Responsible Gambling

LottoChecker.co.za publishes lottery results. We do not sell tickets, take bets, or handle money, and we are not an operator or a licensed bookmaker. But we do write about gambling, so it would be hollow not to say the obvious things plainly.

You must be 18 or older

It is illegal in South Africa to take part in the National Lottery if you are under 18. Nothing on this site is intended for anyone under that age.

Get help, free and confidential

If gambling has stopped being fun, or someone close to you is in trouble with it, the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation runs a free counselling service. You do not need to be in crisis to call, and you do not have to give your name.

Counsellors are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and the service is free of charge. They offer telephone counselling and can refer you for face-to-face treatment.

Know what the odds actually are

We think being straight about this is part of being responsible, so we publish the real figures rather than the exciting ones. The odds of taking the Lotto jackpot with a single ticket are 1 in 20,358,520. For PowerBall it is 1 in 42,375,200. Even Daily Lotto, the easiest of them, is 1 in 376,992.

Across every division combined, about 2.6% of Lotto tickets win anything at all, and most of those wins are R20 or R30. You can see the full worked-out numbers on any game's odds page, for example the Lotto payouts and odds or PowerBall payouts and odds.

A lottery ticket is a form of entertainment with a known, very low chance of a return. It is not an investment and it is not a plan.

There is no system, and we will not sell you one

We publish hot and cold number pages because people find them interesting, and we say clearly on every one of them that past draws cannot predict future ones. Each draw is independent. A number that has come up ten times is no more likely to appear tonight than one that has never been drawn.

Be sceptical of anyone charging you for predictions, "guaranteed" number sets, or software that claims to beat a lottery. If a method worked, it would not be for sale.

Signs it may be becoming a problem

Any one of these on its own is worth paying attention to. Several together is worth a phone call.

Practical ways to keep it in hand

Self-exclusion

If you want to bar yourself from gambling venues or products, self-exclusion is arranged through the operator or the relevant provincial gambling board, not through us. The counselling line above can explain the options and point you to the right body.

What we can and cannot do

We are an information site. We cannot check, limit, suspend or refund anything relating to a ticket or an account, because we hold none of that. Anything to do with playing, claiming or excluding has to go through the National Lottery operator or an authorised retailer.