Questions, answered straight.

Usually about 25–33% of the advertised number. The billboard figure is the 30-year annuity value. Nearly every winner takes the lump-sum cash option — historically roughly 43–47% of the advertised jackpot — and taxes come out of that. Federal tax takes an effective 37% for a prize this size, and most states take a cut on top. The live calculator on our homepage shows tonight’s exact numbers for your state.

Two layers. Federal: 24% is withheld the day you claim, but a jackpot puts you in the top bracket, so you owe roughly 13 percentage points more at filing — an effective 37%. State: anywhere from 0% (nine jurisdictions) to about 10.9% (New York), and a few places add county or city tax on top of that.

Nine jurisdictions take nothing from a lottery prize: Florida, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming have no state income tax, while California and Delaware have income tax but specifically exempt lottery winnings.

California is one of the best states to win in: lottery prizes are exempt from state income tax (since Proposition 37 in 1984), so you pay only the effective 37% federal tax on the cash option. On a $786 million jackpot with a $341.6 million cash option, that’s about $215 million take-home.

The advertised jackpot is what you’d get paid over 30 annuity payments. The cash option is the money actually sitting in the prize pool today — recently around 43–47% of the advertised figure. It’s not a fee or a trick; it’s the time value of money. Our blog post walks through the full math.

It depends on your state — cutoffs range from about 45 minutes to two hours before the 10:59 PM ET drawing. California stops at 7:00 PM Pacific, for example, while New York sells until 10:00 PM Eastern. See how much it varies — the app carries the exact cutoff for all 50 states + D.C. and counts down to yours automatically.

No — and the app says so on the screen where it would be most tempting to pretend otherwise. Lottery drawings are random, independent events; past results carry no predictive advantage. Hot and cold numbers are real statistics shown for entertainment, clearly labeled.

No. Lottery Dreams does not sell tickets, process gambling payments, or link to betting services. You buy real tickets wherever you normally do. The app is the honest companion: your numbers, your spending, your results.

Save your numbers once and schedule them — one drawing, through a date, or always. After each drawing you play, the app compares every saved ticket against the official winning numbers and real prize tables (Power Play multiplier included) and sends the result to your lock screen, usually by morning. Your numbers never leave your phone; the checking happens on your device.

The app will launch free on the App Store, with no ads and no data selling. If we ever add paid features, we’ll say so plainly before you pay a cent.

It’s in final development. Leave your email and you’ll get exactly one message when it’s live.

That’s a decision for you and a licensed professional — we genuinely don’t give financial advice. What the app does show: the cash option’s after-tax value, clearly separated from the annuity billboard number, so the conversation with your advisor starts from reality.