A type of lottery is defined by two mechanics: when the outcome is decided, either at a scheduled draw or when the ticket is printed, and how prizes are paid, as fixed amounts or as a shared pari-mutuel pool. Sorted that way, most lotteries fall into five types: lotto-style jackpot draw games, daily numbers games, scratch-offs, keno and raffles. Each one asks something different of the platform that runs it.
What Is a Type of Lottery and How Are Lotteries Classified?
A type of lottery is set by its mechanic. A draw game takes entries before a scheduled event and generates the result afterward. A scratch-off fixes its result at printing, so nothing is drawn at the point of sale. Prize structure is the second axis. Under fixed prizes, the operator owes a set amount per winning ticket and carries the liability. Under pari-mutuel prizes, a share of sales forms a pool that winners in a tier split between them.
Legal categories sit on top of these. US state and multi-state lotteries, UK society and local authority lotteries, and charitable raffles describe who may run a lottery and where the proceeds go, not how the game plays. A UK society lottery can be run as a raffle or a draw game, and a US state lottery sells draw games, scratch-offs and often keno under one license. Keep the two layers apart when you scope a platform. The legal category tells you whether you can operate. The game type tells you what you have to build.
| Type | Draw frequency | How the result is generated | Prize structure | Typical example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lotto jackpot draw game | One to a few draws per week | Physical ball machine or certified RNG | Pari-mutuel or rolling jackpot; lower tiers often fixed | Powerball |
| Daily numbers draw game | Once or twice a day | Physical ball machine or certified RNG | Fixed, by bet type | Pick 3, Pick 4 |
| Scratch-off | No draw | Pre-printed at the print run | Fixed, predetermined prize structure | State instant tickets |
| Keno | Every few minutes | Certified RNG (sometimes a ball machine) | Fixed pay table | Venue or online keno |
| Raffle | One draw when sales close | Physical draw or RNG over sold tickets | Fixed prize or a 50/50 split of proceeds | Charity raffle, 50/50 draw |
How Lotto Jackpot Games and Daily Numbers Games Work
Draw games sell tickets before a scheduled draw, then match the numbers players chose against numbers drawn by a ball machine or a certified RNG. Sales close at a cutoff, the draw runs, and every ticket in that draw is settled against the same result.
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Lotto-style games such as Powerball and Mega Millions use a matrix. Powerball asks players to pick 5 numbers from 69 plus 1 from 26, which puts the jackpot odds at 1 in 292,201,338. Matrix size is the main lever on odds: each extra number in the main or bonus pool multiplies the combinations a player has to beat. A wider matrix makes the jackpot harder to hit, so it grows larger before someone wins it.
That growth is the point. When no ticket matches every number, the jackpot rolls over. Large rollovers bring in players who skip ordinary draws, so sales climb as the jackpot climbs, and the jackpot climbs faster as sales rise. The jackpot tier is usually funded from a share of sales and split among winning tickets, which makes it pari-mutuel in practice. Lower tiers are often fixed, so the operator knows its liability for a three- or four-number match before the draw.
Daily numbers games work differently. Pick 3, Pick 4 and similar games draw once or twice a day from a small number of digits and pay fixed prizes by bet type:
- Straight: digits match in exact order. Highest prize, longest odds.
- Box: digits match in any order. Lower prize, more winning combinations.
- Combo: every straight permutation of the chosen digits, bought as one wager.
Because prizes are fixed, a popular combination drawn on a heavy-play day creates real liability. Operators manage that exposure with liability limits on individual numbers.
How Scratch-Off Tickets and E-Instant Games Decide Winners
A scratch-off’s result is fixed when the ticket is printed, so the player only reveals an outcome that already exists. The randomness happens at the printer, not at the point of sale.
Each game is produced as a print run. The lottery sets the ticket count and a predetermined prize structure: how many tickets win each prize amount, down to the top prize. Winning tickets are distributed through the run and validated by a code on the ticket, not by what the player sees. Overall odds are printed on the ticket, but because the prize count is finite, the remaining odds change as tickets sell. A game can stay on sale after its top prizes are claimed, which is why lotteries publish remaining-prize data and some players check it before buying.
E-instants are the online version. They come in two technical forms:
- Pre-generated prize pool: outcomes are created in advance as a finite virtual print run, and each purchase draws the next one. The behavior mirrors a paper scratch-off.
- RNG at the moment of play: each purchase generates its own outcome against a set probability table. There is no finite pool, so the game behaves more like a fixed-odds casino game.
Regulators treat the two differently. Testing requirements, odds disclosure and whether a game counts as a lottery or casino-style product can all depend on the model. Confirm the classification in your jurisdiction before you pick one.
Against draw games, scratch-offs win on speed: the result arrives the moment the player scratches or taps. They also span a wider range of price points in one portfolio and generally return a larger share of sales as prizes than jackpot draw games, which hold back more of the pool to fund the headline prize.
Keno, Raffles and Charitable Lotteries: Fast and Fixed-Pool Formats
Keno is a fast-draw lottery with results every few minutes. A raffle sells a limited number of tickets and draws one or more winners from that fixed pool. One format is built for repeat play, the other around a single event.
In keno, players pick spots from 80 numbers and 20 are drawn. Payouts follow a fixed pay table set by how many spots the player chose and how many hit, so a ten-spot ticket has a different table from a four-spot ticket. With continuous draws and fixed prizes, the operator carries the liability on every draw and needs results delivered to every terminal or screen at the same moment.
A raffle’s odds are known because the ticket count is capped. If 2,000 tickets are sold for one prize, each has a 1 in 2,000 chance. Many raffles offer fixed prizes such as cash, a car or donated goods. A 50/50 draw instead splits proceeds between the winner and the organizer, so it works like a single-tier pari-mutuel pool.
Charitable and society lotteries are legal categories, not game types. The UK Gambling Commission separates large society lotteries, small society lotteries, local authority lotteries and several exempt lotteries, each with its own rules on licensing, proceeds and promotion. A society lottery has to exist for a good cause, and its game can be a raffle, a weekly draw or an instant product.
Passive lotteries are the oldest format: tickets come pre-numbered, the player picks nothing, and winning numbers are drawn later. Some raffles still work this way. For industry terms, the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) is a standard reference, and our gambling glossary of operator terms covers the operator-side vocabulary.
How the Lottery Type Shapes the Platform an Operator Builds
Each type of lottery needs different core technology. Draw games need draw scheduling and certified randomness. Scratch-offs need prize pool management. Keno needs a high-frequency draw engine that pushes real-time results. A platform built for one type does not automatically run another.
A B2B lottery build has to cover:
- RNG certification and audit trails: any RNG that produces results has to be tested by an accredited lab, and every draw needs a tamper-evident log tying the result to its seed, time and draw ID. See how RNG works in gaming platforms for the architecture.
- Prize liability and pool calculation: fixed-odds games such as daily numbers and keno need exposure tracking and liability limits. Pari-mutuel tiers need pool calculation, rollover handling and multi-winner splits.
- Ticket validation and claims: unique ticket IDs, validation against the draw result or pre-generated pool, claim thresholds and payout workflows.
- Multi-draw tickets: one purchase covering several future draws, settled one draw at a time.
- Jurisdiction rules: geolocation, age checks and controls matching who may operate and sell. A society lottery has different limits from a state-licensed operator.
Use this checklist to match your license and audience to a type:
- Does your license cover draw games, instants, keno or raffles, and as a lottery or as casino-style gaming?
- Do you want event-driven play around a jackpot, or continuous repeat play?
- Can you carry fixed-prize liability, or do you need pari-mutuel pools to cap exposure?
- Will results come from an existing physical draw or from your own certified RNG?
- Do proceeds have to go to a good cause under your legal category?
Once the type is settled, scope and vendor terms follow. Our guides on contracting for online lottery platforms and iGaming platform development for operators cover the next steps.
