HACKER Q&A
📣 LeoPanthera

Is “Mido Lotto” Legal?


Mido Lotto ( https://midolotto.com/ ) buys lottery tickets (physically, in person) and then resells them to you online, via an app, for a premium. They don't physically give you the ticket, they keep custody of it and, if you win, they give you the prize.

We've had a long discussion in my house this morning about whether this can possibly be legal, and we're sure that it is not. Is it?


  👤 rich15_w Accepted Answer ✓
Hi, I am the President of Mido Lotto. Some right and wrong answers here :-)

Mido Lotto does not sell or re-sell Lottery tickets, but rather, offers a convenience service for the purchase of tickets from an officially licensed Lottery retailer as an agent on behalf of the customer, and for enabling the user to manage their tickets in the app, check/claim winnings etc. A helpful analogy is that Mido Lotto does not sell Lottery tickets in the same way DoorDash doesn’t sell food.

Also - like other convenience services, we charge a small fee upfront once the ticket order is placed, but we never take a portion of your winnings.

I'd be happy to answer any further questions directly. Please feel free to drop me an email at rich@lottery-now.com (Lottery Now is the company that owns the Mido Lotto app).

Thanks, Rich Wheeler - President, Mido Lotto


👤 aurizon
https://www.uslottery.com/mido-lotto/

In essence, it is trust based. Whether or not this trust will break down if the ticket you buy wins $50 million. As long as it acts as agent and does not transport the tickets across state lines it claims extralegality. It buys tickets you finance and redeems the $$ to the winners. I do not know if it participates in the winnings with any fee or cut? Once asked, the state might limit it, but it also has many other legal agents = local stores


👤 mytailorisrich
According to their website, they don't resell but act as an agent:

"You pick your numbers. We buy your ticket for you from a licensed Lottery retailer."


👤 uberman
I don't know the service at all, but do thay actually buy the tickets or are they arbitraging the fact that players are expected to loose?

👤 tantalor
Dunno. Is there a law against it?