The first recorded lotteries offered tickets with money prizes. Many Low Countries towns held public lotteries to raise money for the poor or for the town’s fortifications. While the first known lotteries were likely not as popular as they are today, they are likely to be older than we think. For example, a 1445 record in L’Ecluse mentions a lottery of 4,304 tickets and a prize of florins, about $170,000 in today’s dollars.

In addition to state-based lotteries, many states also operate national lottery games. Powerball and Mega Millions are two such games. The money from these games goes towards state pension funds. In Wyoming, the WyoLotto lottery launched in 2013, featuring three multi-state games. Profits from the lottery are allocated to the state’s school fund. Every state has its own official lottery, which players can buy tickets for online. The official lottery website provides information on the games available and how to purchase them.

While official lottery sites may not offer jackpots of $1 billion or more, they are very close to real-world scratch-off games. In fact, some of them even let players scan their tickets using their smartphone’s camera. This way, players are able to get the lottery results quickly and securely. Official lottery sites are easy to use and secure. They also offer useful information such as previous winner bios. It is also important to note that official lottery websites may have a few different languages and currencies.