We know it was tough to get here, but rest assured, you’ve found what you’re looking for. To be clear - we’re talking San Francisco lottery tickets here, not the housing lottery that takes so much precedence on Google these days.
San Fran is one of the best cities in the US for lotteries? Why, because as well as having three multi-million dollar weekly draws, you also get a second chance to win a consolation prize on certain tickets. What makes it better - even the scratchers give you the chance to win millions!
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Players from Virginia accepted
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Players from Virginia accepted
How the
San Francisco Lottery
Works
The San Francisco lottery, both online and offline, is run by the California State Lottery, which has been around since the ripe old year of 1984. There are three weekly multi-million dollar prize draws with the San Francisco lotteries, as well as a handful of smaller, daily draws for which you can buy San Francisco lotto tickets. In addition to that, there are no less than 50 different scratchers that you can play, ranging in prices from $2-$10, and with potential prize funds reaching the millions. Added to that, certain types of lotto tickets and all losing scratchers get you a certain roll of the dice if you sign up to San Francisco lotto online.
San Francisco Lotto Online
Looking to
play lottery online? You can use the San Francisco lotto online services by signing up and creating an account today - you don’t even have to be a resident of the city or California state. Simply head to the California State Lottery website or download their Lottery App today. Once you’ve done that, you can check for winning numbers, set up dates for the numbers for the draws that you have tickets for and a whole bunch of other features. This includes the 2nd Chance codes which can win you five-figure prizes on losing tickets - more on that later friends!
Buying
San Francisco Lotto Tickets
Let’s not beat around the bush, we all know why most of you are here - you wanna know how you can actually buy a lotto ticket and have the chance of winning when in San Fran. Currently, the only way to buy lotto tickets in San Francisco is directly in cash from licensed lottery retailers - of which there are many. Almost all of your local markets, 7-Elevens, gas stations and delis have a lotto license in the city - so you can rest assured you’re never too far away from one. This rule is the same in the rest of California state, with even local convenience stores in the most remote parts of the inner-state being licensed to sell tickets for
California lotteries. This is the blanket rule for all tickets - from weekly and daily draws to all 50 types of scratcher game available with the San Francisco lotteries.
Can I
Buy San Francisco Lotto Tickets Online?
You’d think so wouldn’t you, given that in 2024 we live in a world where you can literally buy a flatpack house online and have people come and build it for you. Moreover, San Fran is the beating heart of the world’s innovative tech industry. However, we’re sorry to disappoint you here - but you cannot currently buy San Francisco lotto tickets on the internet in 2024.
Why? It’s actually pretty logical, as it keeps the game fair, safe and easy enough to regulate - contrary to popular belief, it’s not simply because the California State Lottery is a dated and underfunded institution. With everything being retail only, the chances of lotto fraud are vastly reduced and it stops people from out of state, or out of the country from having a loophole to buy up a whole bunch of tickets. Those from out of state can legally buy tickets and win the lottery when in San Francisco, they just have to physically be here in order to do so. We’ll take a look at the details behind that a little further down.
San Francisco Lotteries
- Claiming Your Winnings
We all play the lotto to win right, that’s just a fact of life - but how easily do San Francisco and the state of California make it for you to claim your winnings? The answer - pretty damn easy. The process for claiming a winning ticket differs for big and small prizes, as it does in most other states and countries throughout the world. Let’s take a look at the two processes below:
Claiming a Small Winning Ticket
The cutoff for small prizes in the state of California is $599, and if you have a winning ticket or scratcher with a prize lower than that amount, you can simply take the ticket to your nearest licensed Lottery retailer. If they check the ticket and certify its winner, they’ll then be able to hand you your winnings in cold hard cash right there and then. Alternatively, if you find yourself housebound for any reason or you’re out of state by the time you realise you’ve won, you can claim by mail. That process we’ll explain below as it also applies to the big prizes.
Claiming a BIG Winning Ticket
If you’re lucky enough to hit a bumper prize over the value of $599, then there are two ways in which you can claim your winnings. For both of these ways, you will need to head to San Francisco lotto online and download the online claims form PDF. You’ll then need to fill it out by hand and sign it, just like they used to do in the olden times, after which you have two options. The first, and quickest option if it’s available to you, is to take your form directly to a California State Lottery District Office. There are three DOs in the San Francisco surrounding area, you’ll be happy to hear. Alternatively, if you find yourself out of state or in a rural area, you can mail your completed form to the California State Lottery HQ in Sacramento.
San Francisco Lotteries
- Taxes on Winnings
There’s good news and bad news here folks - so let’s start with the good news. The California state has exempt all lottery prizes from state and local San Francisco city taxes. However, unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the IRS - who will tax your winnings to different percentages depending on your status.
If you’re a US citizen or resident alien and provide your social security number on your winning claims form, you’ll be taxed 25%. If you’re a US citizen or resident alien who
doesn’t
provide your social security number on the form, you’ll be taxed 28%, and if you’re unable to provide any proof of US citizenship, you’ll be taxed 30%.
How Do I Pay the Tax on Winning
San Francisco Lotto Tickets?
It’s pretty easy - as you don’t actually have to do anything here. The IRS requires the California State Lottery to withhold the tax percentage from the winnings that they give you, meaning that when you are paid the winnings, they will be given to you with the tax already deducted - therefore you have no complexities that require you to get accountants and lawyers involved. There’s more information about this with San Francisco lotto online.
Can I Play and Win
San Francisco Lotteries
as a Foreigner?
In short, yes you can - and you don’t even have to have any official residency or citizenship, however temporary. Just remember that, as noted above, you will be taxed more if you have no proof of US citizenship, but only to the tune of five percent - which isn’t bad at all, everything considered. What is also important to note is that you can’t buy tickets for San Francisco lotto online, meaning you have to physically be in the state of California to buy San Francisco lotto tickets of any kind. You therefore have to have been in California when you bought the ticket, however, you can claim your winnings once you’re back in your home state or country by going through the mailing process that we detailed above.
Winning
San Francisco Lotto Tickets
& Staying Anonymous
Most want the fortune - not everybody wants fame, so what’s the deal with the San Francisco Lotteries and protecting your privacy? The short answer to the straight question is that you can take measures to protect your privacy and to remain anonymous, but the California state has no obligation to grant it to you. There are only a handful of states in 2024 that give big winners the right to anonymity and California isn’t one of them. On the contrary, they actually specifically forbid it, actually. If you do wish to remain anonymous, you could write to the California State lottery detailing your circumstances and reasons why you wish to remain private, and they might grant you an in-person meeting to discuss things further if they deem your situation to be an exceptional one. This is, however, a difficult avenue and is miles away from being guaranteed.
San Francisco Lotto Online
- a 2nd Chance at Winning
Got a couple of losing San Francisco lotto tickets or scratchers? Don’t throw them away just yet - they might still be winners! How is that possible, we hear you ask. Well, it’s all thanks to the California State Lotteries 2nd Chance system. All losing scratchers, SuperLotto Plus and Fantastic 5 tickets come with a 2nd Chance code, which gives you the opportunity to win a five-figure prize on your losing tickets., To find out if you’ve won, simply log into your online account at the California State Lottery website and enter the code.
What makes it even better is that it doesn’t work out as one ticket = one entry. Instead, you get one 2nd Chance prize entry for every $1 you spend. Therefore if you have a $10 scratcher that’s lost, you have 10 entries right there!
2nd Chance Prizes
The 2nd Chance prizes come in three different sizes
(rhyme very much intended, sorry!), and it depends on the type of ticket you have. The highest available prize available every week is drawn for losing scratchers, and is set at $25,000. Next down on the list we have the SuperLotto Plus 2nd Chance, which puts $15,000 up for grabs every week. Last and least, the Fantastic 5 2nd Chance
only
offers a $10,000 consolation prize on a weekly basis.
San Francisco Lotto Online - The Conclusion
So there you have all of the basic details regarding the San Francisco lottery and how to buy tickets, play the games and claim your winnings. Perhaps the most important point we should leave you for is this - the process of buying tickets and playing the lottery in San Francisco doesn’t differ from any other CA city or county - therefore all of the above information can be applied everywhere from San Fran, down to LA and San Diego. Be sure to take a look at our Los Angeles lotto tickets guide next!
Looking to find out more about
Online Gambling Sites US
- follow the link here!
San Francisco Lotteries FAQ
🗺️ Where can I buy lottery tickets in San Francisco?
If we were to provide you with a straight-up list of everywhere that you can buy lottery tickets in San Francisco and the bay area, you’d literally need to project the image onto a cinema screen and turn it sideways. Instead, we’ll direct you to the San Francisco lotto review here, that has all of the necessary details without the jargon.
💻 Can I buy lotto tickets online in SF?
Bit of a grey area here, not just for the great city of San Francisco but also for the California State Lottery as a whole. Please don’t worry though, as the experts here at CaptainGambling.com have explained everything you need to know about the
California State Lottery
organization right here. If you’ve got a question, we have the answers - true captains of our game!
👤 Can I remain anonymous if I win the lotto in San Francisco?
As of 2024 there are only a handful of US states that specifically and explicitly give you the right to remain anonymous if you win big on the lotto. This is a bit of a shame, as many want the fortune, but a lot don’t want the fame. We checked out the situation in California right here at
CaptianGambling
to see what you can do with regards to the winner’s privacy and everything else in between.
