Pennsylvania iLottery went live in 2018 after legislation introduced the previous year approved internet sales of lottery products. PAiLottery.com is managed by the Pennsylvania Lottery and is 100% legal for customers 18+ located within state lines.
An account with the Pennsylvania online lottery gives you the ability to make deposits, play real money games and then withdraw your winnings all from the comfort of home.
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Game selection was fairly limited at launch, but the PA Lottery has released new titles regularly since then. Now, there are 70 instant win games on offer with max payouts reaching as high as $300,000 along with tickets to Powerball and Mega Millions.
We’ll keep our PA iLottery review up to date as new games are released, so check back often for the latest word. In the meantime, we can review the games that have been released so far and discuss our initial impressions based on our own experience with the Pennsylvania online lottery.
PAiLottery.com General Impression
PAiLottery.com got off to a strong start early on with clean, stable software that works equally well on desktops, tablets and smartphones. The graphics on most games are crisp and games move along at a fast clip to keep things interesting. From a technical standpoint, everything looks good. None of this is any surprise considering the software platform is powered by a highly-experienced gaming company called Scientific Games.
Game selection has improved significantly since the launch of PA iLottery back in 2018. Early in its life, the PA online lottery only offered a small collection of instant win, scratch-off style games. The lottery has added dozens of instant win games and the ability to purchase entries into major drawings since then.
Money spent at PAiLottery.com goes to benefit older Pennsylvanians just like it does in the real world. Last year, the lottery achieved sales of $4 billion and dedicated $1 billion of that to promote causes benefitting older PA residents.
PA Online Lottery Welcome Bonus
The Pennsylvania Lottery is on a mission to spread the word and encourage customers to give the online platform a shot. To that end, the website is offering all new customers a welcome bonus worth up to $250 plus $5 free just for signing up.
No-Deposit Welcome Offer
You can claim your free $5 by signing up for an account and using the bonus code “BUSA” when asked for it on the registration page. After your account is created, the PA Lottery will credit your account with $5.
The PAiLottery welcome bonus comes with a 1x playthrough requirement. This means you will be asked to place $5 worth of wagers to release the bonus. Once you have done that, any winnings become immediately withdrawable as cash.
100% up to $250 Deposit Bonus
After you’ve had a chance to check out the free games and claim your $5 registration bonus, you can get a second bonus added to your first deposit. Use the bonus code “DEP250” when you make your first deposit and PA iLottery will give you an extra 100% for up to $250 in bonus money.
Deposit at least $10 to qualify and then you’ll get an extra 100% added to your deposit. For example, a $10 deposit will get you $10 in bonus money and a $100 deposit will get you $100 in bonus money. The bigger your deposit, the bigger the bonus (up to $250).
PA iLottery requires that you play through the deposit + bonus amount ten times before the bonus money is converted to cash. What this means is if you deposit $100 for a $100 bonus, you will need to wager a total of $2,000 to convert the bonus money into cash.
Other PA iLottery Promotions
The PA iLottery has significantly boosted its promotional offering since the site first launched. Now, players can take advantage of something almost every day of the week to earn free plays, extra bonuses and cash prizes. These promotions will likely change on a regular basis, but the examples below should serve as a general guide as to the types of offers you’ll see as a player.
- Monster Monday: Earn 10% cashback on Monster Wins when you deposit of at least $25 and play Monster Wins on Mondays. If you don’t win, you’ll get 10% of your losses back for up to $25 in bonus money.
- Watch Email Wednesday: Check your inbox on Wednesdays for word of a new offer. It might be a deposit bonus, cashback offer or something else you have to look forward to that day.
- Fast Buck Lucky Cashback Thursday: Make a deposit of at least $25 and play Fast Buck Lucky for 20% cashback on your net losses if luck isn’t on your side that day.
- Foxin’ Friday: Earn 20% cashback on Foxin’ Wins when you make a deposit and play on Fridays.
- Surprise Saturday: Visit PA iLottery and check the promotions tab on Saturday for a special offer. Surprises might include deposit bonuses cashback offers, entries into a prize drawing or something else entirely. I checked on a random Saturday recently and found a 30% cashback offer on the Big Money Slingo
- Super Gems Sunday: Make a deposit and play Super Gems on Saturdays to get 10% cashback on your losses.
- $1,000 Prize Draw: This was a recent promotion that gave $25 in bonus money to 40 winners. If you made a deposit during the promotional period, you were entered into the drawing.
Buy PA Lottery Tickets Online
In January 2020, the Pennsylvania Lottery added the ability to purchase tickets to Powerball and Mega Millions.
Now, customers can purchase Powerball and Mega Millions tickets online in singles or as ongoing subscriptions.
Powerball: Powerball tickets cost the same online as they do in-person. Players can purchase a single ticket for $2 with an optional $1 Power Play or buy multiple tickets into anywhere from 1 drawing to the next 26 drawings. Players can pick their own numbers or select the quick pick option for random picks.
Mega Millions: Buying Mega Millions tickets online works the same as purchasing Powerball tickets. Customers can purchase one or multiple tickets into a single drawing or for up to 26 drawings at a stretch.
Pennsylvania iLottery Games
Pennsylvania iLottery launched with an initial selection of eleven online games and began adding more games later that month. Today, PA iLottery hosts dozens of games that resemble traditional scratch cards and arcade-style games in which you select an amount to wager and then scratch off symbols, roll dice or spin the wheel for cash prizes.
The initial launch was a bit short on games with just eleven on offer to start, but the site soon expanded to add additional games and continues to do so to this day. Current PA lottery law permits iLottery to offer most types of lottery games including: online keno, virtual sports betting and tickets to major drawings.
The one category of games the PA Lottery is not allowed to offer online is casino-style games. Current regulations prohibit “games that represent physical, Internet-based or monitor-based interactive lottery games which simulate casino-style lottery games, specifically including poker, roulette, slot machines or blackjack.”
What this means is you won’t be seeing blackjack or slots available at PAiLottery.com any time soon. However, some of the online games that are available now closely resemble slots nonetheless. The PA Lottery has wide latitude in the types of games it may offer as long as traditional casino games are avoided.
As you’ll see below, wager sizes are flexible with games accepting wagers as small as $0.01 and as much as $20 per round. In all games, bigger wagers unlock greater potential rewards.
Something nice the Pennsylvania Lottery website does for players is publish the theoretical return to player (RTP) for all games. This stat tells us what percentage of wagers are returned to players in the form of prizes. The higher the RTP, the lower the house advantage and the better it is for players.
For example, a game with an 85% RTP would pay out $85 in prizes for every $100 wagered while a game with an RTP of 90% would return $90 in prizes for every $100 wagered. The important thing to keep in mind when looking at RTP values is that the RTP is only an average over the long term. Your actual RTP in any single session may be significantly higher or lower than the published RTP.
While most lotteries in the real world are known for low payout percentages, the Pennsylvania online lottery games are actually pretty generous. All games in the collection have RTP rates ranging from 84% to 89.145%.
A Look at PA iLottery Games
Below are descriptions and introductions to some of the earlier games launched by PA iLottery. Dozens more have been added since then, but they all tend to follow a similar format with varying themes, bet sizes and payouts.
Super Gems
Gems fall from the sky and break upon impact when they land next to gems of the same type – it’s sort like Bejeweled except with real money to be won. Fill up your bonus meter to active a bonus round that will have you spin a wheel for instant cash prizes and a guaranteed win. Keep spinning until the ticker lands on an empty spot. Wager anywhere from $0.10 to $10 per round and win up to $100,000.
- Wagers accepted: $0.10 to $10 per round
- Max win: $100,000
- Theoretical return to player: 89.00%
Cash Towers
Every play gets you five spins of the wheel which sets the counters below each cash tower to spinning. The number each spinner lands on breaks that many bricks to bring the cash towner down and your prize ever closer to the bottom where it can be claimed. Sometimes spinners land on other shapes that activate one of two bonus games or unlock instant wins.
- Wagers accepted: $0.50 to $10 per round
- Max win: $150,000
- Theoretical return to player: 85.00%
Crossword Cash
Play the crossword puzzle for a chance to win instant cash. Simply start a new game and then click the question marks to reveal your letters. Any corresponding letters on the crossword puzzle will be marked and watch your prize go up as you mark off complete words.
- Wagers accepted: $0.10 to $10
- Max win: $60,000
- Theoretical return to player: 85.00%
Monster Wins
This simple monster matching game has you scratch off hidden symbols on a grid. Match three like monsters for a prize; match four like monsters for an even bigger prize. Match 3 bonus symbols to unlock five free games during which all prizes are doubled.
- Wagers accepted: $0.01 to $20
- Max win: $80,000
- Theoretical return to player: 89.145%
Big Money Slingo
This is a bingo-style game that puts you in front of a bingo card and gives you five chances in every round to match your numbers to the numbers picked at random. Complete a full line or diagonal to win a cash prize and win multiple times with a single card if you’re lucky.
- Wagers accepted: $0.50 to $10
- Max win: $100,000
- Theoretical return to player: 84.65%
Foxin Wins
Buy a card, scratch it off to reveal symbols and get paid if you match three like symbols. If you match three pot symbols, you’ll get to play five free games where all prizes are doubled.
- Wagers accepted: $0.01 to $5
- Max win: $10,000
- Theoretical return to player: 87.598%
Cash in the Lamp
Unlock hidden treasures and major cash prizes by revealing what’s hidden within each of the 25 flying carpets. Click or tap every carpet to reveal a symbol; get 3 or more in a row within any line to win a prize. Reveal a red carpet or 3 magic lamps to unlock a special bonus feature. In the red carpet bonus game, open chests to win prizes and keep going until you reveal the collect card. In the lucky lamps bonus game, you pick 1 magic lamp and win the prize inside.
- Wagers accepted: $0.10 to $10
- Max win: $100,000
- Theoretical return to player: 86.70%
Bigfoot
This outdoorsy scratch and reveal game gives you four play cards every time as you look for three matching symbols and hunt for the elusive bigfoot. Three bigfoot symbols in a row is good for a payout of 1,000x your wager.
- Wagers accepted: $0.01 to $5
- Max win: $20,000
- Theoretical return to player: 84.686%
Robin Hood
Take a trip to Sherwood Forest where Robin Hood and his Merry Men have plenty of gold to share. This game is played on a 4×4 grid which has you revealing symbols and earning payouts if you reveal three or four of the same symbol. Revealing three like symbols pays up to 1,000x your wager while revealing four pays up to 2,000x your wager.
- Wagers accepted: $0.01 to $5
- Max win: $20,000
- Theoretical return to player: 88.316%
Super Cash Buster
Super Cash Buster is a collect’em game in which you roll a dice that determines the next color of bricks to be shattered. As you shatter bricks on the right side, they fill meters on the left side leading to prizes ranging in size from 1x to 20x. your wager. There are also special bricks on the ride side that unlock instant cash prizes, free rolls and mini games.
- Wagers accepted: $1 to $10
- Max win: $200,000
- Theoretical return to player: 84.00%
Volcano Eruption
For once, an angry volcano is an omen of good thing to come. Scratch off your card to reveal 3 matching symbols for an instant cash prize. Match three volcano symbols to unlock the ladder bonus game in which you collect fire symbols to move up the ladder and collect increasingly valuable prizes.
- Wagers accepted: $0.01 to $5
- Max win: $250,000
- Theoretical return to player: 87.447%
Big Eats Little
Navigate your little fish through a field of seaweed to collect shells and other goodies. Collect three of the same symbols to win a prize and eat smaller fish to grow your potential prizes, but look out – there is always a bigger fish in the sea. Take a wrong turn as you navigate the ocean floor and you just might find that you are the treat. Every game runs until you clear all the symbols or run into a bigger fish.
- Wagers accepted: $0.10 to $10
- Max win: $150,000
- Theoretical return to player: 82.04%
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Ballroom Bingo
Ballroom Bingo is the digital equivalent of the classic game we all played as kids. Each game starts with an empty bingo card and then 35 balls are drawn at random. Every match marks off a slot on your bingo card and a variety of winning patterns determine your payouts.
- Wagers accepted: $0.10 to $10
- Max win: $5,000
- Theoretical return to player: 82.50%
Cash Out Cupcake
Get your card and unwrap nine cupcake boxes to find a delicious prize inside each. Things get extra sweet when you reveal three identical cupcakes to win the prize shown on the right.
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- Wagers accepted: $0.10 to $10
- Max win: $8,000
- Theoretical return to player: 84.90%
Dabloons
Get your shovel and dig for gold in this pirate-themed game from the PA iLottery. In Dabloons, you’re given a shovel, an island divided into 24 squares and eight chances to dig for buried treasure. Dig up a gold coins for instant cash prizes and cannons or keys to unlock one of two bonus games that’ll have you firing canons to sink ships or cracking open chests for even more winnings.
- Wagers accepted: $0.10 to $10
- Max win: $100,000
- Theoretical return to player: 86.90%
Pennsylvania Online Lottery Screenshots
PA iLottery Deposits and Withdrawals
Pennsylvania iLottery accepts debit cards, ACH bank transfers and PayNearMe for depositing and funding your account. After you sign up for an account, just log in and visit the “My Account” link in the upper-right corner of the website and then visit the cashier. Choose the deposit method you would like to use and follow the on-screen instructions to fund your account.
- Debit Cards: PAiLottery accepts Visa and MasterCard. Note that this does not include credit cards – the online lottery only accepts debit cards.
- ACH: This is a transfer of funds straight from your bank account to your online lottery account. ACH may also be used as a withdrawal method to have your winnings transferred to your bank account.
- PayNearMe: PayNearMe is a cash-friendly deposit method in which you are given a barcode to take to a nearby 7-Eleven, Family Dollar or CVS. Present the barcode to the cashier and then pay with cash to complete your deposit. The cashier will give you a receipt and your lottery account will be credited with your deposit.
The minimum deposit with all methods is $10. There is a $10 minimum withdrawal amount and no limit to how much you can withdraw. Any prize you win, no matter how big, is yours to cash out as you please.
Local Casinos Not Fond of PA iLottery
Pennsylvania’s land-based casino operators have never been enamored with the instant win games offered by the lottery. Shortly after the PA Lottery went online, casinos sent a letter to then-governor Tom Wolf demanding that the instant win games be shut down or be ready to face legal action.
At issue are the instant win games, which local casinos contend look and function just like online slots. That’s a problem because the law that authorized the lottery to go online specifically bars the lottery from offering games that resemble “casino-style lottery games, specifically including roulette, poker, slot machines or blackjack.’
Presumably, the law is written as such to keep the lottery and casino industries from getting in each other’s way, as both gained the ability to take their games online in 2017. To add further insult to injury, PA iLottery games come with a minimum age of 18 while actual online casinos are restricted to anyone under 21.
State officials denied the casinos’ demands and the casinos filed suit. That court case drags on to this day, but so far momentum is all in favor of the lottery.