Python Lottery Game

How could I improve this code or make it more efficient?

import random

menu_check = True

# 'checker', compares userNums and winningNums to see if they have won or lost
def checker(userNums, winningNums):

    if userNums == winningNums:
        print ("\nCongratulations! You Win $100!\n")
        print ("Your numbers: ", userNums)
        print ("The winning lottery numbers are: ", winningNums, "\n")
    else:

        print ("\nSorry, you lose...\n")
        print ("Your numbers: ", userNums)
        print ("The winning lottery numbers are: ", winningNums, "\n")

# 'getUserNums', gets user numbers and puts into a sorted list    
def getUserNums():
    userNums = []

    for x in range(3):
        nums = int(input("Pick a number 0 through 9: "))
        if 0 <= nums <= 9:
            userNums.append(nums)
        else:
            input("Error! Invalid input. Press any key to continue...")
            nums = int(input("Pick a number 0 through 9: "))
            userNums.append(nums)

    return sorted(userNums)

# 'getWinningNums', creates a sorted list with random nums ranging from 0-9 with a range of 3 values
def getWinningNums():
    return sorted(random.sample(range(0,10), 3)) 

# 'menu', creates the main menu to choose game or exit program
def menu():
    print (30 * "-", "LOTTERY MENU", 30 * "-")
    print ("1. [Play Pick-3]")
    print ("2. Exit")
    print (75 * "-")

# 'main', calls the other functions
def main():
    userNums = getUserNums()
    winningNums = getWinningNums() 
    checker(userNums, winningNums)

#         
while menu_check:
    menu()
    choice = input("\nEnter your choice[1-2]: ")

    if choice == '1':
        print (23 * "-")
        print ("[Play Pick-3] selected!")
        print (23 * "-")
        menu_check = False
        main()

    elif choice == '2':
        print ("\nThanks for playing!\n")
        menu_check = False
    else:
        input("Error! Invalid input. Press any key to continue...\n")

General comments

For the most part this is very good code imho. You have a clear and consistent style. I really like you have split your functions into logical functions. You are however missing writing a more pythonic style function, and parts of your code is very hard coded.
Style

You have a very consistent coding style which is good. However you seem to use a #C naming convention and formating instead of a pythonic. You are using camelCase for variable names however in Python recommend UpperCamelCase for class names, CAPITALIZED_WITH_UNDERSCORES for constants, and lowercase_separated_by_underscores for other names.

The golden standard for style in python isPEP 8.
It explains in excruciating detail how to structure your code. I whole heartily recommend skimming through it and follow it.
Semantics

You should use the if __name__ == "__main__": module in your answer. This allows you to reuse the functions for later, and is a great thing to always use.

The getUserNums() is a bit strange. If my input is incorrect, you raise an error. However the second time my input is incorrect it passes just fine. You could solve this using a while loop instead

def getUserNums():
    userNums = []

    while len(userNums) < 3:
        nums = int(input("Pick a number 0 through 9: "))
        if 0 <= nums <= 9:
            userNums.append(nums)
        else:
            input("Error! Invalid input. Press any key to continue...")

The second problem with the snippet above is that you can guess the same number more than once! A quick fix for this would be to replace if 0 <= nums <= 9 with

if 0 <= nums <= 9 and nums not in UserNums

A third and final problem is that you'r program crashes if the input is not an integer. There are many solutions for this, a quick and dirty one is shown below

nums = input("Pick a number 0 through 9: ")
    try:
        nums = int(nums)
    except:
        print("Sorry your input must be an integer!")
        continue

The continue keyword is important as it skips the remainder of the loop. What happens if you remove it?

You have repeated uses of print in the menu() function, (a better name would perhaps have been print_menu()). This can be solved as follows

def menu():
    print (30 * "-", "LOTTERY MENU", 30 * "-",
          '1. [Play Pick-3]",
          '2. Exit',
           75 * "-")

Magic numbers

Throughout your code we find what is called Magic numbers. They are unique values with unexplained meaning or multiple occurrences which could (preferably) be replaced with named constants. For example the range of numbers or 30*'-'. These should optimally be replaced with named constants.

In the code below I have changed your variable names, replaced all the magical numbers. I have also made some small changes to your main function.

Lasly I made your Error messages more descriptive: input("Error! Invalid input. Press any key to continue...") Firstly what is the error? What was wrong with my input? Secondly it is strange to ask the user to press any key to continue.
Code

```
import random

NUMBER_OF_PICKS = 3
MIN_PICK = 1
MAX_PICK = 11
WINNINGS = 100
OFFSETT = 4

# 'checker', compares userNums and winningNums to see if they have won or lost
def checker(userNums, winningNums):
if userNums == winningNums:
print ("\nCongratulations! You Win ${}!".format(WINNINGS),
"\nYour numbers: ", userNums,
"\nThe winning lottery numbers were: ", winningNums, "\n")
else:

print ("\nSorry, you lose...",
"\nYour numbers: ", userNums,
"\nThe winning lottery numbers were: ", winningNums, "\n")

# 'get_user_nums', gets user numbers and puts into a sorted list
def get_user_nums():
userNums = []
while len(userNums) < NUMBER_OF_PICKS:
nums = input("Pick a number {} through {}: ".format(MIN_PICK, MAX_PICK))
try:
nums = int(nums)
except:
print("Sorry your input must be an integer!")
continue
if MIN_PICK <= nums <= MAX_PICK:
if nums not in userNums:
userNums.append(nums)
else:
print("Error! You have already picked this number")
else:
print("Error! Your number was not in range")

return sorted(userNums)

# 'get_winning_nums', creates a sorted list with random nums ranging from 0-9 with a range of 3 values
def get_winning_nums():
return sorted(random.sample(range(MIN_PICK, MAX_PICK), NUMBER_OF_PICKS))

# 'menu', creates the main menu to choose game or exit program
def lottery_menu():
name = ' '*int(OFFSETT/2) + "LOTTERY MENU"
dotted = (OFFSETT+len(name))*'-'
options = ["[Play Pick {}]".format(NUMBER_OF_PICKS),
"[Exit]"]
print('{} \n{} \n{}'.format(dotted, name, dotted))
for i, opt in enumerate(options):
print(i+1, opt)
print(dotted)

def play_pick_n():
userNums = g

StackExchange Code Review Q#132810, answer score: 8