginia	242,251	120,535	49.76%
Ohio	30,553	13,501	44.19%
and	911,900	470,230	51.57%
Pennsylvania	955,450	463,999	48.56%
Massachusetts	389,777	176,520	45.29%
Which we will determine by looking	87,911	36,914	41.99%
at this report	814,078	538,705	66.17%
Michigan	4,226,735	2,842,847	67.26%

Maine hosts its own state lottery , and it will be intriguing to see its performance considering alternative gambling options and the geographic isolation found in some areas. Here’s the

from the Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations.

Maine may well be the sole state where these two departments are combined! It seems that drinking and gambling occasionally complement one another, which offers a rationale.

here

The initial section of the report addresses various sales metrics classified by game type and individual game. Let’s briefly examine these figures:

Unfortunately, the subsequent portion of the report includes just one line item labeled, \"Cost of Goods Sold,\" which apparently encompasses all prize payouts. It would have been more straightforward if lottery reports listed both overall amounts and detailed figures for individual games, but that’s not the case. We will need to navigate further into the document to find if prizes are mentioned separately. Let's take a look at some numbers! .

We are in luck!!! A later segment of the report does delineate the prizes categorized by denomination, allowing us to make direct comparisons between games! Let’s delve into that!

Overall Average-66.13% (Excluding Heritage)

First off, we owe great appreciation to the Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations in Maine for their outstanding transparency in the Annual Report, which reveals how much each game awards players. This is exceptionally enlightening, providing insights that may help players of instant tickets realize their slim chances of winning.

That said, while we are grateful for the transparency, state lotteries remain a poor choice, and it’s advisable for individuals to avoid them . Nevertheless, out of sheer respect for the openness displayed, I might just consider splitting the cost of a $1 instant ticket with someone the next time I find myself in Maine.

Game Type	Sales	Prizes	Return to Player
Instant	1,908,862,000	1,348,383,000	70.64%
1.6555B	950,762,000	480,698,000	50.56%

In our Table at the bottom of the page, the term \"Fast Play" will be included as part of the Drawing Games lottery category. The total losses attributed to the lottery in Maine for the Fiscal Year 2019 amounted to $101,519,788, which translates, given a 2019 population approximating 1.344 million, to a per capita loss of approximately $75.54 .

When we examine the impact of the lottery on residents of Maine, the financial losses indeed appear to be on the higher side when averaged out per person. However, these figures are not particularly surprising. It seems that participating in the lottery is a common practice in a region where convenient alternatives for gambling are probably lacking. 1.2200B Next, let’s take a closer look at how expected losses vary by the cost of instant tickets:

It's quite clear that the $25 ticket offers the most favorable return percentage, but one must consider that playing it means you’ll end up losing more than the cumulative cost of four different ticket options. Among them, the $20 to $25 jump stands out slightly in terms of value—you're only paying an additional $0.63 for a ticket that gives you a 12.6% loss based on the extra five dollars you spent.

Clearly, these options are not great choices for anyone hoping to win.

Drawing

North Dakota has a reasonable number of gambling options available to its residents . In addition to tribal casinos, there are also horse racing tracks where pari-mutuel wagering and simulcast betting can be found. Beyond that, there are a wide variety of legal forms of Charitable Gambling, but of course, North Dakota is also home to a state lottery.

Nonetheless, we want to extend our gratitude to the Maine Lottery Operations for their detailed, clear, and accessible Annual Report. Many lottery organizations seem to go to great lengths to conceal the substantial losses incurred by participants, even with high-value instant tickets.

1.4385B If you're considering gifting a $25 lottery ticket this holiday season, we suggest opting for a $20 gift card to a local grocery store instead, keeping the remaining $5 for yourself. In this case, you are essentially getting the same value for your money, and the expected value of that instant ticket you contemplated buying is actually lower than the gift card. .

While not everyone partakes in lottery games, everyone requires food.

Maryland exhibits a diverse landscape, with its mountainous, forested, and somewhat secluded rural areas coexisting alongside vibrant urban centers including its capital, Baltimore. Beyond Baltimore, other cities with moderate populations can also be found scattered across the state.

Considering the state’s unique demographic profile and the way its population is distributed, it’s a challenge to predict what the average loss per resident due to lottery participation might be. Additionally, the numerous casinos located throughout Maryland present more enticing gambling methods that are easily accessible for most residents.

The presence of commercial casinos brings stiff competition, meaning that the traditional Maryland State Lottery has to fight harder to attract the gambling money of its population.

751.3M

You can find the Annual Report for the Fiscal Year 2019 right here.

Regrettably, the Maryland Lottery does not provide extensive information about itself. The data in this report tends to be quite general and lacks the in-depth analysis found in reports from other states.

While the lottery shares its total sales figures along with those for various game types, it fails to categorize prize distributions by game type, presenting them only as a single total . This lack of specificity complicates comparisons of Instant Ticket returns to those from other states.

Total sales were approximately 2.197 billion dollars, with prizes amounting to 1.362 billion, leading to an overall return to players of about 61.99% . It's easy to see that without detailed figures—Instant Tickets performed poorly and draw game returns were even worse; it's consistently disappointing.

During the Fiscal Year 2019, Maryland residents lost $835 million to the state lottery. Given an estimated population of 6.046 million, this results in an overall loss of about $138.11 per resident . One would think they would take pride in this statistic and want to highlight just how badly players are faring across different games! Club .

Regardless, the Maryland State Lottery is performing poorly comparable to other lotteries, and it’s time for players to reconsider their participation.

If you're open to alternatives, I've got a different game to suggest. We could place a $1 wager on a coin flip, but if you win, I would only give you $0.60. This setup means you would only lose $0.20 every time we play, which is a better deal than buying a scratch-off ticket.

Massachusetts features a relatively high population density, especially in the Boston area. However, there exist various alternative gambling options not only within Massachusetts but also in neighboring states. It will be interesting to see how this influences the statewide lottery-related losses per resident.

This report includes year-to-date figures that cover up to June 2019, completing that entire Fiscal Year. Much like the Massachusetts Lottery Annual Report (which is not easy to obtain), it lists sales by specific game but, curious enough, lumps prizes into a single category. This further illustrates a tendency among lotteries to keep players unaware of which games to avoid.

650.9M	433.9M	Other	152.5M
Minnesota	slot machines	here	69.60%
Game Type	Sales	Prizes	57.80%

As it stands, total lottery sales amounted to $5,508,564,000, while prizes were approximately $3,987,258,000, resulting in a return to players of 72.38% . One might expect them to actively promote this number, especially since that’s REALLY impressive for a lottery.

Of course, no legitimate slot machine in Nevada or any other state could possibly fare worse than that.

Return to Player

Oklahoma is another one of those states that is sparsely populated and largely spread out, with the exception of a few medium-sized cities. With that said, Oklahomans have a wide variety of gaming options as Tribal Casinos are found all over the state, have any form of gambling you can imagine, and the largest casino in the country, WinStar is located, you guessed it, in Oklahoma.

The clear explanation lies in how Instant Tickets and Keno made up 85.9% of all sales for the Massachusetts Lottery during this timeframe, while Powerball and Mega Millions together accounted for just 5.3%. It appears that the people of Massachusetts are quite knowledgeable about gambling and generally steer clear of the riskiest options.

The cumulative losses for the Massachusetts Lottery during this timeframe totaled $1,521,306,000, which, when divided by the 2019 population estimate of 6.893 million, equates to a loss of approximately $220.70 per resident . This figure is considerably HIGHER than average in other states, indicating that the residents of Massachusetts definitely have a penchant for those Instant Tickets! Instant 'Scratchers' .

I suppose you might as well keep scratching, Massachusetts, even though it wouldn’t be wise to do so. The silver lining is that your Instant Tickets and Keno games likely offer better odds compared to many other states, which is yet another reason why the lottery should give a clearer breakdown by game type—especially since your overall lottery returns surpass other states’ returns from their higher payout Instant Tickets!

Similarly, Michigan was among the first states to legalize regulated online gambling through casinos.

Even with the introduction of various gambling options, Michigan maintains a State Lottery. Let’s examine how the lottery performs in light of the other gambling avenues available throughout the state, as well as in bordering states like Ohio and Indiana. The Fiscal Year Report for the Michigan Bureau of State Lottery is available and covers the period concluding in September 2019.

To start with, we note that the lottery generated operating revenues of $3.8974 billion for the State of Michigan during that fiscal year, with prizes tallying up to $2.3647 billion. Unfortunately, they have deducted unclaimed prizes from this total, so we can only hope that more detailed figures for individual games can be found somewhere else in the report.

Drawing	Mississippi	Missouri	This Annual Report
Game Type	135,965,126	93,202,993	68.55%
Sales	105,728,291	53,040,016	50.17%

In this context, residents of Michigan would have lost around $1.5327 billion during the fiscal year, which, given a population of 9.987 million, means the losses come to about $153.47 per resident. This is indeed a surprisingly high figure considering the other gambling options available in the state, but despite the stiff competition, the lottery seems to consistently perform better year after year!

Believe it or not, 2020 proved to be yet another good year for the lottery, surpassing even 2019! Take that, pandemic and the resulting economic skepticism! Lottery players remain unwavering—you can't even hope to slow them down.

The lottery categorizes sales and prize types into broad categories, so we will take a look at sales, prize distribution, and returns to players as follows:

 

Prizes

Regrettably, we do not have clarity on the returns from, "Other Games and Promotions," since they appear to be included either with club or drawing game prize returns. They accounted for all related prizes in that aggregate, so for some baffling reason, they recorded this separately in one section and not in another.

For the purpose of our final summary, we will categorize all non-Instant games as drawing-type games. Return-to-Player Instant Tickets 'Scratchers' Drawing Tickets .

On page 89 of the Financial Report, ticket sales and prizes are further dissected by type of game, although this information doesn't add much value for the objectives of this report. If you wish to analyze returns for a particular drawing game, you simply need to follow this formula: Pull Tabs .

(Drawing Game Prizes)/(Drawing Game Sales) = Return (Convert from Decimal to Percentage)

It's a straightforward calculation. The reason we won't be listing them all here is that most Instant Tickets (including games like Pull Tabs, which are now categorized differently) remain summarized as single line items for their prizes and sales, and we are primarily focused on the return percentage delineated by Instant Ticket cost.

To be fair, Maine is currently the only state that has provided such transparent breakdowns in its annual report. Feel free to keep reading to see if other states do likewise, or if you directly moved to the section on Michigan, you might want to check out Maine for a sample of instant ticket returns by ticket price.

Naturally, our advice continues to hold. If you consider spending $100 on lottery tickets in the coming year, it might be better to just take a twenty-dollar bill, rip it apart, and keep the rest. You may be surprised, but you'll actually save money in the long run.

Furthermore, Minnesota maintains a fundamentally fair and open set of regulations regarding charitable and social gambling.

Of course, Minnesota hosts its own state lottery . The state consists of several urban areas, yet it also features regions that are quite remote. We will have to observe how this dynamic affects the state lottery figures, which we can discover

 

Montana

within the Fiscal Year 2019 Annual Report, wrapping up in June of that year, so let’s get started!

Initially, we come across the Gross Receipts for this particular year, which amount to a substantial $595,435,875. Out of this figure, $455,049,114 was distributed as prizes, commissions, and ticket costs. However, this information is not entirely relevant to the players, prompting us to delve deeper to uncover the actual losses incurred by them.

Further down the report, we can break down the prizes by each type of game, allowing us to present that information along with the returns offered to players.

Interestingly, the lottery appears to generate a small portion of revenue from other sources outside this context. The total ticket sales reached $636,810,253, while the prizes amounted to $395,592,006, leading to an overall player return of 62.12% and a total loss for the lottery of $241,218,247. With an estimated population of 5.64 million in 2019, this translates to a minimal loss of $42.77 per resident .

, so let's get to it! Game Type Sales

Interestingly, despite the various forms of gambling available both in Minnesota and neighboring states, local residents do not seem overly enthusiastic about participating in the lottery. Kudos to the people of Minnesota!

When we look at the returns as percentages, it appears that Instant Tickets in Minnesota perform slightly worse than average, while drawing tickets are fairly typical. It’s possible that the state offers a lower percentage of the more expensive $10+ Instant Tickets (which typically have returns over 70%) when compared to other states, although this is just a speculation on the part of the author.

Ultimately, it seems that the ideal scenario for annual sales to state lotteries would be to hit zero, especially until they significantly improve their games. Overall, it’s commendable that Minnesota residents are wise enough to largely avoid this unfavorable gamble.

Mississippi has a long history of State Commercial Casinos, but the introduction of the lottery is relatively new, having only been permitted in 2018. This delay is why we will rely on the most current Annual Lottery Report available for the state, as they lag behind many others by several decades.

Given the circumstances, we believe it would be prudent for residents to explore the many other legal gambling options available, as we anticipate the returns from the Mississippi State Lottery will likely not be any better than those found in other states, which is not promising.

 

Prizes

Rhode Island is home to a few small casinos and has Bingo and Raffles for Charitable Gambling options. Additionally, the state allows for online gambling, at least, as far as Daily Fantasy Sports and Sports Betting goes. Simulcast Wagering and live race pari-mutuel betting are also legal in the state.

Sadly, it seems that Mississippi has not yet released a comprehensive annual report covering a full year of lottery operations . Preliminary quarterly reports indicate that total lottery returns fell below 60%, particularly since over 90% of sales were attributed to Instant Tickets.

In essence, the prospects for the Mississippi Lottery appear to be less favorable than those of most other states. Return to Player Instant Tickets

The restrictive gambling laws that once existed have been abolished, leading Missouri to embrace nearly every traditional form of gambling imaginable, including the establishment of a state lottery.

We also focus on the Fiscal Year 2019, which is key for us in making this apple-to-apples comparison.

Missouri primarily consists of the bustling metropolitan areas of Saint Louis and the sprawling Kansas City, along with the capital, Jefferson City, and a few other significant towns. The majority of the state is largely rural, dotted with small communities. Interstate 70 traverses the state, connecting Kansas City and Saint Louis.

Missouri's gambling regulations previously limited operations to what was termed \"Riverboat" gambling, which were essentially structures built on concrete slabs that didn’t actually float. Many of them didn’t even resemble boats, serving more as traditional buildings.

These river-based casinos tended to cluster in the larger cities, particularly in Saint Louis and Kansas City, due to the proximity to significant rivers. This geographic logic, unfortunately, leaves residents in the more remote areas of the state without easy access to a commercial casino.

We must analyze the Annual Report to understand how these dynamics impact the losses experienced by each resident in the state, so let's dive in!

We begin with a straightforward summary that distinguishes between lottery ticket sales and total prizes. This helps us calculate the overall losses incurred by the Lottery for the Fiscal Year and allows us to determine the losses per resident. The total sales of lottery tickets amounted to $1,466,028,703, while prizes reached $1,015,091,349, resulting in a return to player of 69.24% . Consequently, total losses totaled $450,937,354, leading to an estimated loss of $73.48 per resident based on a 2019 population estimate of 6.137 million.

 

Drawing Tickets

While some states significantly deviate from the norm, Missouri remains relatively average. Nonetheless, it will likely rank among the top half in terms of loss per resident concerning traditional lottery games.

Additionally, the State of Missouri offers Pull Tabs, which will be accounted for independently in this section concerning returns to players, but will be grouped with Instant Tickets in the chart at the end of this document. and In summary, Missouri boasts one of the more favorable lotteries , albeit a rather disheartening realization. Across the board, the returns to players are better than average, with the performance of Missouri Pull Tabs closely resembling that of many penny slot machines, marking the first occasion a lottery product is favorably compared to a casino game.

That being said, even the relatively high returns on Instant Tickets would not meet the threshold for a legal slot machine in any state with casinos. Thus, while it’s superior in comparison, it still falls short in the broader context.

Pennsylvania	Massachusetts	Which we will determine by looking	at this report
Michigan	here	Let's take a look at some numbers!	72.99%
Game Type	Sales	Prizes	47.79%

If you decide to partake in the lottery here, Show Me that you can stick to the Pull Tabs with fair returns!

Montana is arguably one of the best states in the nation for gambling enthusiasts! It offers every conceivable gaming option, including sports betting through the lottery, Tribal Casinos, Commercial Card Rooms, Video Lottery Terminal venues, and small-scale casinos akin to those in West Virginia; you can even place live bets throughout Big Sky Country.

Additionally, they do have a lottery, although nobody's perfect.

 

Return to Player

With such a myriad of gambling options available in Montana, it would be surprising if the traditional lottery performed exceptionally well. Coupled with the lack of major urban centers and a relatively dispersed and sparse population, we do not foresee the lottery losses per resident being particularly severe.

To find definitive answers, we must examine the

Montana Lottery Annual Report for the 2019 Fiscal Year.

Instant	1.6555B	1.2200B	Drawing
1.4385B	32,237,932	21,321,309	66.14%
751.3M	30,708,432	16,383,207	53.35%

Conveniently, the main body of the report differentiates between Instant Ticket revenues and prizes, and Drawing Ticket revenues, so we will parallel that here:

Alongside the reality that Instant Ticket returns lag behind those of other states, Montana stands out as one of the few states where the returns from Instant Tickets are not significantly superior to Drawing Game returns. Nevertheless, Drawing Games do yield slightly better returns than those in other states; however, the disparity could be due to a few high-value winners skewing the overall results due to the low overall sales.

Ultimately, the total losses incurred by the Montana Lottery for the Fiscal Year 2019 were $25,761,712, which translates, based on a population estimate of 1.069 million, to an average loss per resident of $24.10 . This positions Montana among the states with the lowest per-resident losses in the nation . The primary reason for this is the fact that, as previously noted, residents have access to numerous superior gambling opportunities.

 

Club

Kudos to the citizens of Montana for seeking out more favorable betting options! Here’s hoping that, in the coming years, the losses per resident drop to zero, especially considering the dismal player returns associated with this lottery.

Despite a general reluctance to expand gambling options, Nebraska has maintained a state lottery since voters approved its establishment back in 1992.

650.9M 433.9M .

In addition to the lottery, the state offers a handful of other gambling alternatives. Given the widespread dispersion of the state's population, interspersed with a few minor population hubs, it will be interesting to see how this affects the lottery's loss per resident.

Other

152.5M

Minnesota

Regrettably, all sales and payouts are presented as aggregated totals without any detailed breakdown, leaving us with limited information. What we do have shows total sales of $192,125,860 and total prizes of $113,305,246, leading to an overall return to player of 58.97% and total losses of $78,820,614.

With a 2019 population estimate at 1.934 million, this results in an average loss per resident of roughly $40.76.

Regardless of the situation, it appears that most residents possess the common sense to avoid engaging in the poorly-calibrated lottery games. We don’t hold it against them! Let’s aim to see that loss per resident drop below a dollar by the end of the decade!

Thus, the residents of Nevada incur a total lottery loss of $0.

The notion is that the state should feel embarrassed for offering such dismal games!

Nevertheless, we acknowledge that residents might venture into neighboring states to participate in Mega Millions and Powerball when jackpots soar. Our advice is, \" Stop doing that! The returns are often still bleak, especially when taxes are factored in, and winning the jackpot is highly unlikely!"

New Hampshire is a state where most inhabitants seem rather indifferent toward gambling . While simulcast betting and live horse racing are legal, there are currently no operational providers. Even though the state neighbors others with commercial gambling, New Hampshire does not appear interested in establishing its own casinos.

An intriguing aspect of the state is the presence of various card rooms. In New Hampshire, poker and certain table games are classified as \"Games of Skill,” rendering them entirely legal.

 

slot machines

Although the state may appear indifferent towards gambling activities, it has been running a state lottery since the 1960s, so let's delve into that.

Let's examine its performance and how much money, on average, the typical resident has lost during this period. here Absolutely, dear reader. Our purpose here is to uncover those details. I wasn't genuinely seeking your input.

The data indicates that the total sales from scratch tickets during the relevant timeframe reached $250,477,088. Additionally, if we factor in Keno as part of the draw tickets at the end of this page, we discover that a total of 133,889,409 tickets were sold for drawing games. This brings the combined total sales of tickets to $379,853,528.

The New Hampshire Lottery also includes revenue from racing and charitable gambling, and it’s important to note that the previous figure does not encompass iLottery, which is categorized simply as the New Hampshire Lottery's net profit, leaving the total wagered amount unclear. Game Type Sales

Later on, the Lottery provides a breakdown of some sales and winnings by general game category, and we will mirror that approach below:

In total, the prizes amount to $240,811,693 when considered against lottery sales of $379,853,528 for standard lottery games, leading to an overall return to player of 63.4% , with total losses tallying up to $139,041,835. Given an estimated population of 1.36 million in 2019, we arrive at an average loss per resident of approximately $102.24, positioning this among the more frequently played state lotteries.

Evidence suggests that the multi-state mega jackpot games have the poorest returns, yet the overall lottery experience in New Hampshire leaves much to be desired. That said, the returns on Instant Tickets seem to align more closely with average expectations.

If you're curious about the specifics of individual drawing game sales and the corresponding prizes, those details are available elsewhere in the report. However, they don’t specify figures by game or denomination of Instant Tickets, which would be more pertinent for our current discussion.

Let’s be honest about which drawing game in New Hampshire reigns supreme: it’s definitely the one that you decide not to engage with.

There have been intermittent attempts to expand casino operations into the northern regions of the state, but none have yet come to fruition. Aside from that, gambling options are rather limited, encompassing a few horse racing venues and simulcast locations, along with the state lottery.

Do residents take their gambling budget to Atlantic City or neighboring states, or do they still pour substantial amounts into the New Jersey lottery year after year? That's a question worth exploring.

The first financial section that we’ll focus on provides an overall summary of sales and prizes disbursed, revealing that the state recorded sales of $3.482 billion while distributing $2.087 billion in prizes for the Fiscal Year 2019. This leads to an overall return of approximately 59.94% when integrating all games, with losses around 1.395 billion. The estimated population for the state in 2019 was 8.882 million, concluding that the average loss per resident to the lottery was about $157.06.

Interestingly, it appears that New Jersey residents do not shy away from playing the lottery when they can't visit Atlantic City. They might not fully realize the

games that are legally permitted within the state and linked to physical casinos, which typically offer superior experiences. Additionally, most offshore online casinos generally provide much better options as well.

In truth, you are unlikely to experience such terrible returns as 60% anywhere but in the lottery—exceptions being some imprudent live keno games and equally absurd side bets—but they rarely occur.

The New Jersey Lottery meticulously details the sales of each game type in its Annual Report, yet it lacks any consistency in how prizes are presented, which are always reported as a single aggregate figure and are not broken down into Instant and Drawing Games.

We have to commend New Jersey with a resounding, \"Boooooo,\" for generating substantial revenue through the lottery while neglecting to inform players which games are slightly less dreadful than the rest. Typically, Instant Tickets will yield the best returns, but even they remain dismal.

While I could advise New Jersey players to stop engaging with the lottery, individuals from this state tend to be quite headstrong and prefer to make their own decisions. At the very least, consider it—unless they decide to disclose specific prizes for each game?

 

Prizes

New Mexicans have a plethora of gambling venues and are fortunate to inhabit a stunningly beautiful state , making it difficult to ascertain whether participating in the lottery is among their preferred activities. Debating whether red sauce surpasses green taco sauce is often a more enjoyable conversation—and it costs less! To discover the lottery's performance in their area,

 

Return to Player

we’ll explore this Annual Report for the Fiscal Year concluding in June 2019. Let's dive in!

Fantastic! The first significant section of the report contains details on sales for individual game types and their respective prizes, which the lottery attributes as an \"Expense.\" Why label it as an expense? Because the lottery operates as a straightforward business, and individuals buying tickets are considered customers, a source of revenue. Honestly, those who purchase substantial amounts of lottery tickets each year are likely viewed as potential profits.

Their Instant Ticket returns are among the worst you could find! Even by lottery standards, a return of 55.18% on Instant Tickets is shockingly poor. In contrast, many state lotteries don’t have such terrible returns even on their $1 tickets. In total, the remaining $68,689,613 in tickets sold will be categorized as Drawing Game Tickets, though this classification doesn't significantly change the landscape in this state. For these games, total prizes amounted to $35,691,042, yielding a return to player of 51.96% overall. If residents could steer clear of those multi-state jackpots, drawing tickets might have outperformed instant tickets. .

Total prizes reached $77,040,374 against sales of $143,630,735, indicating a total loss for both residents and out-of-state lottery players of $66,590,361. With an estimated population of 2.097 million for 2019, New Mexicans lost an average of around $31.76 per resident.

The multi-state jackpot games attract a level of popularity comparable to that in other states, yet it’s glaringly evident that New Mexicans show limited interest in participating in other lottery games compared to neighboring states. Is it possible this stems from poor returns? Probably not; all lotteries tend to have poor outcomes, so it all comes down to varying degrees of that reality.

Moreover, New Mexico's position in the bottom five regarding Median Household Income doesn't bode well. Contrary to common assumptions, and drawing from California’s data, it appears that only households earning between $30,000 and $50,000 exhibit proportional lottery spending, while those earning above $50,000 are statistically more inclined to wager on the lottery.

Interestingly, it’s a misconception that a significant number of low-income individuals indiscriminately squander their last dollar; of course, that does happen, but many disadvantaged individuals prioritize basic needs like food over purchasing a subpar scratch-off ticket with a 55% return.

 

Instant 'Scratchers'

Perhaps we should be more concerned with ensuring others have enough to eat when considering how to allocate funds that could easily be wasted on poorly returning gambling options like lotteries. Charity often yields more satisfaction when given directly, whereas losing money to the lottery will likely just leave you feeling disheartened.

The majority of the state's populace is densely packed in New York City while other significant urban centers like Buffalo also exist within the borders. Despite various gambling options being accessible, the high population density likely results in New York having one of the highest averages of lottery losses per resident.

To definitively understand this, we need to take a closer look at

The Annual Lottery Report also encompasses data for Fiscal Year 2019, which is our focus for this discussion, so let’s move forward!

We first observe that traditional lottery games generated total revenues of $8.209 billion for Fiscal Year 2019, and when we compare it to the $4.919 billion awarded in prizes, it becomes evident that the lottery returned, in total, approximately 59.92% of all money wagered back to players, resulting in players losing about $3.29 billion to the state's lottery. According to estimates, New York's population in 2019 stood at 19.45 million, leading us to conclude that the average loss per resident reached around $169.15, which is certainly on the upper end.

The report continues by detailing sales and prizes segmented by game type, so now we’ll take a closer examination of those figures and analyze player returns: Drawing .

As observed, the overall lottery returns are significantly buoyed by a high proportion of sales stemming from instant tickets, which typically yield returns in line with lottery norms. Conversely, drawing tickets overall, offer approximately 52.19% back to players , which aligns with expectations. Without the Quick Draw game, returns on drawing games would likely dip below the 50% mark.

The sheer volume of income generated by this state's lottery is staggering and realistically should be much lower. It’s astonishing to think about the number of people willingly pouring substantial amounts of money into games that yield such terrible returns.

What's a more rewarding activity than playing the lottery? Simply take the amount you intended to spend on lottery tickets, set aside 20% of it, and toss the remainder into Niagara Falls...you'd likely be left with more money than you would if you engaged in the New York Lottery.

While the state might appear indifferent towards gambling activities, it does run a state lottery that began operating in the 1960s. Let's take a closer look at it.

We need to examine how well this lottery is performing and what the typical losses are for residents in this state during the specified time frame.

 

Mississippi

That's precisely the information we intend to uncover, dear reader. I wasn't seeking your input on this matter.

During the examined timeframe, we found that the total sales of scratch tickets amounted to 250,477,088. Additionally, if we factor in Keno, categorized as a drawing ticket, 133,889,409 drawing game tickets were sold. This leads to an impressive combined figure of 379,853,528 in ticket sales overall.

The New Hampshire Lottery also includes revenue from horse racing and charitable gambling, but the previous total doesn't account for iLottery. This component is presented solely as the New Hampshire Lottery's net earnings, leaving us uncertain about the total amount wagered.

The Lottery also provides a breakdown of sales and prizes by game type, and we will mirror that format in our discussion below:

Missouri This Annual Report .

In total, the prizes distributed add up to 240,811,693 against total lottery sales of 379,853,528 for traditional lottery games, leading to an overall return to player of 63.4% and total losses totaling 139,041,835. Using the estimated population of 1.36 million for 2019, we can calculate an average loss per resident of approximately $102.24, indicating it’s one of the more engaged state lotteries.

As observed, the multi-state mega jackpot games exhibit poor performance and are considered quite unfavorable; in fact, the overall lottery situation in New Hampshire is far from ideal. Instant Ticket returns seem to hover around the average.

Game Type	Sales	Prizes	Return-to-Player
Instant Tickets 'Scratchers'	Drawing Tickets	Pull Tabs	67.87%
Montana	, so let's get to it!	Game Type	48.25%

The report includes information on the sales and prize payouts for individual drawing games, which is available for those interested, but it fails to segregate information by game type or denomination for Instant Tickets, which is what we are most curious about for this page.

We will provide our recommendation on which drawing game in New Hampshire is truly the best: it’s best to avoid playing altogether.

 

Sales

There have been sporadic initiatives aimed at extending casino operations into the northern regions of the state, but none have materialized successfully thus far. Aside from the state lottery, there are minimal gambling options, with only a few horse racing tracks and simulcast facilities.

Are residents choosing to spend their gambling funds in Atlantic City or adjacent states, or do the residents of the Garden State consistently lose significant sums to the lottery year after year? There's only one way to determine the answer.

On our first financial report page, the overall sales and prizes distributed are simply listed, revealing that the state generated 3.482 billion in lottery sales and disbursed 2.087 billion in winnings for the fiscal year 2019. This results in an overall return close to 59.94% , with losses nearing 1.395 billion. The estimated state population was approximately 8.882 million in 2019, suggesting that the average loss to the lottery per resident was about $157.06.

Prizes Interestingly, it appears that New Jerseyians are enthusiastic about participating in the lottery when they can’t make their way to Atlantic City. Perhaps not all are aware that the games tied to physical casinos within the state, which are legally accessible, would offer them far better odds. .

Return to Player	Instant Tickets	Drawing Tickets	and
Pennsylvania	115,596,000	77,337,000	66.90%
Massachusetts	84,501,000	41,909,000	49.60%

It’s worth noting that offshore online casinos typically provide considerably superior games as well.

In reality, you won't find a return as low as 60% in any lottery except for a few exceptions, like some subpar live keno games or equally absurd side bets.

The New Jersey Lottery meticulously details the sales for each game in its annual report. However, when it comes to prize information, it lacks consistency, presenting data for prizes merely as a single line item, and does not differentiate between Instant and Drawing Games.

 

Which we will determine by looking

We have to express our disappointment to New Jersey for their lack of transparency; Boooooo for raking in significant profits through the lottery and failing to inform players about which games might be slightly less dreadful than others. Though, it’s likely that Instant Tickets yield the best returns, they still remain quite poor.

While I might suggest that New Jersey residents reconsider their involvement with the lottery, the people from this state generally are quite confident and independent, and don’t take kindly to unsolicited advice. But perhaps they should consider this unless they provide clearer prize listings by game?

at this report Residents of New Mexico are spoiled for choice when it comes to gambling opportunities and are surrounded by stunning natural landscapes . Hence, it's difficult to assert whether playing the lottery ranks high among their preferred leisure activities. Debating whether red or green sauce reigns supreme for tacos is probably more entertaining, not to mention cheaper. To understand the lottery performance in this context, Michigan

Let’s dive into the Annual Report for the fiscal year ending in June 2019. Let’s begin!

Fantastic! The initial pertinent section of the report presents sales per individual game type and their corresponding prizes, which are referred to by lotteries as \"Expenses". Why do they label it as such? Because the lottery operates as a straightforward business, and participants are seen primarily as customers, contributing to revenue; state lotteries tend not to regard them as players. Honestly, they probably view heavy ticket purchasers as mere numbers.

New Mexico’s Instant Ticket returns are among the worst you’ll find anywhere! In fact, a return rate of just 55.18% on Instant Tickets is quite pitiful. Several state lotteries can achieve better returns even on $1 tickets!

The remaining $68,689,613 in ticket sales will be categorized as Drawing Game Tickets, although the distinction has little significance in this state. These games collectively offered total prizes amounting to $35,691,042, leading to an overall return to player of 51.96% on these tickets. Drawing tickets might have even fared better than Instant Tickets, had players avoided the multi-state jackpots.

here	Let's take a look at some numbers!	Game Type	Sales
Prizes	Return to Player	Instant	66.59%
1.6555B	1.2200B	Drawing	50.19%

In total, the prizes reached $77,040,374 against overall sales of $143,630,735, resulting in a substantial loss to residents and out-of-state lottery players of $66,590,361. With an estimated population of 2.097 million for 2019, we conclude that New Mexicans experienced an average loss per resident of roughly $31.76.

The multi-state jackpot games hold a comparable appeal to those in various other states; however, it's evident that New Mexicans generally don't have much interest in other lottery types, at least not to the same extent seen elsewhere. Is it perhaps due to the dismal returns from these games? Probably not, as many lotteries yield poor returns overall, but the degree varies, and there’s always hope.

Additionally, New Mexico languishes near the bottom in terms of Median Household Income. Contrary to popular belief and based on figures from California, it's only around the $30,000-$50,000 range where lottery participant numbers align with demographics. Higher earners, above $50,000, disproportionately tend to play the lottery more.

 

1.4385B

Interestingly, the stereotype that it’s primarily low-income individuals losing their hard-earned money may not be entirely accurate. While this does happen occasionally, a large number of underprivileged individuals face more pressing concerns, like affording meals rather than spending on a 55% return scratch-off ticket.

Perhaps we should redirect our focus toward ensuring others have enough to eat rather than gambling on a game that yields such poor returns. Direct charitable giving tends to provide more gratification than lottery losses, which typically lead to disappointment.

New York's population is largely centered around New York City, with other significant cities like Buffalo also present in the state. Despite various gambling options available, the state's high population density suggests that New York might experience considerable lottery losses per capita.

The only way to confirm this assumption is to analyze the data.

751.3M Club 650.9M

This Annual Lottery Report contains the pertinent information for the fiscal year 2019, which is what we’re focusing on for this page, so let’s proceed!

The first thing we note is that traditional lottery games generated total revenues of 8.209 billion for fiscal year 2019. When compared to the 4.919 billion in prizes awarded, we find that the lottery effectively returned an overall approximately 59.92% of the total wagers back to players, with players ultimately losing around 3.29 billion to the state lottery. The state's estimated population was about 19.45 million in 2019, leading us to discover that the average loss per resident amounted to roughly $169.15, indicating a higher-than-average loss rate.

The report continues by detailing sales and prizes by game type, so let’s delve into those figures to understand the returns to players:

433.9M Other What stands out is that total lottery returns are significantly supported by a high volume of instant ticket sales, which align closely with typical lottery averages. Generally, drawing tickets yield about 52.19% returns to players , falling where one might expect. It stays just above 50% due to the positive impact of the Quick Draw game, preventing the drawing game players from losing more than half their total bets.

The revenue generated by the state lottery is nothing short of staggering and should logically be much lower. It’s astounding to think that so many people are funneling vast amounts of money into games that offer such poor returns.

What could be a more satisfying alternative to playing the lottery? Instead of spending your funds on lottery tickets, why not save 20% of that budget and toss the remainder into Niagara Falls? You’d likely end up with more money in your pockets at the end compared to what you could anticipate gaining by playing the New York Lottery.

While the state might appear indifferent towards gambling activities, it actually hosts a state lottery that has been running since the 1960s. So, let’s investigate.

152.5M

We will examine its performance and determine the average losses incurred by residents during this time.

We are indeed going to dive into this, dear reader. That's our mission here. It wasn’t really a question directed at you.

Our findings indicate that within the relevant timeframe, the state recorded a staggering 250,477,088 in scratch ticket sales. When we also factor in Keno as part of the drawing ticket category, it turns out that 133,889,409 tickets were sold for drawing games. Altogether, ticket sales reached an impressive 379,853,528.

Additionally, the New Hampshire Lottery includes revenue from racing and charitable gambling, but the figure above doesn’t account for iLottery, since iLottery revenue is simply reported as the New Hampshire Lottery's net earnings, leaving us in the dark regarding total betting figures.

The Lottery provides a breakdown of sales and prizes by general game categories, and we will mimic that format in the following sections.

In total, prizes amounted to 240,811,693 against lottery sales of 379,853,528 for traditional lottery formats. This yields an overall return to player of 63.4% , resulting in total losses of 139,041,835. Given the estimated population of 1.36 million for the year 2019, that translates to an average loss per individual of approximately $102.24, making this one of the most frequently played state lotteries. Minnesota From our observations, it’s evident that multi-state mega jackpot games present the worst returns. However, lottery performance in New Hampshire is generally poor across the board. At least, Instant Ticket returns might align more closely with average rates. slot machines Sales figures and prize returns for individual drawing games can be found further along in the report. Unfortunately, these figures aren’t categorized by game type or the denomination of Instant Tickets, which is what would really interest us on this page.

If you're wondering which drawing game has the best odds in New Hampshire, it would definitely be the one you choose not to participate in. here , Game Type , Sales Prizes Return to Player Instant 'Scratchers' Drawing , Mississippi Missouri This Annual Report There have been intermittent attempts to expand casino operations into the northern regions of the state, but none have been fruitful as of yet. Beyond that, the options for gambling are limited to a handful of horse racing venues and simulcast opportunities, along with the state lottery.

Will people be tempted to gamble their money in Atlantic City or in neighboring states? Or do the residents of The Garden State continue to lose significant sums to the lottery every year? The only way to find out is through investigation.

Game Type

Sales	Prizes	Return-to-Player	Instant Tickets 'Scratchers'	Drawing Tickets	Pull Tabs	Montana	, so let's get to it!
Game Type	Sales	Prizes	Return to Player	Instant Tickets	Drawing Tickets	Nebraska	We will find out by looking at the
Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2019	, so let\"s get into it!	Nevada	New Hampshire	Fiscal Year ending June 2019	, shall we?	Game Type	Sales
Prizes	Return to Player	Instant	Keno	Tri-State Games	MUSL Games	Lucky For Life	$50.85
New Jersey	Pennsylvania	and	72.02%	New York	And, that is by looking at the	52.23%	$54.88
Annual Report for Fiscal Year ending 2019	, so let\"s have at it!	online casinos	69.38%	New Mexico	Fiscal Year 2019	50.88%	$67.64
Game Type	Sales	Prizes	67.49%	Return to Player	Instant Tickets	49.79%	$45.64
Powerball	Mega Millions	Roadrunner Cash	70.14%	Pick 3	Lotto America	56.28% (2)	$131.10
Pick 4	Fast Play	Lucky Numbers Bingo	66.55%	New York	this	50.45%	$86.70(3) $113.56(4) $552.86(5)
Game Type	Sales (Thousands)	Prizes (Thousands)	73.51%	Return to Player	Mega Millions	49.54%	$116.98
Lotto	Take 5	Pick 10	64.37%	Nebraska	We will find out by looking at the	Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2019	$250.09
, so let\"s get into it!	Nevada	New Hampshire	Fiscal Year ending June 2019	, shall we?	Game Type	Sales	Prizes
Return to Player	Instant	Keno	72.25%(10)	Tri-State Games	MUSL Games	50.62%(9)	$53.34(11)
Lucky For Life	New Jersey	Pennsylvania	and	New York	And, that is by looking at the	Annual Report for Fiscal Year ending 2019	$84.25(13)
, so let\"s have at it!	online casinos	New Mexico	68.90%	Fiscal Year 2019	Game Type	50.51%	$72.45
Sales	Prizes	Return to Player	66.59%	Instant Tickets	Powerball	51.65%	$47.66
Mega Millions	Roadrunner Cash	Pick 3	Lotto America	Pick 4	Fast Play	Lucky Numbers Bingo	$42.09(15)
New York	this	Game Type	70.67%	Sales (Thousands)	Prizes (Thousands)	60.03%(16)	$68.08
Return to Player	Mega Millions	Lotto	60.08%	Take 5	Pick 10	50.20%	$51.33
Nebraska	We will find out by looking at the	Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2019	70.45%	, so let\"s get into it!	Nevada	53.02%(17)	$75.54
New Hampshire	Fiscal Year ending June 2019	, shall we?	Game Type	Sales	Prizes	Return to Player	$138.11
Instant	Keno	Tri-State Games	MUSL Games	Lucky For Life	New Jersey	Pennsylvania	$220.70
and	New York	And, that is by looking at the	73.69%	Annual Report for Fiscal Year ending 2019	, so let\"s have at it!	52.87%(20)	$153.47(19)
online casinos	New Mexico	Fiscal Year 2019	67.11%	Game Type	Sales	51.35%	$42.77
Prizes	Return to Player	Instant Tickets	Powerball	Mega Millions	Roadrunner Cash	Pick 3	Lotto America
Pick 4	Fast Play	Lucky Numbers Bingo	74.81%	New York	this	56.16%	$73.48
Game Type	Sales (Thousands)	Prizes (Thousands)	59.96%	Return to Player	Mega Millions	56.04%	$24.10
Lotto	Take 5	Pick 10	Numbers	Win 4	Powerball	Cash for Life	$40.76(23)
Quick Draw	Instant	North Carolina	this	Game Type	Sales	Prizes	Return to Player
Instant	Drawing	170.73	68.20%	California	North Dakota	52.34%	$102.24
By checking the	Ohio	here	Game Type	Sales	Prizes	Return to Player	$157.06
Instant	1,663.0M	1,157.9M	55.18%	Drawing	1,697.7M	51.96%	$31.76
981.9M	Oklahoma	here	67.26%	Game Type	Sales	52.19%	$169.15(26)
Prizes	Return to Player	Instant Tickets	70.64%	Drawing Games	Oregon	50.56%	$96.70
West Virginia	and	Illinois	here	Pennsylvania	In any event, we will have to digest	this report	$22.46(27)
. In order to know for sure.	Rhode Island	here	69.60%	, with the 2019 Annual Lottery Report.	South Carolina	57.80%	$104.44
Numbers	Win 4	Powerball	68.55%	Cash for Life	Quick Draw	50.17%	$155.93
Instant	North Carolina	this	Game Type	Sales	Prizes	Return to Player	$33.43(28)
Instant	Drawing	California	North Dakota	By checking the	Ohio	here	$123.14(29)
Game Type	Sales	Prizes	69.04%	Return to Player	Instant	58.75%	$95.91
1,663.0M	1,157.9M	Drawing	72.99%	1,697.7M	981.9M	47.79%	$129.89
Oklahoma	here	Game Type	66.14%	Sales	Prizes	53.35%	$28.53
Return to Player	Instant Tickets	Drawing Games	67.6%*(30)	Oregon	West Virginia	51.1%*(30)	$94.79
and	Illinois	here	Pennsylvania	In any event, we will have to digest	this report	. In order to know for sure.	$73.09
Rhode Island	here	, with the 2019 Annual Lottery Report.	South Carolina	Numbers	Win 4	Powerball	Cash for Life
Quick Draw	Instant	North Carolina	this	Game Type	Sales	Prizes	$77.53(32)
Return to Player	Instant	Drawing	California	North Dakota	By checking the	Ohio	$104.38
here	Game Type	Sales	67.87%	Prizes	Return to Player	48.25%	$41.09
Instant	1,663.0M	1,157.9M	66.90%	Drawing	1,697.7M	49.60%	$45.12(35)
981.9M	Oklahoma	here	66.59%	Game Type	Sales	50.19%	$48.30
Prizes	Return to Player	Instant Tickets	Drawing Games	Oregon	West Virginia	53.72%	$29.48(36)

1. The initial financial summary gives an overview of total sales and prizes paid out. For the fiscal year 2019, the state realized 3.482 billion in sales and disbursed 2.087 billion in prizes, leading to an overall return of approximately 59.94% when all games are considered, with losses hovering around 1.395 billion. The state's estimated population for that year was 8.882 million, leading to an average loss of around $157.06 per resident.
2. It appears that residents of New Jersey are not hesitant to play the lottery whenever they can't visit Atlantic City. They might not realize that
3. the gambling options legally accessible in the state, tied to the physical casinos, tend to offer much better prospects. Also, most offshore online casinos present superior games.
4. The reality is that finding returns as low as 60% is uncommon outside of the lottery's realm—except for a few absurd live keno games and equally irrational side bets.
5. The New Jersey Lottery provides an exhaustive breakdown of sales for each game in its Annual Report, but there is a glaring inconsistency in how prizes are reported—often lumped together as a single entry and not even categorized as Instant or Drawing Games.
6. We have to give New Jersey a loud Boooooo for profiting so greatly from the lottery without showing players which games might offer slightly better odds than the others. Naturally, if patterns hold true to other lotteries, Instant Tickets should yield the highest returns, but they remain inadequate.
7. While I might suggest to New Jersey players to consider quitting the lottery, the truth is that the state's residents typically value their independence and don't appreciate being told what to do. Still, they should at least ponder the issue, unless the state chooses to reveal prize breakdowns by game.
8. In New Mexico, residents have an abundance of gambling options and live in a stunningly beautiful environment , making it difficult to ascertain whether playing the lottery is a favorite pastime. Debates over the superiority of red versus green taco sauce are often more entertaining and economical. To evaluate the lottery's performance for the
9. We will be consulting this Annual Report for the fiscal year ending June 2019. Let’s dive in!
10. Fantastic! The first pertinent section of the report highlights the sales of various game types along with their corresponding prizes, which the lottery calls an Expense. Why is it labeled an expense? Because the lottery operates as a business, viewing customers primarily as revenue sources, rather than players. It's likely that those who spend hundreds on tickets yearly are perceived in a somewhat negative light.
11. New Mexico features some of the lowest returns on Instant Tickets you’ll encounter! Remarkably, a return of 55.18% on Instant Tickets is shockingly poor. There are numerous state lotteries where even the $1 tickets perform better than that!
12. In total, the remaining $68,689,613 worth of sold tickets will be classified as Drawing Game Tickets, though that designation hardly alters the situation in this state. These games produced total prizes of $35,691,042, resulting in a return to player of 51.96% overall. The performance of drawing tickets may have surpassed that of instant tickets had players not engaged with those multi-state jackpots.
13. In total, prizes reached $77,040,374 against overall sales of $143,630,735, leaving a loss of $66,590,361 for residents and out-of-state lottery players. With a 2019 population estimate of 2.097 million, this leads to an average loss per resident of about $31.76.
14. The appeal of multi-state jackpot games aligns roughly with expectations set by other states, but it is evident that New Mexicans show minimal interest in other lottery games compared to their counterparts in different states. Perhaps this is due to poor return rates? That’s debatable, as most lotteries perform subpar; the key variable is the degree of loss.
15. New Mexico's low ranking in terms of median household income doesn't help matters. Contrary to popular assumptions, data from California suggest that it is only in the income range of $30,000-$50,000 where lottery participation aligns with population proportions, while those earning over $50,000 are statistically more inclined to spend on lottery tickets.
16. It turns out that not all lottery players are destitute, as certain stereotypes suggest. Although there are indeed occasions where underprivileged individuals squander their limited funds, there are also many who prioritize basic needs over purchasing a lottery ticket with a 55% return.
17. Perhaps we should be more focused on helping others to eat if we have a dollar we’re willing to gamble on a game that offers such poor returns. Direct acts of charity often prove more fulfilling for givers, while losing money to the lottery is likely to yield feelings of regret.
18. The majority of the state's populace resides densely within New York City, along with other significant urban centers like Buffalo. Even with an array of gambling options available, the high density suggests New York is likely to see substantial lottery losses on a per capita basis.
19. The only definitive way to assess this is to analyze the data from
20. This Annual Lottery Report also presents details concerning the fiscal year 2019, which will serve as the focus of our discussion here. So, let’s proceed!
21. Initially, we discover that traditional lottery games generated total sales of 8.209 billion for fiscal year 2019. Comparing this with the 4.919 billion allocated for prizes reveals an overall return of around 59.92% to players, who ultimately lost about 3.29 billion to the state lottery. With the estimated population of New York at 19.45 million in 2019, we can calculate that the average loss per resident amounted to about $169.15, a figure that is distinctly high.
22. The report continues by detailing sales and prizes by type of game, which we will explore to assess player returns.
23. It’s apparent that overall lottery returns are significantly boosted by a large portion of instant ticket sales, which align relatively with typical lottery averages. Drawing tickets, on the whole, offer about a 52.19% return to players, which is consistent with expectations. Without the Quick Draw game, the overall performance of drawing games would likely have dipped below the 50% mark.
24. The sheer amount of revenue generated by this state lottery is mind-boggling and ideally should be much closer to zero. It’s astonishing how many individuals are willing to pour so much money into games with such poor return rates.
25. What could possibly be smarter than playing the lottery? Use your intended lottery funds, reserve 20% of it, and toss it straight into Niagara Falls... you would still be financially better off in comparison to potential losses from participating in the New York Lottery.
26. Residents of North Carolina find themselves quite limited in their gambling choices within a state that has traditionally taken a conservative stance on such expansions. The state is home to two tribal casinos, a small variety of charitable gambling avenues, and, of course, a state lottery that occupies a significant place in the gambling landscape.
27. Demographically speaking, North Carolina's population serves as a decent reflection of the national averages for most socio-economic indicators. However, one notable difference is the scarcity of gambling establishments aside from the lottery; we will soon analyze how this impacts the figures by examining the data from
28. We're looking at an extensive report that covers data for the Fiscal Year 2019, which is pertinent for our comparative analysis on this page.
29. One of the first observations we make is that the lottery boasted total sales reaching 2,859,624,000 against 1,845,287,000 awarded in prizes. This gives us an overall return to lottery players of 64.53%, which is comparatively favorable compared to others and is likely supported by a significant amount of instant ticket purchases.
30. On a different note, players collectively lost around 1,014,337,000 in the lottery for 2019, which based on an estimated population of 10.49 million translates to roughly $96.70 in losses per resident . This figure certainly positions North Carolina among the higher ranks of lottery losses per individual.
31. As we delve deeper into the report, it's worth noting that the lottery distinguishes between Instant and Drawing sales and prizes, so let’s quickly explore those categories:
32. Instant tickets seem to offer a slightly better return than the national average, though still quite disappointing, while drawing tickets hover around the typical average of just over half of the players' investment being returned.
33. In the linked report, you can find some intriguing insights into the demographics of lottery players, but that topic extends beyond the scope of this page. Our focus was merely to illustrate one example.
34. The report also provides detailed sales figures based on various types of drawing games and instant ticket price points but does not delve into finer details regarding prizes that haven't already been discussed, leaving little else of interest to us.
35. Nonetheless, it's clear that North Carolinians have a penchant for the lottery . We certainly hope that better gambling options become available in the future, as the returns on both instant and drawing tickets in your state would not meet the legal minimums set for regulated slot machines across the nation.
36. The population in North Dakota is both sparse and quite spread out. If previous experience serves as an indicator, and if you've followed along so far, you're probably concluding that the average lottery loss per person is likely lower than in many other states. We'll confirm if that holds true.

and

Illinois

here

Pennsylvania

In any event, we will have to digest

this report

. In order to know for sure.

Rhode Island

here

, with the 2019 Annual Lottery Report.

South Carolina

2019 Annual Lottery Report

Game Type

Sales

Prizes

Return to Player

Instant

1.4504B

1.0586B

Drawing

530.5M

253.5M

South Dakota

Game Type

Sales

Prizes

Return to Player

Instant Tickets

Drawing Games

Tennessee

Which brings us to the

Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2019

Instant: 1,448,878,000

Drawing: 363,726,000

Total: 1,812,604,000

Texas

West Virginia

Annual Report

(and business plan?) for 2019.

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

2019 on this page

Washington

Let's take a look at the

report

Game Type

Sales

Prizes

Return to Player

Instant, \"Scratch\" Tickets

523.8M

• 355.5M
• Drawing Tickets
• 279.4M
• 134.8M

West Virginia

• One of the first
• Game Type

Sales

• Prizes Return to Player
• Instant Tickets
• Drawing Tickets We’re referencing the North Dakota Lottery Annual Report for the Fiscal Year that ended in June 2019.
• Wisconsin
• And what the
• The crucial detail for us is that total ticket sales reached 35,352,991 for the year, with 18,240,852 allocated for prizes, resulting in a total return to player of 51.6%, which is abysmal, even for lottery standards.

has to say about it.

• Game Type During that fiscal year, North Dakotans lost $17,112,139 to the lottery. Based on the population estimate of 762,062 for 2019, this translates to losses of approximately $22.46 per resident. As we suspected, most North Dakotans do not show much interest in participating in the lottery , and for many potential players, access to a retailer is not convenient.
• Sales This certainly positions North Dakota as a contender for having the least lottery losses per resident , but stay tuned to see if anyone else competes for that title.
• Prizes Regrettably, this lottery does not categorize sales and prizes by game type at all, so the information provided above is essentially all we can gather from the report. Supposedly, their reporting is based on actual outcomes, meaning that prizes are only counted when they are claimed, which might explain the poor returns overall.
• Return to Player Instant Tickets
• Calculator for Estimating Sales from Lottery Jackpot Tickets Despite my current Pennsylvania residence, I still regard Ohio as my home state. This is especially painful to acknowledge given my observation that Ohioans seem to have a particular fondness for traditional lottery games. I’ve seen this firsthand during many occasions waiting to refuel my car while watching individuals take their time purchasing tickets.

451.3M 300.5M