When you’re entering the lottery, the end goal is always to win the jackpot. So you might find yourself wondering – which lottery has the best odds?
Thunderball
Any prize: 1 in 13
Jackpot odds: 1 in 8,060,598
Thunderball involves picking five main numbers from 1 to 39. You also need to pick one Thunderball from 1 to 14. You can choose your own numbers, or select a Lucky Dip for randomly selected numbers.
Matching the Thunderball means you win £3 while matching five main numbers and the Thunderball gives you the chance to win up to £500,000.
Thunderball is drawn four days a week, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at approximately 8:15 pm. Tickets cost £1, and ticket sales close at 7:30 pm on the days of the draw.
Lotto
Any prize: 1 in 9.3
Jackpot odds: 1 in 45,057,474
Lotto involves choosing six numbers between 1 and 59. If you match two numbers, you will win a free Lotto Lucky Dip. You need to match five numbers and the Bonus ball to win the jackpot.
Lotto is drawn at approximately 8:30 pm on Wednesday and Saturday. Ticket sales close at 7:30 pm on the day of the draw. Lotto tickets cost £2.
Lotto HotPicks
Pick 5 Match 5 numbers: 1 in 843,398
Lotto HotPicks involves picking between 1 to 5 Hotpicks numbers. Picking and matching one number has better odds – 1 in 10 – however, the prize is much smaller. If you pick and match five numbers, you may win up to £350,000.
Lotto HotPicks draws take place with Lotto, every Wednesday and Saturday at 9 pm GMT. Sales close 90 minutes before the draw. Tickets cost £1, no matter how many numbers you choose.
EuroMillions
Any prize: 1 in 13
Jackpot odds: 1 in 139,838,160
EuroMillions involves picking five numbers between 1 and 50, as well as two Lucky Stars from 1 to 12. You can choose your own numbers, or choose a Lucky Dip for randomly selected numbers. Match all five numbers and the two Lucky Stars to win the jackpot; if you match two numbers you will win £2.70.
EuroMillions is drawn around 8 pm on Tuesday and Friday, with ticket sales closing at 7:30 pm.
You can enter EuroMillions if you are from Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland or the UK. As a result of the number of countries which can enter, EuroMillions has a much higher odds.
EuroMillions HotPicks
Pick 5 Match 5 numbers: 1 in 2,118,760
EuroMillions HotPicks is a game based on the EuroMillions numbers. You can choose to match between one or five numbers – matching one number has 1 in 10 odds, but you will only win £10. If you match five numbers you will win up to £1,000,000. The Lucky Star numbers do not count, instead, the draw uses the five main EuroMillions numbers.
The Health Lottery
Any prize: 1 in 108
Jackpot odds: 1 in 2,000,000
Unlike the others, the Health Lottery is not a national lottery. Instead, it is 51 local society lotteries which represent one or more areas across Great Britain. This lottery raises money for health-related causes.
You have to choose five numbers between 1 and 50, which can be your own numbers or a Quick Pick. Each line played also enters you into the Mega Raffle for the next month. Matching one ball and the bonus ball will win you a free ticket into the next Mega Raffle. Matching five numbers will win either a minimum £25,000 or 10% of dales for that draw, whichever figure is greater.
Tickets cost £1. Draws occur five times a week – Tuesday through to Saturday. The Health Lottery is drawn around 9:55 pm. The Mega Raffle occurs on the 1st of every month.
People’s Postcode Lottery
Any prize: 1 in 160
Jackpot odds: unavailable
People’s Postcode Lottery is a subscription-based lottery. Rather than selecting lottery numbers, tickets are based on your postcode.
To play, you pay £10 per month and select the postcode you wish to play. You don’t need to choose the postcode where you live – you can play with any. The winners will be everyone with the postcode which is selected.
You have a chance to win prizes every day. There are three different prize tiers:
- £1,000 Daily Prize, awarded from Monday to Sunday
- £30,000 Street Prize, awarded on Saturday and Sunday
- £3,000,000 Postcode Millions Prize, awarded once per month
Odds are not announced for People’s Postcode Lottery, as it depends on how many people have entered, and organisers have declared the odds as sensitive information.
Which lottery has the best odds?
So if you’re only going to enter one lottery, which one has the best odds?
The Lotto HotPicks has the best odds at 1 in 834,398. If you don’t want to play a HotPicks game, Health Lottery is the next best, at 1 in 2,000,000.