How do I find out if I won the lottery?

Check your ticket against official winning numbers on the state lottery website, at a retailer terminal, or scan it with WonYet — which reads your ticket with AI and checks every drawing automatically.

Do lottery prizes expire?

Yes. Claim periods range from 90 days to one year depending on the state and game. Hundreds of millions of dollars in prizes go unclaimed each year in the US.

Did I Win the Lottery? Here’s How to Find Out — Properly

Millions of tickets go unchecked every year, and hundreds of millions of dollars in prizes expire unclaimed. Here’s how to check a ticket correctly, and how to never wonder again.

The three reliable ways to check a lottery ticket

Scan it with WonYet. Photograph the ticket; AI reads the game, every line, and the drawing date, then checks it against official results — and keeps checking automatically for every future drawing. Scan a ticket free.
The official lottery website or app. Every state lottery publishes winning numbers, usually within an hour of the drawing. Slower, manual, but authoritative.
A retailer terminal. Any licensed lottery retailer can scan your ticket. Tip: sign the back of the ticket first, and ask for the ticket back along with any printout.

Why people miss wins

The big jackpot gets all the attention, but most prizes are small ones — $4 here, $100 there — won on tickets bought weeks ago and forgotten. Lower-tier prizes don’t make the news, and nobody calls you. Lotteries are required to bank unclaimed prizes, and they add up to hundreds of millions of dollars every year in the US. The most common reasons:

Checking only the jackpot numbers and missing lower prize tiers
Misreading one digit at midnight (the 6/8 and 3/5 problem)
Forgetting the ticket entirely — the glove compartment graveyard
Not knowing multi-draw tickets cover several drawings

Checking it right, by hand

Confirm the drawing date on your ticket — not the purchase date.
Compare every line against the official numbers, including the bonus ball (Powerball, Mega Ball, etc.) — most prize tiers involve it.
Check the multiplier: Power Play and similar options multiply non-jackpot prizes.
Check all prize tiers — matching even the bonus ball alone often pays.
If you win: sign the back, photograph both sides, and verify through official channels before celebrating in public.

Or never wonder again

This is the entire reason WonYet exists. Scan the ticket once and the question “won yet?” answers itself: we fetch official results after every drawing, check every line of every saved ticket, and tell you what happened — including the exact dollar amount. The free plan covers 20 scans a month.

Check my ticket now

Always verify your results through official lottery channels before claiming any prize. WonYet is not affiliated with Powerball, Mega Millions, or any state lottery organization.