The Pennsylvania Lottery App offers fun and convenience for players on the go. You can check your numbers, play Scratch-Offs and Fast Play tickets, enter Second-Chance Drawings, and view Keno drawings, current progressive top prizes, and Xpress Sports results.*
Official Lottery
A lottery is a process by which prize money for a public contest is allocated by chance and, in most cases, the winnings are paid by government. A modern state lottery typically consists of numbered tickets with winning combinations paying out prizes ranging from cash to goods, services, and even housing. A state can also run a private lottery, with proceeds often being donated to charitable causes.
Lotteries have become increasingly popular and the public has largely approved of their introduction. In fact, a lottery can be an effective method for the state to increase revenue without raising taxes.
But critics of the lottery have pointed out that while the public may be willing to gamble, governments cannot do so without imposing harms on others, including those disadvantaged by society’s structure and by their own economic circumstances. Some have argued that lotteries promote addictive gambling behavior, serve as a major regressive tax on lower-income groups, and can contribute to social problems such as racial profiling and illegal gambling.
In addition, critics argue that lottery officials do not operate as independent agents but as employees of a government department with an agenda largely dictated by state officials. In addition, the promotional message espoused by lottery advertising is often misleading. It promotes the idea that the lottery is a game that can be played for fun or as a way to win a big jackpot and it glosses over the real nature of the lottery’s regressive reliance on chance.