Arizona’s New Online Lottery Lounge Could Bring Online Casinos To The State

Written By Hill Kerby on June 23, 2023
Lottery Lounge is the newest online gaming platform to launch in Arizona.

Are you feeling lucky?

The Arizona Lottery’s Lucky Lounge is the newest way to gamble online in The Grand Canyon State legally. The platform uses a sweepstakes model, which allows players to use tokens and win cash prizes from games, sweepstakes, and drawings.

Social and sweepstakes casinos in Arizona have been around for a while, but Lucky Lounge is the first state-sanctioned one. It comes less than two years after sports betting was legalized, bringing hope with it of future online gambling expansion, like Arizona online casinos.

Sports betting continues to gain momentum

Arizona sports betting began with a fury, and it hasn’t let up since. The state became the quickest to a $1 billion lifetime handle, needing just three months after launching in September 2021 to hit that mark. The state’s sportsbooks handled over $6 billion in wagers in 2022 and are on pace to beat that record in 2023.

In the most recent data from March 2023, sportsbooks reported over $645 million in wagers with $53.4 million in sports betting revenue. This led to $3.7 million in state taxes, second-best all time.

The state has collected more than $43 million in sports betting taxes to date. This money goes to the state’s general fund, which supports other state agencies and contributes to education, health services, and more.

Lucky Lounge awards prizes up to $10,000

Players can get involved in sweepstakes and other games at the Lucky Lounge with no required initial investment. Once signed up for an account, the Lottery will award 50 tokens for each daily login.

These tokens can be accrued to enter sweepstakes and regular drawings, which cost 250-500 tokens, and award prizes as high as $10,000. They can also be used to play one of the lounge’s four games:

  • Arizona Cascades
  • Boogie Down and Dash
  • Crossword
  • Windfall Willie

Games cost 10-60 tokens to play, meaning a daily login won’t get very far. To play more, you can purchase additional tokens for as little as $5 to play more and still get plenty of bang for your buck.

  • A $5 deposit earns 5,000 tokens
  • A $10 deposit earns 11,000 tokens
  • A $20 deposit earns 25,000 tokens
  • A $50 deposit earns 75,000 tokens

The lounge is available online and by downloading Arizona Lottery Players Club mobile app.

When will Arizona online casinos become legal?

The Lottery’s new lounge is another example of Arizona’s growing gambling industry. Of course, this industry also includes retail casinos, which contributed a record $123 million to the state in 2022.

They, too, are still growing. Chandler’s Santan Mountain Casino will open at the end of the month, adding another option for residents in the Phoenix area.

Like sports betting, retail casino revenue goes to the state’s general fund. Lucky Lounge’s revenue will support various programs along with all additional Lottery proceeds.

No current prospects for full-scale online casino legislation exist in Arizona. Other states, like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, bring in hundreds of millions yearly in online casino tax revenue.

Hopefully, a successful casino venture from the Lottery could get the ball rolling on Arizona online casinos. If the state takes note, it can facilitate a booming iGaming industry and multiply its revenue along the way … a win for all parties involved.

Photo by Shutterstock
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Hill Kerby

Hill Kerby is a proponent of safe, legal betting, and is grateful to be able to contribute to growing the industry. He has a background in poker, sports, and psychology, all of which he incorporates into his writing.

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