You can purchase lottery tickets online in many states, including Powerball and Mega Millions. However, the legality of buying these tickets online varies from state to state. Some require a third-party application while others let you buy tickets directly on the site. Regardless of how you choose to play, it is important to prioritize responsible gambling and stick to your limits.

There are two types of lottery games: instant and draw. Instant games (also known as scratch offs) are “match a number/symbol” or “in a row” type games that have an instant answer as to whether you won or not. Each instant game has a ticket code and book code, and is numbered.

Lastly, draw games (Powerball, Daily 3, etc) have a scheduled date/time for the results to be announced. The numbers are picked by a machine or computer, and there is a cap if too many people have the same number (like 11111 on a Daily 4). The winnings for these types of games are based on the total amount of money bet on the number, so there is no set prize – the jackpot can get as big as $50k, but it doesn’t have to.

The odds are impossibly high to win either of the large lottery jackpots, but there are smaller prizes to be won in these games. You can find them at your favorite online lottery website, where you can also compare jackpots and odds.