The Odds Of Winning The Lotto

lottery-odds We all know that there is a very small chance that we will ever get to win the Lotto, although Jackpots of more than a million Rand each seems to give us enough reason to still keep buying those tickets every week.

How Many Combinations Can You Choose From?

To calculate the odds of winning the Lotto you have to do some basic math. Players have to choose 6 out of 49 numbers, which means we can choose any on of 13,983,816 combinations.

Luckily for us the numbers can appear in any order. This means that you will win if you choose the numbers 4, 12, 21, 33, 42, 48; even when they roll out as 12, 33, 48, 4, 21, 42. This is a good thing because otherwise the odds of getting all six numbers would have been astronomical.

The Odds Of Winning Various Lotto Divisions

So, the odds of getting the right combination of 6 numbers is 13, 983, 816 in one, whereas the odds of getting five plus the bonus number are one in 2.3 million. This means it’s almost six times as likely as getting all six numbers. Here are the odds of winning a prize in the various divisions :

  • For division one, you have to match 6 numbers: 1 in 14 million
  • For division two, you have to match 5 numbers plus the bonus: 1 in 2.3 million
  • For division three, you have to match 5 numbers: 1 in 55 thousand
  • For division four, you have to match 4 numbers plus the bonus: 1 in 22 thousand
  • For division five, you have to match 4 numbers: 1 in 1 thousand
  • For division six, you have to match 3 numbers plus the bonus: 1 in 800
  • For division seven, you have to match 3 numbers: 1 in 61

Roll Overs

When no one wins the jackpot, it rolls over until someone wins it. The Lotto Plus game does not have rollovers which means the prize is split amongst the Lotto divisions that had winners.