ST. LOUIS – With Monday’s record $1.9 billion Powerball jackpot, more and more people around St. Louis are getting lottery tickets without leaving home. You can buy them on your phone with the Illinois Lottery app, but you have to physically be in Illinois to use it.
Missouri may not be far behind.
That familiar grind of the lottery printer is now fading into the silence of mobile Powerball and other lottery purchases in Illinois.
“I’ve got it on there,” said Steve Reichert of Columbia, Illinois. “It looks like you can do any of the games, not just Powerball.”
“I would use the app because I wouldn’t want to die in the store if I won the money,” said Jim Nickels of Cahokia Heights.
Nickels recently moved to Illinois from Missouri and was buying Powerball tickets at Cahokia Liquor in Cahokia Heights.
The Illinois Lottery became the first state to allow online lottery sales 10 years ago, according to a spokeswoman, but more than 90% of sales were still made in stores.
As in Missouri, those stores get a small percentage from selling winning tickets. They miss out on that with online sales. There are also players who just like having a lucky ticket to hold.
“I want it in my hand. I want it in my hand, so I know I got it; because if I win, I’m going to go crazy if I don’t have it in my hand,” said Regena Gilmore of Cahokia Heights.
There is a Missouri Lottery app. You can use it to check for winning numbers and to scan your tickets to see if you’re a winner, but you can’t use it to buy tickets.
Wendy Baker of the Missouri Lottery told FOX 2 in an email, “While we don’t currently sell our products online, we continue to consider doing so.”
Multiple Missouri lawmakers said they knew of no recent proposals to allow online lottery sales.
St. Peters Republican State Rep. Phil Christofanelli told FOX 2 he would refile a bill to legalize sports gaming, but there was no plan to include online lottery sales.
“Both states (it) should be legal,” Gilmore said.
“You have to be in Illinois. Come over to Illinois and enjoy God’s country,” Reichert said.
Strange to think the winning $1.9 billion ticket may be on your phone and not in your pocket.