Ultimate guide to lottery terminology

Whether it be playing the lottery or following a sport, there is always going to be some terminology that needs to be learned. It is important that you do this to prevent making a mistake that could prove costly. Do you know what an annuity or rolldown is? Let’s take a look at some of the important terms that you can come across when playing lottery games.

The terms ‘annuity’ and ‘lump sum’ are important ones to take note of. This is especially the case if you are purchasing ticket from Lottery24 for Powerball or Mega Millions. For example, the advertised jackpot for tonight’s Mega Millions draw is a massive $124m. However, the ‘cash option’ is $99.9m.

Winning and Receiving Prizes

Anyone lucky enough to win the jackpot can receive their winnings in two ways. Either take the cash option as a lump sum (the cash option) or receive your winnings (the advertised jackpot) as an annuity with payment spread over 29 years. Knowing your terminology is so important here so as to avoid any confusion.

Not all prizes fluctuate from draw to draw. ‘Fixed Payouts’ is a term that you need to know. This sees a certain amount paid for matching a set number of balls and remains the same for each draw. For example, in the UK Lotto, matching five numbers and the bonus will see you win £1m. But what if it is a ‘must-be-won’ draw?

That’s another key term that is used in some lottery games. It happens when there has been a set number of draws that haven’t produced a jackpot winner. Or to use terminology, the draw has ended in a rollover. A must-be-won draw means a big win is going to take place. If the jackpot isn’t won, then it’s not a rollover but a rolldown.

This situation happened in the July 18 UK Lotto draw. No tickets matched the six main numbers, so the top prize rolled down to other tiers increasing the amounts that were won. That £30 fixed amount for getting five numbers and the bonus ball ended up rising to £1.172m.

Pari-mutuel is another way of distributing prize money. This sees the total available amount (also known as a pool), split equally between the number of winners. You may see that term used when players from California, USA, get Powerball wins, as that’s the method that state uses.

Syndicates and Commissions

Some terminology is pretty straightforward. We can all accurately guess what a ball draw machine is, or a claim form and we all want to be filling in the latter. ‘Syndicate’ is a term you will often see used on our site. This is when a number of players group together to buy tickets with any winnings shared.

There are some terms that don’t apply to players but those who sell the tickets. They are agents and a key word that they love to hear is commission. This is an amount they receive from the ticket sales they make. With some lotteries, the seller of winning tickets isn’t just delighted for their customers as they will also receive a percentage bonus.

Lotteries don’t just give out prizes to players. There is a great deal of money raised for ‘good causes.’ This can see money given in the form of grants to charities or other local groups that will be glad to receive funds. Those that receive this money are known as ‘lottery beneficiaries.’

You can see therefore, that there is a lot of terminology used in the lottery world. Knowing what they mean can be very important, especially if a big win comes along.

Get your tickets today from Lottery24!