Lottery Games

The core mechanic of all lottery games is the matching of numbers to those made from a common draw. The player selects a fixed number of different candidate numbers from a fixed pool, a common example being a pick of six numbers from a total pool that includes all numbers between 1 and 49 inclusive with each number only appearing once in that pool.

There then follows a draw from that pool, with six numbers drawn at random and without a drawn number being returned to the pool until the game is over.

The player is looking to match numbers, with different levels of prize attaching to the number of picks that have matched. The order the numbers appear is not important, and a perfect match of all six numbers is the trigger for the game’s headline jackpot.

Since players are free to choose whatever numbers they like, several players may share a prize – this contrasts with games of bingo where each ticket is a unique set of numbers, so only one player can win one of the offered prizes.

When describing a lottery format you’ll often see it couched in terms such as 6/49 or 6/59. That’s easy to decode since the first number represents how many numbers will be drawn from the total pool of numbers per game, and the second the total size of that pool.

Lottery-style games are less common attractions in online casinos, however they can be found, often in either the Instant Win or Jackpot categories if there is no dedicated lobby for them. Also note we say lottery style since true lottery games work by pooling all stakes to form the pot out of which all prizes are paid with a fixed price per play, whereas an online casino variant will usually have payouts as multipliers of a stake that can be set between certain fixed limits.