You’ve read about the different lottery games and how to play them. You have 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 methods. Determine what to do and what to avoid. Learn how to set up a lottery-playing budget. Discover alternative ways to get in touch with your state’s lottery. Finally (may the odds be with you), know what to do if you win!

If possible, always buy your own lottery tickets. Do not ask neighbors or friends to pick them up for you. Similarly, do not pick up tickets for others. Don’t loan or borrow money for tickets, and do not go halfsies, either. Why? Isn’t this a trifling matter — the same as picking up a loaf of bread for somebody at the store? Not quite. If the ticket does not win or if the prize is small, then there’s usually no problem. But should the ticket turns out to be a jackpot winner, you might have a sticky situation on your hands. At the very least, it may very well be embarrassing. This little favor for a neighbor now involves millions of dollars.

As an example, maybe your neighbor said she would pay you the dollar for the ticket later. Fine, you think. What is a dollar? You give her the ticket, and she is now a millionaire. Be honest. Will you perhaps feel you are eligible for a division of the windfall? Of course, you did buy the ticket with your own money. OK, it was not technically your money. It was money you loaned your neighbor. However, you did go and purchase the ticket, so you might feel you are entitled to several 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 may very well be able take you to court, claiming the 2 of you made a verbal agreement? Regardless of 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. After the winning numbers are announced, not everybody will, without hesitation, keep his or her promise to split $40 million.

Are you beginning to view 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 whenever you give a ticket to someone as a present, or vice versa — a present is a gift.

Most of the people discard their losing scratch-off, Pick 3, and Lotto tickets. Of course, what possible use could you’ve got for all those scraps of paper? Think again. If you regularly spend an important amount of cash on the lottery, those old tickets might be worth cash to you.

The IRS says you cannot offset losses against winnings and report the real difference. By way of example, if Mary spends $1,600 annually on tickets and wins only $600, she must report the $600 despite the fact that her losses amounted to $1,000. Based on the tax rules, if you have gambling losses, you can claim them as being an itemized deduction, but you can’t deduct more than the winnings reported. So if Mary itemizes her deductions, she takes only $600 as being an itemized loss on schedule A.

Then again, 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 permitted 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 reside in one of the states that will not have a lottery, you could be tempted to enter lotteries in other states. That is fine, provided you go to the area and purchase the ticket in-person. You will discover several federal and state laws with regards to 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, as well as 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 will find better odds right in your own backyard, without the extra fee or even the risk. Can you imagine winning several million dollars only to find that you have not actually won it after all? It seems that any time big money is involved, you will discover folks that attempt to get a piece of the action — illegally.

You are going to frequently see ads online and in magazines and newspapers for books, software, and other media to help you in your goal to win the Lotto. Several of they are reputable businesses and will offer you professionally designed wheeling systems and other strategies which could help better your chances. But if one of these companies claims their product is guaranteed to make you the next Lotto millionaire, ask yourself one very obvious question: If they have managed to solve the riddle of how you can win a jackpot, what makes them running an ad?