Lucky Numbers: How to Play, Where to Play and Ways to Win

Lucky Numbers are lottery betting games available at South African online bookmakers such as Betway and Hollywoodbets. With more than 160 draws to play worldwide and plenty of betting markets to choose from, there are so many ways you can win.

Lucky Numbers betting is similar to playing the standard lottery except you get paid for each outcome you guess correctly and your winnings are not shared with any other players who make the same predictions.

Below we answer all your questions about Lucky Numbers. You’ll learn how these games work, the different types of bets available, where to play Lucky Numbers and how to see if you’ve won.

What Are Lucky Numbers?

Lucky Numbers betting involves fixed-odds lottery draws from around the world which you can play at many online betting sites in South Africa. When you place a Lucky Numbers bet, you’re not buying an actual lottery ticket, but rather predicting any number of outcomes associated with the draw. The official results of these draws are used to see whether your Lucky Numbers bets win or lose, but the bookmaker—not the lottery company—pays you out.

How To Play Lucky Numbers

In a standard lottery, there are very few choices in terms of betting. You must predict all the numbers that appear in the draw and only get paid according to how many you get right. But with Lucky Numbers, you can also make many other predictions about the draw. For instance, you can bet on just one number you think will come up instead of all six numbers.

You can also take bets on which colour the balls will be, high/low numbers, odd/even numbers, single-digit numbers and much more. The amount you win is determined by the fixed odds you get for your bet, which means winning is as easy or as hard as you want it to be. The fewer numbers you choose the better your chances and the more you play, the bigger your payout.

Why Play Lucky Numbers?

There are three main reasons why playing Lucky Numbers with Betway or Hollywoodbets is much better than playing the South African Lotto or Powerball.

More draws to play

In South Africa, you can only play the Lotto and Powerball four times a week. With Lucky Numbers, you can bet on almost every lottery in the world no matter where you live. There are more than 160 national lotteries to choose from with draws happening all hours of the day. It’s up to you to decide which national lottery you like best and which day you want to play.

Betting options galore

In the Lotto, your only betting options are to pick six numbers or to select a Quick Pick and have them picked randomly for you. For Lucky Numbers, you can choose how much money you want to win based on how much you’re willing to spend.

Instead of trying to guess all the numbers in the draw correctly, you can make it easier by predicting just a single number or whether the bonus ball will be odd or even. You can also choose to mix and match bets in the same draw that include numbers, colours, sums, etc. all at different odds. 

Guaranteed payouts

When you win money in the Lotto or Powerball you have to share your winnings with whoever else picked the same numbers. The more people that correctly predict the same numbers, the less money there is to go around. With Lucky Numbers, you know exactly how much money you stand to win every time you play and payouts are the same no matter how many other winners there are. You don’t need to predict all the numbers correctly to get a payout either.

How Do Lucky Numbers Odds Work?

National lotteries are usually parimutuel, so the amount of prize money depends on the number of players and winners. One week you could win R5 000 for three correct numbers and the next week you might get paid only R500—you just never know! But Lucky Numbers betting is based on fixed-odds, meaning all players’ bets and winnings are independent of one another.

Your potential winnings are always stated at the time of placing your bet and the amount is 100% guaranteed. For example, betting on the number 9 will always get you the same payout if your number is drawn no matter how many other people guess the same number correctly.

Which Bets Can I Place On Lucky Numbers?

There is a huge selection of Lucky Numbers bets available at different odds for every draw. One of the most straightforward bets you can make is to predict one number that will appear in the draw, but there are many more options to choose from if you want them.

Using the South African Lotto as an example: 

• If you predict one number correctly, you will get paid out at odds of 5/1.
• If you predict two numbers correctly, you will get paid out at odds of 52/1 if both your numbers are drawn.
• If you predict three numbers correctly, you will get paid out at odds of 400/1 if all your numbers are drawn.
• If you predict four numbers correctly, you will get paid out at odds of 3000/1 if all your numbers are drawn.

Lucky Numbers betting options can also include, but are not limited to:

• Numbers with or without the bonus ball
• Draw Sum Over/Under (Total number when all balls are added)
• Draw Sum Odd/Even
• Draw Sum Range (Sum between specific number range)
• Colour of First Ball
• Colour of Last Ball

Betting On Bonus Balls

Most bookmakers offer markets on bonus balls which can involve the bonus ball number and all manner of other side markets. 

Using the South African Lotto as an example: 

• If you correctly predict the number of the bonus ball, you will get paid out at odds of 47/1.
• If you correctly predict the bonus ball will be a single-digit number (1-9), you will get paid out at odds of 3/1.
• If you correctly predict the bonus ball will be a low (1-24) or High (26-49), you will get paid out at odds of 9/10.

In some Lucky Numbers draws, you can also place Bonus Ball bets which include:

• Bonus Ball High/Low
• Bonus Ball Sum
• Bonus Ball Odd / Even 
• Bonus Ball same as one of the regular balls drawn

Where To Bet On Lucky Numbers

As lottery betting has grown in popularity, more South African bookies have added Lucky Numbers to their range of betting products to complement their sports and casino games offering. 

Betway Lucky Numbers

Betway was one of the first online betting sites in South Africa to offer Lucky Numbers. With international draws from around the world, they offer unrivalled choice and the chance to win big! Along with UK Thunderball and Mega Millions in the USA, Betway offers Lucky Numbers betting on lotteries from Australia, Italy, Greece, Russia and many other countries from as little as R1.

Hollywoodbets Lucky Numbers

Bet on the UK49s Afternoon and Evening draws every day. Not your cup of tea? Why not play the South African Lotto or Powerball with Hollywoodbets, or maybe the Powa Plus? There are hundreds of draws to take part in from Monday to Sunday where you can bet anywhere from R1 up on multiple markets for a piece of the action.

How To Bet On Lucky Numbers

Visit your betting site

Go to Betway, Hollywoodbets or your preferred Lucky Numbers betting site. Find the Lucky Numbers tab and click to see the list of available lotteries and times for when each draw begins.

Pick a draw

Look through the list of upcoming Lucky Numbers draws or use the search bar to find the lottery you’re looking for. The available draws are generally limited to those starting within 7 days. Click the image or the button that says Bet Now or Play to select the lottery of your choice.

Select your market

After selecting your draw, the various betting markets will become available. The bets are sorted under categories such as ‘Regular Draw’, ‘Draw Sum’, ‘Bonus Ball’ and more. Add any selection to your betslip by clicking the odds. You can take multiple bets on the same draw but not include multiple draws on the same betslip.

Place your bet

Go to your betslip and enter the amount you want to bet for each selection. If you’ve made multiple selections, your betslip might display your total potential winnings rather than your payout for each bet individually. Once you have verified the bet information, add more selections or click Submit or Place Bet to confirm.

View your bets

Go to My Account for a summary of all your betting transactions showing the date, description, stake, odds and bet settlement status. 

Which Lucky Numbers Games Should I Play?

With hundreds of draws happening every day it’s hard to decide which games to play. Your choice will depend on your personal preferences. Some draws have fewer possible numbers and so they are easier to win. Others have more numbers but bigger prizes.

You might also want to choose your draw based on the markets available such as Ball Colour and Bonus Balls. Lastly, some Lucky Numbers draws happen more regularly than others, maybe even on the day you always get paid which might make them more appealing to you. 

How Can I Win Lucky Numbers?

Once you’ve decided which draw you want to play and how much you’d like to bet, the next question to ask yourself is which numbers to choose. This can be a difficult decision but the most important thing to remember is that to win you’ll need some luck on your side.

Always pick the same numbers

Do you often play numbers one week and lose, only for them to come up the next week when you don’t have them anymore? One solution is to stick to the same numbers every week. This might sound a bit boring but it’s also quicker and easier to place your bet this way. Your numbers will come around eventually, even if they don’t all appear at once.

Choose randomly

When you play Lucky Numbers, your chances of winning are the same every time. This is also partially the case in standard lotteries but even more so with Lucky Numbers because there are no other players in the draw with you that can influence the payout. You’re just as well off picking random numbers as thinking deeply about it. Use the Auto Pick or Quick Pick function to have the system pick numbers for you and get your bet down in just a matter of seconds.

Use our Lucky Numbers dream guide

If you’re superstitious you can also use our Lucky Numbers Dream Guide to help convert your latest dreams into numbers to play online. Our popular guide contains hundreds of words with numbers listed alongside them. Simply look through the list for the things that appeared in your dream and choose all the numbers you see.

How Do I See If I Have Won?

Your Lucky Numbers winnings will always get paid into your online betting account where they can be instantly withdrawn as long as your account has been FICA verified. The easiest way to see if your bets have won is to log in to your online betting account and check your balance.

If the amount hasn’t changed, look through your betting history to see if your Lucky Numbers bet has been settled. If not, double-check the time of the draw to make sure you’re not still too early. Once the draw is complete, you can check the results of all the popular national lotteries here to see which numbers won.

Useful Links

• Betway Lucky Numbers
• Hollywoodbets Lucky Numbers
• Sunbet Lucky Numbers
• Lucky Numbers Dream Guide
• Lucky Numbers Results
• Lucky Numbers Betting in South Africa

We have our own favourites, but which are some of your best Lucky Numbers draws to play? Tell us all about your biggest wins in the comments below!