You’ve read about the different lottery games and how to play them. You’ve also found several methods of picking lucky numbers. Now it’s time to fine-tune your game using this section full of insider tips and techniques. Know what to do and what to avoid. Learn how to set up a lottery-playing budget. Discover different ways to get in touch with your state’s lottery. Finally (may the odds be with you), know what to do if you win!
Prudent Precautions
If possible, always buy your own lottery tickets. Don’t ask neighbors or friends to pick them up for you. Similarly, don’t pick up tickets for others. Don’t loan or borrow money for tickets, and don’t go halfsies, either. Why? Isn’t this a trifling matter — the same as picking up a loaf of bread for someone at the store? Not quite. If the ticket doesn’t win or if the prize is small, then there’s usually no problem. But if the ticket turns out to be a jackpot winner, you could have a sticky situation on your hands. At the very least, it could be embarrassing. This little favor for a neighbor now involves millions of dollars.
For instance, maybe your neighbor said she’d pay you the dollar for the ticket later. Fine, you think. What’s a dollar? You give her the ticket, and she’s now a millionaire. Be honest. Would you perhaps feel you’re entitled to part of the windfall? After all, you did buy the ticket with your own money. Matka OK, it wasn’t technically your money. It was money you loaned your neighbor. Still, you did go and purchase the ticket, so you might feel you’re entitled to some of the winnings.
What if the situation were reversed, and your neighbor had purchased the ticket for you? Maybe you jokingly promised to split the money with her if you won. Are you aware that she might be able take you to court, claiming the two of you made a verbal agreement? No matter what people’s good intentions are before the ticket is purchased, not everyone is as honorable as Raul Zavaleta, one of the real-life winners featured in this book. Once the winning numbers are announced, not everyone will, without hesitation, keep his or her promise to split $40 million.
Are you beginning to see the possible repercussions in this? Why not avoid broken friendships, hurt feelings, and even lawsuits? Buy your own tickets, period. It’s an entirely different situation when you give a ticket to someone as a gift, or vice versa — a gift is a gift.
Most people discard their losing scratch-off, Pick 3, and Lotto tickets. After all, what possible use could you have for those scraps of paper? Think again. If you regularly spend a significant amount of money on the lottery, those old tickets might be worth cash to you.
The IRS says you cannot offset losses against winnings and report the difference. For example, if Mary spends $1,600 a year on tickets and wins only $600, she must report the $600 even though her losses amounted to $1,000. According to the tax rules, if you have gambling losses, you can claim them as an itemized deduction, but you cannot deduct more than the winnings reported. So if Mary itemizes her deductions, she can take only $600 as an itemized loss on schedule A.
On the other hand, if Jim spends $600 and wins $1,600, he too must report the $1,600. But if he itemizes, he can claim the entire $600 as a loss on schedule A since he is allowed to report any losses up to $1,600. Ironically, this law helps winners more than it helps losers. So think positively. Think like a winner, and save those old tickets.
In case you live in one of the states that doesn’t have a lottery, you may be tempted to enter lotteries in other states. That’s fine, provided you go to the area and purchase the ticket in person. There are several federal and state laws concerning the lotteries. One is the U.S. Postal Service regulation that forbids the mailing of unplayed lottery tickets across state lines.
Some states’ laws prohibit the sale of tickets by phone, mail, fax, and over the Internet. If your state has a lottery, it makes little sense to enter either out-of-state or foreign lotteries. Chances are you’ll find better odds right in your own backyard, without the extra fee or the risk. Can you imagine winning several million dollars only to discover that you haven’t actually won it after all? It seems that any time big money is involved, there are those who try to get a piece of the action — illegally.