TheLotter is one of the most prominent lottery sites in operation today, with physical offices in 20+ countries and the ability to deliver tickets to drawings held worldwide. When you purchase tickets from TheLotter, they actually dispatch a real person to go and buy a ticket from an official retailer on your behalf.
Customers can purchase tickets from more than fifty international lotteries, ranging from the biggest US drawings such as Powerball to Ukraine’s Super Loto and everything in between. Some of the biggest lotteries on offer include Powerball and Mega Millions in the US, EuroMillions across Europe, El Gordo in Spain, SuperEnalotto in Italy, and EuroJackpot in the EU.
The basic business model is simple: TheLotter makes it possible for people to participate in foreign lotteries. You pay a small markup for tickets at the time of purchase, and in return, TheLotter goes out and buys tickets for you from any one of the 50 lotteries they offer online.
Naturally, such a business model is met with considerable skepticism. Is TheLotter legitimate? Do they really pay if you win a big jackpot? This TheLotter review will answer those questions and more as we break it all down to give you a good idea of what to expect.
We should clarify that we do have financial ties with TheLotter and other lottery sites for full disclosure. We receive commissions from TheLotter when people use our links to visit the website, sign up for an account, and play. However, we would also like to clarify that we have a strict policy of not ever entering partnerships with lottery sites that do not meet our standards for reputation, safety, length of time established, and customer service.
Furthermore, any relationships we have with lottery sites do not impact our reviews. We make it a point to stick strictly to the facts and leave opinions to a minimum. As you will see below, we investigate all claims and provide sources for information. The purpose of our reviews is to inform, not to sell.
Now, let’s begin with the most important question.
Is TheLotter a Scam or Legitimate?
TheLotter has been in business since 2002 and claims to be the “first of its kind.” Although we cannot verify that this was indeed the very first lottery site, it is certainly the oldest one we have encountered. The Internet Archive Wayback Machine confirms that TheLotter has indeed been operational since 2002.
The fact that TheLotter has been in business for so long and remains in business to this day speaks highly of its reputation. Similarly, our own research of other TheLotter reviews has yielded overwhelmingly positive remarks from other users and websites. There are some complaints out there, but no more than expected for a large, international business.
TheLotter is run by TheLotter Enterprises Ltd and is registered and headquartered in Malta. Malta is a reputable licensing jurisdiction that licenses numerous big-name gaming sites. Our own experiences with TheLotter combined with positive reviews from other sources make us highly confident in recommending TheLotto even if you win a life-changing jackpot.
TheLotter also claims to have paid more than $80 million in winnings to over 3 million customers worldwide. Although we cannot verify the truth of this claim firsthand, past news reports support the claim.
In 2015, numerous credible news stories began circulating of an Iraqi man who won a $6.4 million Oregon Lottery jackpot through a ticket purchased at TheLotter. These reports explained that the man had purchased his ticket online at TheLotter.com and that Oregon Lottery officials found no reason to deny the man his winnings.
These news stories also explained that the Oregon Lottery paid a local woman a $64,000 bonus for owning the store that sold the winning ticket. This detail shows rather conclusively that TheLotter does indeed send real people out to purchase physical lottery tickets from authorized retailers.
Verdict: TheLotter is legitimate.
How TheLotter Works
TheLotter can be best described as a lottery tickets concierge service. This means that TheLotter does not act as its own lottery operator, nor does it hold drawings. Instead, TheLotter buys tickets on your behalf for the biggest lotteries around the world. The entire purpose is to give you access to lotteries that you might not otherwise be able to play due to location.
For example, imagine you’re living in the UK and see that the latest US Powerball jackpot has exceeded an incredible $450 million. Normally, this lottery would be out of reach unless you were willing to book a plane trip out to the United States to buy a ticket. Instead, you could visit TheLotter online and buy a ticket from the comfort of home. TheLotter would then send a US-based agent out to an authorized Powerball retailer to buy a ticket on your behalf.
It is important to note that TheLotter does not operate its own lotteries or drawings, and it is not connected to major lotteries in an official capacity. TheLotter operates purely as a concierge service. You tell them which tickets to buy and which numbers to pick, and then they buy those tickets for you.
Tickets you purchase through TheLotter are then scanned and the images uploaded to your account for proof of purchase. This way, you can see that someone is actually buying your tickets and can check the results for yourself. TheLotter also sends an e-mail confirmation of your purchases to establish your legal ownership of all tickets.
Smaller winnings are paid directly to your account and can be withdrawn via bank transfer and other methods. If you win a large prize, you have the option to collect the winnings in person from the lottery itself.
The terms and conditions page on the website of TheLotter also explains that they provide “reasonable and justified (in our sole discretion) travel expenses” to assist you in collecting larger prizes if you opt to collect your prize in person.
TheLotter charges a markup on tickets for this service. Thus, it would not be financially wise to use TheLotter to buy tickets to a local lottery that you could buy down the street at the nearest petrol station. But, if you want to play in a foreign lottery, TheLotter is by far the easiest way to do that.
Lotteries Available at TheLotter
TheLotter currently sells tickets online for 50 lotteries hosted all around the world. This includes all the biggest lotteries that you probably already know and the national lotteries of smaller countries and even state lotteries in the US.
Here is the full list of lotteries available at TheLotter:
| Australia: Monday Lotto | Australia: Oz Lotto | Australia: Powerball Lotto | Australia: Saturday Lotto | Australia: Wednesday Lotto |
| Austria: EuroMillions | Austria: Lotto | Brazil: Dupla Sena | Brazil: Mega Sena | Brazil: Quina |
| California: Fantasy 5 | California: SuperLotto Plus | Canada: Loto 649 | Colombia: Baloto | Europe: EuroJackpot |
| France: EuroMillions and My Million Raffle | France: Loto | Germany: Lotto | Hungary: Hatoslotto | Hungary: Otoslotto |
| Ireland: Lotto | Italy: Lottomatica | Italy: SuperEnalotto | Italy: SuperStar | Mexico: Melate |
| Mexico: Melate Retro | New Jersey: Cash 5 | New Jersey: Pick 6 XTRA | New York: Cash4Life | New York: Lotto |
| New York: Take 5 | New Zealand: Powerball | Ontario: Ontario 49 | Oregon: Megabucks | Poland: Lotto |
| Romania: Lotto 6/49 | South Africa: Lotto | South Africa: Powerball | Spain: BonoLoto | Spain: El Gordo |
| Spain: EuroMillions | Spain: La Primitiva | Switzerland: Lotto | UK: EuroMillions and UK Millionaire Maker | UK: Lotto |
| UK: Thunderball | US: Mega Millions | US: Powerball | Ukraine: Megalot | Ukraine: Super Loto |
Special Features
TheLotter offers more than just sales of tickets to one lottery drawing at a time. In addition to purchasing tickets into individual drawings, TheLotter also offers syndicates, subscriptions, bundles, and two other very cool features that you can take advantage of to ensure you always find the best lotteries running right now.
Syndicates
Online lottery syndicates allow you to pool your money with other players to purchase a large number of tickets and increase your odds of winning a payout. As a syndicate member, you own a portion of all the tickets purchased by the syndicate. If any of the tickets purchased by the syndicate is a winner, the payout is split among all syndicate members.
TheLotter offers two types of syndicates. First are lines. In a lines syndicate, several tickets are purchased, and everyone shares in the winning equally. For example, a 100-line syndicate would purchase 100 combinations of numbers for the entire group. This would give each member 100 chances to win. All prizes are split equally among the members.
A shares syndicate also purchases a bunch of tickets, but the tickets are divided into shares. You can buy in for just a single share or purchase multiple shares. All payouts are paid according to the number of shares purchased by each member.
For example, a 100-share syndicate might purchase 100 individual tickets and sell 1% shares. If you purchase five shares in a 100-share syndicate, you would be entitled to 5% of any payouts. Likewise, you could purchase ten shares in that syndicate and receive 10% of any payouts. The more shares you purchase, the bigger your percentage of any prizes.
TheLotter handles everything for you, so you do not have to arrange syndicates or find members by yourself. Just log in to your account, select a popular lottery and then choose the syndicate option. TheLotter will then manage the syndicate, monitor tickets for winning combinations, and issue payouts to syndicate members.
Subscriptions
If you find a lottery you especially enjoy, you can purchase a subscription through TheLotter to automatically purchase tickets for you in every single drawing until you cancel the subscription. TheLotter subscriptions are pay-as-you-go, can be cancelled at any time, and allow you to choose or change your numbers.
Subscriptions purchased through the lottery offer a minimum of every tenth ticket free. Some subscriptions offer additional discounts as well. The biggest advantage of a subscription is you will be sure you never miss a drawing of your favorite lottery.
Bundles
Bundles are part syndicate, part individual entry. Bundles offer the best of both worlds: they include at least one entry into the lottery as well as entry into a syndicate at a discounted price. You can use bundles to save time, save money and boost your chances of winning.
If one of your personal entry tickets is a winner, you will be paid 100% of the prize amount. If one of the syndicate tickets is a winner, you will receive your fair portion of the syndicate winnings.
theSmart
theSmart is a subscription, but not to any single lottery. Instead, theSmart is a subscription that automatically purchases two weekly tickets to the lotteries that offer the best cost-to-benefit ratio.
In a subscription to theSmart, TheLotter monitors all lotteries it offers and considers current jackpot amounts, ticket prices, taxes, and odds of winning to find the lotteries each week that offers the most value for your money.
theBig
theBig operates on a similar but simpler principle to theSmart. When you purchase a subscription to theBig, you automatically purchase two entries each week into the lottery with the biggest overall jackpot. theBig does not consider odds, taxes, or anything else: it simply matches you with the biggest prizes possible.
TheLotter FAQ
The following questions and answers offer a closer look at how TheLotter works and what you can expect as a customer.
Is TheLotter open to customers from the USA?
No. Residents of the USA may sign up to use free services such as lottery results and notifications but may not purchase tickets.
Does the lotter charge a commission on winnings?
No. TheLotter charges a flat fee for tickets at the time of purchase. All winnings, big and small, are 100% commission-free.
The closest thing to an exception to this rule is that TheLotter reserves the right to pass on bank transfer costs if they collect the prize on your behalf and then transfer it to your bank account. The terms and conditions page also warns that the lottery operator “may deduct taxes, withholdings, or other sums from the amount of the prize in accordance with its lottery operator rules.”
In other words, TheLotter may deduct a little from your winnings to pay for bank transfer costs, and the lottery itself may hold back money for taxes, but TheLotter itself does not charge a commission on prizes. Any fees besides bank transfer costs imposed by TheLotter are paid at the time of purchase, not when you claim your prize.
How much does TheLotter charge for tickets?
The fees you pay for TheLotter’s delivery service vary from lottery to lottery and are based on the number of tickets you purchase at a time. To give you an idea, a single Powerball ticket in the United States costs $2 if purchased in person.
If you buy Powerball tickets online at TheLotter, you will pay $5 per ticket if you buy 3 tickets (which is the minimum amount). TheLotter also offers additional discounts if you purchase tickets for multiple drawings in advance or set up a recurring subscription.
Deposit and Withdrawal Methods
TheLotter works with a range of deposit and withdrawal methods to serve customers around the world. When you’re ready to buy tickets online, you will need to use one of the following deposit methods to fund your account.
Smaller winnings are paid straight to your TheLotter account and can then be withdrawn using any of the methods listed in the bottom half of the following chart. If you win a larger prize through any lottery, TheLotter will contact you to arrange payment.
| Deposit Methods | Minimum | Maximum |
| Visa | – | 5,000 |
| MasterCard | – | 5,000 |
| Diners Club | – | 5,000 |
| Discover | – | 5,000 |
| Skrill | – | – |
| Neteller | – | 5,000 |
| WebMoney | – | 5,000 |
| POLi | – | – |
| Paysafecard | – | – |
| Trustly | – | – |
| Giropay | – | – |
| Maestro | – | 5,000 |
| Nordea | – | – |
| Entropay | – | 5,000 |
| EPS | – | – |
| Bleue | – | – |
| CartaSi | – | – |
| SEPA Lastschrift | – | – |
| ePay.bg | – | – |
| Przelewy24 | – | – |
| Rapid Transfer | – | – |
| Itau | 10 | – |
| Banco do Brasil | 10 | – |
| Caixa | 10 | – |
| PSE | 10 | – |
| Boleto Bancario | 10 | – |
| Efecty | 10 | – |
| Withdrawal Methods | ||
| Visa | 1 | 1,000 |
| MasterCard | 1 | 1,000 |
| Diners Club | 1 | 2,000 |
| Discover | 1 | 2,000 |
| Skrill | 1 | 2,000 |
| Neteller | 1 | 2,000 |
| Bank Transfer | Varies | 50,000 |