The lottery and online betting combined is a $40 billion dollar industry in the United States. Whether it’s the best lottery games or the best online sports betting sites, Americans are finding them and playing often.
Let’s run through all your options to find the one that sounds the most fun to you and can yield a high profit.
Lottery
There are tons of ways to play lottery games in the United States and they can be broken down in several ways.
One-number lottery games, which require you to pick a single number among a set, are commonly referred to as “Pick Three” or “Play Four,” depending on how many numbers you are choosing. Multi-number games are those that involve the player choosing up to six numbers winning based on how many they get right.
Another way to break down lottery games is the difference between state games (Washington Lotto) and multi-state games (Powerball, Mega Millions). The more states involved, the bigger the jackpot.
Horse/Sports Betting
Horse betting is legal at any racetrack, OTB business (Off Track Betting) or casino with a sportsbook. While you can stick to the easiest bets (win for 1st place, place for 2nd place, show for 3rd place), there are also an endless amount of exotic bets that tempt attendees with higher payouts.
Betting on other sports is currently only legal in a handful of states and comes with strict rules and protocol. Nevada is the easiest state to bet on sports while Montana, Oregon and Delaware have limited means. It is often easiest to seek out the best online sports betting sites and do your sports betting there.
Charitable Betting
While they are usually for low stakes, playing bingo and taking part in raffles are often the easiest ways to bet and are great if you’d like to participate for sustained periods of time.
Many places, towns and local casinos have bingo halls with various forms of the game. In its basic form, the player is hoping that balls pulled from a spinner have the same numbers on them that 
they have on their cards.
Raffles are often prevalent in charity events to raise money and for fun with community groups and services. Players simply purchase a ticket and one winning ticket number is announced.
Casinos
Thanks to the proliferation of Indian Reservation casinos around the United States, casinos have exploded with visitors. If you’re looking for the traditional casino experience, your best bet is still Las Vegas or Atlantic City, where traditional rules and regulations apply.
You may find plenty of Indian casinos closer to home, however. They usually have a decent amount of options but are limited by laws, regulations and game-of-chance requirements.
Citations:
- Photo Credit: title=”Paf Live Betting Championship” by Play Among Friends, on Flickr
- Photo Credit: title=”Paf Live Betting Championship” by Play Among Friends, on Flickr
Attached Images:
- License: Creative Commons image source
- License: Creative Commons image source
Helen Hoefele is a part of an elite team of writers who have contributed to hundreds of blogs and news sites. Follow her at: @For_You_To_Know.