By Bob Katzen
ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL
The Lottery has launched Mass Lottery Online, featuring a variety of both new and old games that registered players age 21 or older can play on the Mass Lottery app and website on a mobile device, computer or tablet. Profits generated from online sales will be used to fund a grant program to support early childhood education and care.
“The launch of our online platform marks an exciting new chapter for the Lottery as we continue to evolve and meet the needs of today’s players,” said State Treasurer Deb Goldberg, chair of the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission. “Online Lottery will allow us to compete on a more level playing field in the state’s gaming marketplace and sales will help make childcare more affordable for families across Massachusetts.”
“Since selling our first ticket in 1972, the Mass Lottery has become one of the top performing lotteries in the world thanks to our exciting portfolio of games, attractive prize payouts, innovative business and marketing strategies and of course, our dedicated retail partners and loyal player base,” said Mark William Bracken, executive director of the Mass Lottery. “In creating Mass Lottery Online, we took a similar approach that gives our players new play experiences with the same standards they have grown to expect, wherever in Massachusetts they find themselves to be.”
Several popular draw-based games, now sold only at retail stores, will be available for purchase online including Mass Cash, Megabucks, Mega Millions, Powerball and Millionaire for Life. Several games remain available only for retail purchase including traditional Keno, The Numbers Game and The Wheel of Luck.
Mass Lottery Online is also introducing 20 new eInstant Games which are digital games featuring cascading or tumbling symbols that result in instant winning experiences when a cluster of symbols match. Other play styles include key number match and find the symbol.
To play Mass Lottery games online, players must be 21 or older and physically located in Massachusetts at the time of play and must make a deposit to their account. Players need to have a Mass Lottery Player Account, which can be created at masslottery.com or by downloading the Mass Lottery App on a mobile device or tablet. Registration requires a full nine-digit Social Security number along with player’s legal full name, date of birth, residential address and other standard information.
The Lottery has implemented numerous features to its online platform which it says will promote responsible play. As a required step in the registration process, players will be informed of the option of setting personalized deposit and play limits and instructed how to do so if desired. Players who have not set limits will continue to be notified of this option on a monthly basis. At any time, players will be able to adjust their personal limits. Stricter limits take effect immediately, while any increase requires a 48-hour period, helping prevent impulsive behavior.
Online players will be able to opt for a cooling-off period that will prevent them from being able to make a deposit or place a bet or receive direct marketing communications from the Lottery, for a set period of time, ranging from 24 hours to up to six months. Players also will have the ability to directly opt-in to PlayBreak, the voluntary self-exclusion program, for one-, three-or five-year periods, or for a lifetime exclusion.
To assist in the prevention of underage access to registered accounts, multi-factor authentication for all players will be required at their first login on a daily basis. Multi-factor authentication will also be required when logging in from a new device. All devices must be verified through the player’s registered email or phone, and players will only be able to be signed in to their account on one device at any given time