The lottery is definitely one of the most popular gambling activities in the world. All it takes is to invest a small amount of money and you could end up winning millions. Although the odds of winning the main prize are pretty low, the sheer excitement of taking part in this game is what many love. Of course, there are other prizes apart from the main jackpot that can still put a smile on your face.
Every country has an official lottery that’s usually governed by a regulatory body that specialises in games based on luck. However, if you live in South Africa, you have one amazing opportunity — to take part in international lotteries.
The residents of South Africa love playing lottery games and consider them to be a very popular form of entertainment. Needless to say, some of the luckiest residents have managed to become millionaires overnight! Therefore, let’s take a look at some of the most popular foreign lotteries that are available to the residents of the Rainbow Nation.
Mini Lotto
Mini Lotto is a famous lottery from Poland that takes place on a daily basis. Essentially, five numbers are drawn out of 42 possible numbers each day. The odds of hitting three numbers are 1:128 and the estimated payout is €5.00.
The probability of hitting four numbers is 1:4,598 and the estimated prize for that is €24,000. Finally, getting all five numbers right is a bit difficult as it comes at the odds of 1:850,668. However, if you manage to get them all right, you can receive approximately up to ZAR5 million!
French Lotto
French Lotto is the most popular type of lottery in France. However, South African citizens can also take part in this type of entertainment. The draw takes place three times a week — every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 19:30 GMT.
French Lotto is very similar to Mini Lotto as you also get to pick five numbers. However, you get to pick from a total of 49 numbers, which significantly lowers the odds of winning the main jackpot.
In fact, the probability of winning the main prize is 1:19,068,840. Compared to Mini Lotto, that’s very different. Nevertheless, French Lotto also award less fortunate players. Namely, you also get to pick one bonus number when betting, and if you get it right (1:18 odds) you get to win a small amount of money — usually around ZAR38.
In other words, winning at least something is much easier in French Lotto than in Mini Lotto. In fact, even if you get only two numbers right, which comes at the odds of 1:16, you get to win approximately ZAR76 for your effort. Note that winning a bonus number in addition to regular numbers increases the final prize.
UK Lotto
The official UK lottery called UK Lotto is also very popular among lovers of this type of entertainment. There are a total of 59 numbers to choose from, and you get to choose six numbers.
UK Lotto (aka UK Lotto Plus) is not UK National Lottery, although they are pretty similar to each other. Essentially, the draw days of UK Lotto are Wednesday and Saturday, and the odds of winning the jackpot are 45 million to 1.
Sure, the odds are not that great compared to some other lotteries, but this one offers plenty of opportunities to win other prizes. Players who guess two or more numbers can win some kind of prize.
The odds of guessing two numbers are 1:10 and the prize for that is €2.25, which is approximately ZAR36. Moreover, the odds of guessing three numbers are 1:97 and you are usually awarded €33.80 for that. Naturally, the odds increase as well as the prizes, but the bottom line is that you have plenty of opportunities to win at least something when playing UK Lotto.