South African National Lottery Odds can change over time. The South Africa Lotto offers the chance to win life-altering jackpots.
It is known for its easy-to-play format and has become one of Africa’s most popular lotto games over time.
But when did the South African National Lottery originate? Let’s find out your odds on The South African National Lottery Online.
See also – Which Casino Games Have The Best Odds To Play?
A Little Bit of History
South Africa’s lotteries have been operating since 2000. In their first three weeks, more than 800,000 tickets were sold.
Due to its growing popularity, the Lotto Plus game was launched in three years with a new required entry fee of R1.
After the Lottery was suspended from April to October 2007, it was relaunched, and more than 200,000 tickets were sold within the first three hours.
The numbers of these ticket sales are very impressive. Still, if you are a lotto player, it would only be natural to wonder if the numbers determine the odds of winning. The answer is, “Not exactly.”
South African National Lottery Odds
One of the most popular lottery games in South Africa is Lotto. In the Lotto game, players select six numbers from a pool of numbers.
As with most lotteries worldwide, the odds of winning the jackpot (matching all six numbers) are typically relatively low.
The odds are calculated based on the total number of possible combinations.
It’s important to note that lottery odds are designed to be challenging, and winning is a matter of luck.
The odds also depend on the specific rules of the lottery game and whether additional numbers or bonus balls are involved.
Lottery odds can change, and it’s always best to refer to the most recent information from the official lottery organization.
How Does The South African National Lottery Work?
The South Africa Lotto offers seven prize categories. To win the jackpot, players must successfully match six numbers from a guess range of 1-49.
The lottery offers a bonus number chosen during the draw from the same drum and counted towards secondary prizes only.
Games offered by the South African National Lottery
There are about 8 games that operate under the South African National Lottery brand:
1. Lotto and Lotto Plus games
Players buy tickets with their choice of six numbers between 1 and 52; a provision known as ‘Quick Pick’ allows random numbers to be generated automatically for those who do not wish to choose.
In the draw, six numbered balls are drawn without replacement from a set of 52 balls numbered from 1 to 52. A bonus ball is also drawn, which affects only players who match five numbers.
Prizes are awarded to players who match at least three of the six drawn numbers, with prizes increasing for matching more of the drawn numbers.
All players who match all six drawn numbers win equal jackpot shares; the chance of doing so is 1 in 20,358,520.
If four, five, or six balls are matched, the relevant prize is divided equally between all who match that many. If no player matches all six numbers, the jackpot is added to the next Lotto draw—a Rollover.
When Draws are Conducted?
The entry fee to the LOTTO draw is set at R5.00 per board.
The draw happens on Wednesdays and Saturdays on SABC 2 at 20:56.
- LOTTO PLUS 1 is the same as LOTTO but gives the player a second chance to win. The player must pay an extra R2.50 per board to enter the LOTTO PLUS 1 draw when buying a LOTTO ticket. Odds are the same, while prizes are usually slightly lower. The draw is conducted on Wednesdays and Saturdays on SABC 2 at 20:56.
- LOTTO PLUS 2 is the same as LOTTO but gives the player a third chance to win. When buying a LOTTO ticket, the player must pay an extra R2.50 per board to enter the LOTTO PLUS 2 draw. Odds are the same, while prizes are usually slightly lower. The draw is conducted on Wednesdays and Saturdays on SABC 2 at 20:56.
What Are the Odds of Winning?
| LOTTO and LOTTO PLUS odds | ||
| Match | Odds of winning | % of total winning pool |
| 2 and bonus | 1 : 96 | Lotto R20.00, Lotto Plus R15 |
| 3 | 1 : 72 | Lotto R50.00, Lotto Plus R25 |
| 3 and bonus | 1 : 1028 | 7.3% |
| 4 | 1 : 1,371 | 8.4% |
| 4 and bonus | 1 : 30,161 | 5.0% |
| 5 | 1 : 75,402 | 4.0% |
| 5 and bonus | 1 : 3,393,087 | 2.3% |
| All 6 | 1 : 20,358,520 | 73.0% |
The first prize is determined by a match of all 6 numbers, with winning odds of 1:13,983,816. The second prize depends on a 5+1 match and has winning odds of 1:2,330,636.
The 3rd prize requires a 5-number match and has the winning odds of 1:55,492. The 4th prize needs the participant to have a 4+1 match and a winning odds of 1:44,393.
The 5th prize is determined by a match of 4 numbers and has the winning odds of 1:1,033. The 6th prize depends on a 3+1 match and has the winning odds of 1:2,436, and the 7th prize requires a 3-number match and has the winning odds of 1:57.
2. Powerball and Powerball Plus
When introduced, the PowerBall jackpot draw required players to pick five main numbers from 1 to 45 and one ‘PowerBall’ number from 1 to 20 for an entry fee of R5 per board.
Prizes may be won by matching the main numbers, with matches of the PowerBall number winning higher prizes.
Match all five main numbers, and the PowerBall wins the top prize. Draws take place on Tuesdays and Fridays on E.tv at 21:00.
After 28 November 2015, the odds were changed as more possibilities to win were introduced. An example of the recent additions was that if the player matched only the Powerball, they would win money, while before, that ticket would not win anything. In addition, the number of main balls was raised from 45 to 50.
The record prize for any Lottery game in South Africa was R102,016,595 in PowerBall. This prize was won in the Free State but never collected. The highest claimed prize was also from PowerBall, at R91,068,427.
PowerBall PLUS
PowerBall PLUS is the same as PowerBall but gives the player a second chance to win. When buying a PowerBall ticket, the player must pay an extra R2.50 per board to enter the PowerBall PLUS draw. Odds are the same, while prizes are usually slightly lower.
Powerball PLUS is the newest game added to the National Lottery of South Africa. It was introduced on 28 November 2015. Draws take place on Tuesdays and Fridays on E.tv at 21:00.
What Are the Odds of Winning?
| PowerBall and PowerBall PLUS odds | ||
| Match | Odds of winning | % of total winning pool |
| PowerBall | 1 : 35 | Fixed (R10 for PowerBall/ R5
for Power Ball Plus) |
| 1 ball and PowerBall | 1 : 57 | Fixed (R15 for PowerBall/ R7.50
for Power Ball Plus) |
| 2 balls and PowerBall | 1 : 299 | 3.00% |
| 3 balls | 1 : 225 | 4.00% |
| 3 balls and PowerBall | 1 : 4,280 | 4.80% |
| 4 balls | 1 : 9,912 | 4.24% |
| 4 balls and PowerBall | 1 : 188,334 | 2.50% |
| 5 balls | 1 : 2,230,274 | 4.00% |
| All balls including PowerBall | 1 : 42,375,200 | 54.46% |
SPORTSTAKE 13
There are two games to play here: Sportstake 8 and Sportstake 13. A player can play SPORTSTAKE 13 by predicting the outcomes of 13 predetermined match fixtures drawn from English and other identified professional soccer fixtures.
For each fixture, the player chooses their prediction by marking on the bet slip:
[1] – for a home win [x] – for a draw [2] – for a home loss (Away win)- You can select single or multiple outcomes results for each fixture.
- A valid wager must consist of at least one selection per fixture.
- A minimum price per wager per board is R2.00 vat incl and a maximum wager per Betslip is R2000.00.
- Each wager will cost you R2.00 VAT.
- You can play PRO PICK as a quick-play option
- There is no Multi-Draw option.
- Sportstake 13 fixture results are considered the final score after 90 minutes of play or after extra time where applicable; however, they exclude penalty shootouts.
What Are the Odds of Winning?
| Prize division | Theoretical odds of winning | Pool % |
| Match 13 | 1:1,594,323 | 30% |
| Match 12 | 1:62,320 | 15% |
| Match 11 | 1:5110 | 20% |
| Match 10 | 1:697 | 35% |
EAZiWIN
As well as tickets for the Draw Games, the National Lottery also sells instant win digital scratch cards.
They are digital scratch cards, compared against a slip and not scratched like traditional scratchcards. These are called EAZiWIN and are based on traditional African games. Cards range from R3 to R5.
What Are the Odds of Winning?
| EAZiWIN odds | ||||
| Name of Game | Game based on | Price of Card | Highest Prize | Odds of winning |
| Popa Feela | Unknown | R3 | R30,000 | 1 : 4 |
| 4 Siya Wina | Unknown | R5 | R100,000 | |
| Fafi Fortune | Fafi | |||
| Morabaraba | Morabaraba |
Are My Odds of Winning Increased Online?
Although the odds stay relatively the same no matter which platform you choose, playing online has its benefits. This is because you can connect to the website at any time of the day. Thus, you have more time to submit more tickets, which increases your chances of winning.
You can download the National Lottery game app on your mobile, be it Android or iPhone, and play lotto games now. Visit here to learn more about the latest games on offer at the South Africa National Lottery.
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