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Lotto 04 April 2025
Best Lottery Odds
Which Lottery Is The Easiest To Win?
Table of Contents
What Can Make a Lottery Easier to Win?
Let’s get the bad news out of the way first; lotteries can be difficult to win. However, difficult does not mean impossible, right? All you need to do is search online for ‘lottery winner’, and you will see a whole host of real people - people like me and you – smiling, giggling and laughing with their oversized novelty cheques!
Let’s be clear: these winners did not do anything out of the ordinary to hit their life-changing payout. There was no elaborate strategy, nor clandestine operation carried out to take home that life-changing cheque!
For some of these fortunate few, winning the lottery was easy, with their numbers drawn on their very first entry. While it may not be possible to replicate such good fortune, there are a few things that you should know that have the potential to help you find an easy lotto to win!
Understand The Lottery Format
If you want to make the lottery easier to win, you simply must understand the format of the lottery you are entering. Why is this important? Well, if you enter a lottery like MegaMillions, you will need to choose five numbers between 1 to 70. It is much easier to pick the winning numbers in the German Lotto, where you only need to pick 6 from 49.
The easiest lottos to win are usually going to be the lottos with less numbers to choose from. This is why the odds of winning MegaMillions is 1 in 290.4 million compared to your 1 in 15.5 million chance of hitting the top payout in the German Lotto!
Ticket Limits
Imagine for a moment that there are two almost identical raffles taking place. Both of the raffles cost the same amount to enter, and they have the exact same top payout. The only difference is that one raffle is limited to selling 100 tickets, while the other has unlimited tickets to sell. Which is easier to win?
The same principle applies to finding the easiest lotteries to win! Most lotteries are going to have unlimited tickets for sale, but a very special few have a limit on the amount of tickets that are for sale. Spain’s El Gordo, for example, is limited to 100,000 tickets, which means it deserves its reputation as an easy lotto to win!
Know The Payouts!
We all dream of that big payout. The yacht payout. The supercar payout. The house-on-a-private-island payout! These big payouts are obviously incredible, but it is important not to be blinded by them.
Every lottery is going to have additional payouts for matching less numbers. Now, these payouts may not get you that private island, but they can still be very lucrative and easier to win. In fact, some lotteries only require you to match one number to get a payout – but more on that later!
Which Lottery Is Easiest To Win in South Africa?
So, which is the easiest lottery to win in South Africa? The lottery which offers the best odds of winning a top payout is the Polish MINI Lotto, with the unrivalled odds of 1 in 850,668. The record payout for the MINI Lotto was approximately R1.6 million. This may not seem like much compared to the huge top payouts offered by other lotteries, but you are still going to enjoy spending it!
In the table below, we have ranked the lotteries available on Lottoland to discover which offers the best odds of hitting the top payout.
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Easiest Lotto To Win
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|---|---|---|---|
| Lottery | Odds | Record Payout | |
| 1 in 850,668 | R1.6 million | ||
| 1 in 8,145,060 | R303.7 million | ||
| 1 in 10,737,573 | R386.96 million | ||
| 1 in 13,983,816 | R255.3 million | ||
| 1 in 19,068,840 | R530 million | ||
| 1 in 20,358,520 | R110 million | ||
| 1 in 32,468,436 | R706.1 million | ||
| 1 in 45,057,474 | R23.8 million | ||
| 1 in 139,838,160 | R927.1 million | ||
| 1 in 139,838,160 | R2.45 billion | ||
| 1 in 139,838,160 | R5.3 billion | ||
| 1 in 290,472,336 | R29.86 billion | ||
| 1 in 292,201,338 | R38.5 billion | ||
| 1 in 622,614,630 | R7.57 billion | ||
It’s interesting to note that the lotteries which have more favourable odds, don’t always have smaller top payouts. Look at the Irish Lotto, for example. It appears to be easy lotto to win when compared to the Polish Lotto (10.7 million to 1 vs 13.9 million to 1), but the record top payout is a whopping R131 million more!
What Lottery Gives The Best Odds
Naturally, the first thing that attracts the attention of most lottery enthusiasts is the top payout. Many people only check the odds of winning the top payout; others also check the odds for secondary payouts, but many simply try their luck, regardless.
The minimum payout is hardly ever on anyone's mind, but even if you win a smaller payout, it's still a win! The minimum payout may only just recover your investment, but it's better than a kick in the teeth!
Therefore, when considering which is the easiest lottery to win, we should also consider the odds of winning the minimum payout, no matter how low the payout, you've still won a payout on the lottery!
The table below shows which lottery offers the best odds to win any payout, and there are some interesting results!
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Best Minimum Prize Odds
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|---|---|---|---|
| Lottery | Country | Odds | Match |
| Italy | 1 in 3 | 1 Number | |
| Mexico | 1 in10 | 2 Numbers | |
| UK | 1 in 10 | 2 Numbers | |
| Austria | 1 in 16 | Bonus Ball | |
| France | 1 in 16 | 2 numbers | |
| France | 1 in 22 | 2 Numbers | |
| USA | 1 in 24 | Mega Ball | |
| South Africa | 1 in 35 | Power Ball | |
| USA | 1 in 38 | Power Ball | |
| Finland | 1 in 49 | 2 Numbers + 1 Euro Number | |
| Ireland | 1 in 54 | 3 Numbers | |
| Poland | 1 in 57 | 3 Numbers | |
| Germany | 1 in 63 | 3 Numbers | |
| South Africa | 1 in 72 | 3 Numbers | |
| Poland | 1 in 128 | 3 Numbers | |
Interestingly, SuperLotto, which has the lowest top payout odds, is the lottery which offers the best odds for winning a minimum payout, at only 1 in 3. That’s right, the most difficult lotto to win is also an easy lotto to win! Conversely, MINI Lotto, which offers the best top payout odds, lies towards the end of the table.
What is the Easiest South African Lottery to Win?
In South Africa we are in the privileged position of having two huge lotteries to choose from: Lotto and PowerBall. These are the two most popular lotteries in the country, each offering something a little bit different. The Lotto is the easiest South African lottery to win, if we are only taking the chances of winning the top payout into consideration. The Lotto’s odds of hitting the top payout are just 20,358,520-1, compared to PowerBall’s much larger 42,375,200-1.
However, when all payout tiers are considered, it ius actually the PowerBall that gives you the best opportunity of hitting a payout. Matching PowerBall or the PowerBall plus 1 number have odds of just 35-1 and 57-1, much shorter than likelihood of hitting the bottom two payouts on the Lotto (72-1 and 96-1).
Best Lottery Overall
If you go purely by the odds, the 'easiest' lottery to win is the Polish MINI Lotto, with odds of 1 in 850,668; the top payout for the MINI Lotto is R5 million.
One of the most popular foreign lotteries amongst South African lottery enthusiasts is the French Lotto and with good reason! The odds of winning the French Lotto are lower than both the SA Lotto and SA PowerBall (1 in 42,375,200). Even better, the minimum top payout for the French Lotto, R33.8 million, is significantly larger than that of SA PowerBall at R7 million.
Taking into consideration overall odds and the amount of the record payout, some consider the Irish Lotto to be the best overall lottery. This lotto has even more favourable odds than the French Lotto, with the odds of winning the top payout for the Irish Lotto standing at 1 in 10,737,573. The odds are better, but the minimum top payout is the same at R33.8 million!
Last Updated: 5 April 2025
T
by
Tom
What I Cover: I am always intrigued to discover how lotteries from around the world can seem so different. Thanks to this interest, you will find me writing about the histories, traditions and records of lotteries from every corner of the world!
I am also an avid sports fan, so from time to time I will also cover in-depth guides to help you understand how sports betting works.
My Background: I have been working in the industry since 2020. In that time I have written countless articles related to lotteries, sports, casinos and the history of gambling.
Journalistic Ethics: My role is to help you navigate the world of lottery and sports betting with as much ease as possible. This is why you will find my articles informative, accurate, up-to-date and helpful.
Contact Me: I'd love to hear from you! Leave me a comment under any of my articles and I will reply as soon as I can!
