South African Lotto guide

What is the Lottery?

The lottery currently has three draws that take place. There is Lotto and Lotto Plus 1 and 2. All three draws take place twice a week - once on Wednesday and Saturday. Lotto Plus 1 and Lotto Plus 2 are only available if players have already bought a ticket for the standard lottery. Each additional draw costs R2.50 to enter.

The lottery games allow players to choose 6 numbers from a list of 52. When the lottery occurs, 6 numbered ball sets will be drawn from the machine, followed by a 7th ball. If you match numbers, then you will win prizes.

The sportstake lottery is part of the South Africa National Lottery.

What Can You Win?

There are only two combinations that offer fixed prizes to winners. If you match 2 balls in the game, you will earn a prize of R20. Similarly, if you match 3 ball sets, you will receive R50. The subsequent prizes on offer change depending on the prize pool in place. The order that the prizes increase is as follows:

• 3 balls and the bonus ball
• 4 balls
• 4 balls and the bonus ball
• 5 balls
• 5 balls and the bonus ball
• 6 balls

The more money in the prize pool, the higher the payouts. Another thing to consider is rollovers. Rollovers occur if no one wins the big prize. In this case, the prize will roll over to the next week, and any prize pool created from bought lottery tickets that week will add to the total prize fund. It means that if no one wins the main prize over a few weeks, the prize will increase in size.

What Does it Cost?

The cost of a standard lottery ticket sales is R5. The Lotto Plus 1 and Lotto Plus 2 cost R2.50 each. Players cannot bet on just the Lotto Plus 1 or 2. Instead, you can only place a wager on the next draw if you have already placed a bet on the previous level.

For example, you can't place a Lotto Plus 1 bet if you don't have a standard lottery stake. Likewise, you can't place a Lotto Plus 2 bet if you have not placed a Lotto Plus 1 bet.

How To Place Your Bets

All you need to do is find a retailer that sells Lotto tickets. Here, you can easily choose your numbers and place your bet. Another method is to place your bets online. In this case, you need to be a South African resident.

All the best lottery games are available for play via phone, tablet, or computer. However, you must first register a player account or sign in to an existing one. After picking the games, enter your numbers into the provided boxes. Alternatively, choose the Quick Pick option to receive numbers from a number generator. Fill out your boards and click the CHOOSE My NUMBERS to proceed.

Other Ways to Play Lotteries in South Africa

Lottery websites and in-store are the most popular ways to play and get Lotto results in South Africa. Nonetheless, there are still alternatives for individuals who don’t want the two. They include:

Banking Websites and Apps to Play the National Lottery

Leading South African banks partner with the National Lottery. As a result, individuals can play games through their banking apps and websites. Banks that are part of the initiative include:

• First National Bank
• Nedbank
• Standard Bank

ATM

Another way to play the lottery is directly at an Automatic Teller Machine. That said, you must be a customer of the bank to try this method. When you insert your card, the system will show an option to play the lottery game. Follow the prompts to pay for an entry.

USSD

The USSD code allows individuals to play the lottery game on their phones without downloading an app or accessing the internet. Dial the applicable code of your bank, follow the on-screen instructions, and pay for tickets.

A2Pay and RA Cellular

These cellular platforms sell tickets for the National Lottery Raffle. Visit any of their retail outlets and request one.

How Do I Claim My Winnings?

It depends on how much you win. If you won R2,000, go to any retailer that sells Lotto tickets to claim your winnings. In contrast, if you won between R2,000 and R50,000, visit an official payment centre or request payment via mail or cheque, as it is not paid in cash.

If you won more than R50,000, get a claim form from a Post Office. Take it to the regional claim office to validate and verify your wins. Afterwards, winners will be paid their money via Electronic Funds Transfer.

Daily Lotto

There are various South African lotteries you can play for real cash. They include a Daily Lotto jackpot up to R500k, a Powerball Lotto Jackpot worth R69 million, and more.

How to Play Daily Lotto

As the name implies, the Daily Lotto is held every day of the week. Hence, someone will win the total prize or the next estimated jackpot in every draw. The draws are held at 21:00 every evening, and players can buy tickets up to 20:30. Likewise, they can play on a website and in-store, and each entry costs R3. Follow these steps to play online:

1. Set up a National Lottery account and deposit.
2. Choose five numbers from 1 to 36 intentionally or from a number generator. Repeat the procedure on different boards.
3. Confirm if you want to enter single or multiple draws
4. Pay for your entry.

Playing the National Lottery online comes with the assurance of never losing your ticket. Unlike a physical store, the website lottery account saves a player’s details. Not only this, but it will notify you if you win a prize to ensure no one misses out. Follow the same procedure for in-store gameplay. The only difference is that you take the bet slip to a teller for payment.

Meanwhile, you risk forfeiting the prize if you don’t sign your ticket and lose it. Most importantly, another player can use it to claim the prize.

Prizes and Winning Odds

Daily Lotto games award a jackpot for anyone who matches all five of their chosen numbers. Nonetheless, you can still win a top prize for matching at least two numbers. If no one matches all the five numbers in a draw, the next estimated jackpot rolls down and is split between winners who match four numbers.

Daily Lotto games launched on 10 March 2019. There were no match 5 winners, so the next estimated jackpot rolled down, and 57 winners shared the prize pool.

The odds of winning from matching 5 numbers is 1 in 376,992. The figure represents 35.60% of the prize pool, and the average prize for the past year’s latest lottery results draw is R253,674. The odds of matching 4 numbers is 1 in 2,432, while the odds of matching 3 numbers is 1 in 81. Lastly, the odds of matching 2 numbers is 1 in 8.40, while the overall odds of winning a daily lottery prize money is 1 in 7.6.

The maximum a player is allowed to bet on Daily Lotto per bet slip is R150. Nonetheless, you can play multiple betslips in one draw.

Powerball

Powerball is the next step up from the Lotto. The prizes for the lottery results can be quite high. Still, they are nothing when compared to what's available with the Powerball results. The total prize money is uncapped, so if it rolls over, winners are awarded incredible prizes. For instance, it has gone over R100 million before in its history. This makes the Powerball results incredibly lucrative and exciting.

The Powerball results work by players choosing 6 numbers. The first 5 numbers are chosen from a list of 50. The 6th number is the Powerball. This is chosen from a list of 20. If the player can land all 5 numbers and then get the Powerball correctly, it will pay out the next estimated jackpot to players.

The tickets for the Powerball cost R5, just like the standard lottery. They are also available for purchase in the same way. If you want to play for bigger rewards then Powerball is the way to do it.

Powerball Plus

This Powerball Plus works the same way as the original Powerball. However, it offers a second chance to win on the outcome. Players pay an extra R2.5 per board to enter the next draw. Although the Powerball plus odds are the same as the Powerball, the prizes from the latest lottery results are lower.

Conclusion

The SA National Lottery is among the most popular ways to have fun and make money. Beyond being a pastime, the statistics show that the lotteries are a major revenue contributor in the country. ITHUBA Holdings holds the operating licence and there are multiple lottery options you can try. The draws are held twice a week. Who knows, you can get lucky and win big.

Frequently Asked Questions About Lotto in South Africa