Lotto
Next estimated jackpot:
R18,000,000
About Lotto
Lotto is the longest running game in South Africa, after the first draw took place in 2000 and was the first lottery of its kind in the whole country. Since then, it has made thousands of millionaires and now gives players 24 different ways to win prizes with the inclusion of the Lotto Plus 1 and Plus 2 games. Find out more in our overview and prizes information below.
Lotto Overview
Lotto, Lotto Plus 1 and Lotto Plus 2 give players multiple chances to win prizes that start from R15.00 for matching just two numbers and the Bonus Ball. We have put together and overview of Lotto below to get you started:
- Players must pick six numbers from 1 to 52, or use a Quick Pick to get a random set of numbers. Each entry costs R5.00
- A Bonus Ball is also drawn, however players do not choose this when entering. It is drawn from the remaining numbers once six have been drawn, and is used to award more prizes when you match this number with any of those on your ticket as long as you have matched enough other numbers as well
- Draws take place twice a week on Wednesday and Saturday at 21:00, with ticket sales closing at 20:30
- Lotto Plus 1 and Plus 2 draws take place after the Lotto draw and have the same size ball pool. If you enter these draws you will have the same numbers you used for the main Lotto draw, meaning you don’t choose a separate line when entering these supplemental games.
- Tickets cost R2.50 to enter each Plus game, meaning it would be an additional R5.00 on top of your Lotto entry to enter both, making an entry into all three draws cost R10.00.
- You can only enter Lotto Plus 1 if you have entered the main Lotto draw, and you can only enter Lotto Plus 2 if you have entered both Lotto and Lotto Plus 1.
- Each game has eight different prize tiers, with the bottom two prize levels being fixed amounts and the rest of them based on a percentage of the prize fund
- Prizes must be claimed within 365 days of the draw you entered taking place. After this, all unclaimed prizes are donated to good causes supported by the national lottery.
Lotto & Powerball Comparison
Draw Days
Starting Jackpot
Record Jackpot
Ticket Price
Next Jackpot
Lotto
Wednesday and Saturday
R3 Million
R110 Million
R5
R18,000,000
Powerball
Tuesday and Friday
R5 Million
R232 Million
R5
R29,000,000
You may also find these pages useful:
Statistics
Check out the latest Lotto statistics, updated in real-time after each drawing.
Number Generator
Generate your own Quick Pick results for a future draw, as many times as you like.
Lotto Prize Table
With three different draws its no wonder that Lotto is the staple game for South African lottery players nationwide. Below you can find all the prize divisions, the percentage of the prize pool directed to each one, and what the odds of winning are:
| Prize Division | % of Prize Pool | Odds of Winning | Winners in Last Draw | Avg. Winners Per Draw |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match 6 | 73% | 1 in 20,358,520 | 0 | 0.5 |
| Match 5 + Bonus | 2.3% | 1 in 3,393,087 | 2 | 3.1 |
| Match 5 | 4% | 1 in 75,042 | 33 | 133 |
| Match 4 + Bonus | 5% | 1 in 30,161 | 121 | 218.7 |
| Match 4 | 8.4% | 1 in 1,371 | 2,268 | 6,771.4 |
| Match 3 + Bonus | 7.3% | 1 in 1,028 | 3,070 | 9,028.3 |
| Match 3 | Fixed Prize of R50 | 1 in 72 | 42,166 | 120,569.8 |
| Match 2 + Bonus | Fixed Prize of R20 | 1 in 96 | 29,979 | 32,148.6 |
| The overall Lotto odds are approx. 1 in 38 | ||||
Top 3 Biggest Lotto Jackpots
1
Jackpot: R110 Million
Date: 27 January 2018
Winners: 4x (Cape Town)
The biggest Lotto jackpot of all time was split between four tickets, with each one winning R27.5 million. There were 21 consecutive rollovers to get to this point, which took over two and a half months for it to rise to the only draw over R100 million in the game’s history. All four tickets were claimed and all the winners remained anonymous, with one of them waiting until the final day of the claim period to come and collect their prize. Talk about cutting it close!
2
Jackpot: R79 Million
Date: 4 May 2019
Winners: 1x (Cape Town)
The second biggest win of all time and the biggest single winner was a woman from Cape Town, who also chose to remain anonymous. Her first act after winning was giving R2 million to a petrol attendant she had always found polite and helpful, before moving on to buying a house with a garden for her grandson to play in and then paying for her daughter to quit her job so she could go back to school and get her psychology degree.
3
Jackpot: R58 Million
Date: 12 May 2018
Winners: 1x (Cape Town)
Mother’s Day 2018 came in style for one lucky winner in Cape Town when a woman in her 50s took home R58 million. The winner, who also remained anonymous, said she normally only enters Powerball draws but gave Lotto a go due to the size of the jackpot, and turned out to become the lucky winner! Her plan was to work for six more months then proceed with an early retirement.
History
South Africa Lotto was established in March 2000 as the first game of its type to be played across the country. The game was initially drawn only on Saturdays until October 2001, when a Wednesday draw was added. In 2015, Ithuba took over the license to operate lottery games in the country.
Lotto Plus 1 was then introduced a few years into Lotto’s existence when the first draw took place on Wednesday 26th November 2003. In May 2016, the rules changed to allow the jackpot to roll over if no one matched all six main numbers in a draw. Previously, the top prize had rolled down to the next prize tier if there was no winner, much like the new Daily Lotto draw does now.
Lotto Plus 2 was first drawn on Wednesday 2nd August 2017, having been launched following the previous Saturday’s Lotto draw, giving players an unprecedented three draws to enter all at once.
Lotto Quick Stats
Here are some quick stats for Lotto showing the current hot and cold numbers from recent draws. You can find more stats like this by using the button below.
Hot Numbers
- 14
- 49
- 11
- 48
- 29
Cold Numbers
- 40
- 9
- 21
- 5
- 31