Super Lotto

The biggest game in the China Sports Lottery

Super Lotto, known in Chinese as Da Le Tou (大乐透), is the headline draw game of the China Sports Lottery. It is issued and organized by the Sports Lottery Administration Center of the General Administration of Sport of China and sold at licensed shops across the mainland³. Of all the games on offer in the China lottery lineup, it is the one with the highest single-ticket ceiling: a CNY 2 basic bet can win up to CNY 10 million, and a CNY 3 bet with the additional option can win up to CNY 18 million⁴.

The name is a straightforward one. "Da" means big, "le tou" is the Chinese rendering of "lotto", so Da Le Tou is simply the "big lotto". You will see it written on shop signage as 超级大乐透, "Super Da Le Tou", and in English as Super Lotto. It sits alongside the Welfare Lottery's Double Color Ball as one of the two big twice-a-week-plus national draw games that most Chinese players know by name.

Of every yuan spent on the game, 51 percent goes to the prize fund, 13 percent covers issuance costs and 36 percent goes to the public welfare fund that finances sports and social programs¹. That split is printed in the official rules and is the same at every shop in the country.

How the draw works: numbers, formats and draw days

A Super Lotto entry has two zones. In the front zone you pick five numbers from 01 to 35; in the back zone you pick two numbers from 01 to 12¹. To win the first prize you must match all five front numbers and both back numbers.

Draws are held three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, at 21:25 China time⁴. The draw itself is a mechanical ball machine: after the sales data are sealed, and under the supervision of a notary, five front numbers are drawn from the 01 to 35 pool and two back numbers from the 01 to 12 pool³. Results are published on the official lottery website and on Zhongcai Wang (zhcw.com), the China Welfare Lottery's information portal, which also carries the draw schedule and prize data for every game⁷.

There are several ways to fill out a bet:

• Single bet (单式): you choose your own five front numbers and two back numbers, or ask for a machine-selected entry.
• Multiple or compound bet (复式): you pick more than the minimum in either zone. In the back zone you can select up to 4 numbers instead of 2, and in the front zone you can go well beyond 5⁴. Each combination counts as a separate bet, so the ticket price multiplies accordingly.
• Multi-draw betting (多期投注): one ticket can cover 2 to 99 consecutive draws, so a single purchase keeps you in the game for weeks¹.
• Additional bet (追加投注, zhuijia): for CNY 1 on top of each basic bet, you enter the same numbers in a parallel draw that pays a bonus on most prize tiers. More on this in the next section.

One ticket can carry a lot of action. The rules cap a single ticket at CNY 20,000 in basic bets, or CNY 30,000 if basic and additional bets are combined³.

Ticket prices and prize tiers

The basic bet costs CNY 2, and the additional bet costs CNY 1 per bet on top of it¹. So a simple single entry with the additional option costs CNY 3 in total.

Super Lotto has nine prize tiers. The first and second prizes are floating (pari-mutuel) prizes that depend on the size of the prize pool and the number of winners; the third through ninth prizes are fixed amounts³.

The fixed amounts come straight from the official game rules³, and the additional-bet bonuses follow the rule that an additional bet pays 80 percent of the corresponding basic prize¹. The third prize with the additional bet, for example, pays CNY 10,000 for the basic bet plus CNY 5,000 for the additional one, and the fourth pays CNY 3,000 plus CNY 1,500².

The first prize works in tiers of its own, depending on how much money is sitting in the prize pool:

• If the pool is below CNY 100 million, the first prize fund is 78 percent of the draw's prize money after fixed prizes, plus the accumulated pool, split among winners and capped at CNY 5 million per bet.
• If the pool is between CNY 100 million and the CNY 800 million, the split is 58 percent plus pool (capped at CNY 5 million) plus a second component of 20 percent (also capped at CNY 5 million), which is how a single bet can reach CNY 10 million.
• If the pool is at or above CNY 800 million, the split is 28 percent plus pool and a second component of 50 percent, each capped at CNY 5 million per bet³.

The second prize is 22 percent of the prize money after fixed prizes, split per bet and capped at CNY 5 million³. Of the floating prize fund, 49 percent goes to the jackpot pool and 2 percent to an adjustment pool that smooths out shortfalls¹.

Big wins and special events

Because the first prize is capped per bet rather than per ticket, the headline numbers you see in Chinese news are usually about pool size and rollovers. When nobody wins the first prize, the unclaimed floating money rolls into the pool for the next draw, which is how the pool can climb past the CNY 800 million threshold that changes the payout formula³.

The game also runs national promotional events. In 2022 the China Sports Lottery ran a CNY 1 billion prize giveaway (10亿元大派奖) on Super Lotto, with the first draw day on April 13 of that year, adding extra prize money across the tiers for a run of draws⁹. These events are announced in advance at shops and on the official platforms, and they are a good time to look at the prize table, because the effective payouts on lower tiers can be higher than usual.

For a sense of how claims play out: in one widely reported case, a Mr. Han from Jiangsu claimed his prize at the Zhenjiang Welfare Lottery Distribution Center with his family the day after the draw¹⁰. Big winners in China typically collect in person at a provincial lottery center, and it is common for them to appear in publicity photos wearing masks or costumes, a habit that has become part of lottery culture in the country.

Checking results and claiming prizes

Results for every draw are posted on the official lottery website, lottery.gov.cn, where the schedule, results and prize data are published by the Sports Lottery Administration Center⁸, and on Zhongcai Wang's draw pages⁷. The draw is also broadcast, and the sports lottery's live draw channel carries the televised draws for the national games¹¹.

When it comes to claiming, the paper ticket is everything. The printed ticket is the only prize claim voucher, and a ticket that is too damaged or smudged to be read cannot be redeemed³. So treat the slip like cash: do not fold it through the barcode, do not let it go through the wash, and do not throw it away until you have checked the numbers.

Winners must claim within 60 natural days of the draw date, at a designated location³. If the 60th day falls on a public holiday, the deadline extends to the first working day after it¹². Unclaimed prizes are treated as forfeited and the money goes to the lottery public welfare fund².

Where you claim depends on how much you won. Small prizes are paid at the shop where you bought the ticket or at any licensed outlet. For computer lottery prizes over CNY 3,000, the redemption rules require the winner's real-name identity information and redemption details to be registered, and winners are expected to cooperate with that registration¹³. In practice this means bringing your ID, and for foreign visitors a passport serves the purpose. Very large prizes are handled at the provincial lottery center.

Super Lotto or Double Color Ball: which one to play

The natural comparison is with Double Color Ball (双色球, Shuang Se Qiu), the Welfare Lottery's flagship game. The two are the most played draw games in the country, cost the same per bet, and sit on opposite sides of the lottery system: Super Lotto belongs to the Sports Lottery, Double Color Ball to the Welfare Lottery.

The draw schedules are drawn from the official listings for both games⁴, and the Double Color Ball structure and prize caps from its game rules¹⁶. Double Color Ball has six prize tiers, with first and second prizes floating and third through sixth fixed; its first prize is capped at CNY 10 million and its second at CNY 5 million per bet¹⁶. Its prize fund is 50 percent of sales, of which 49 percent is the current draw fund and 1 percent an adjustment fund, and it uses a single nationwide prize pool¹⁶.

The practical differences for a player are these. Super Lotto's additional bet is unique: for 50 percent more stake you get 80 percent more prize on most tiers, which is a better return than it first sounds, and it is the only way to reach the CNY 18 million ceiling. Double Color Ball has no equivalent option. On the other hand, Double Color Ball draws on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, so between the two games every evening except Friday has a national draw, with only Friday covered by smaller games such as 7 Star Lottery¹⁶. Double Color Ball also offers compound bets in the red balls (7 to 20 numbers) or blue balls (2 to 16 numbers)¹⁶, a structure familiar to anyone who has played a European lotto.

Which shop sells which: Sports Lottery shops sell Super Lotto, Welfare Lottery shops sell Double Color Ball, and the two networks are separate, though many streets have both within a few doors of each other.

Rules for foreign visitors and expats

There is no nationality restriction on buying Super Lotto tickets. Visitors and foreign residents can walk into any licensed China Sports Lottery shop and buy a ticket with cash; the rules on redemption simply require ID registration for prizes over CNY 3,000, which a passport satisfies¹³. The practical risk for a visitor is small and sits in one place: keep the paper ticket, because without it there is no claim, whatever your status³.

One thing that does not exist here is foreign lottery. Selling or issuing lottery from outside mainland China within the PRC is prohibited¹⁸, so do not expect to buy a Powerball or EuroMillions ticket in a Chinese shop. The only lotteries legally on sale are the domestic Sports Lottery and Welfare Lottery games.

For Chinese citizens the picture is different and stricter: Chinese law treats any form of gambling by Chinese citizens as illegal, including online gambling and gambling overseas²⁰. That rule is aimed at citizens, not at foreign visitors playing a legal domestic lottery, but it is the reason the online landscape looks the way it does.

Online and app options: what is official and what is not

There is no legal way to buy a Super Lotto ticket online, by app, or by mini program in mainland China. This is worth stating plainly, because a great deal of what you will see online claims otherwise.

The China Sports Lottery's official online platforms, including its WeChat public account, its app and its mini programs, do not offer any ticket sales function⁵. The Sports Lottery Administration Center has never authorized any website, app, mini program or social software to sell sports lottery tickets, and has never cooperated with any company or individual on internet sales¹⁹. The state has never approved any institution or individual to conduct internet lottery sales, and offline lottery shops are the only legal purchase channel²¹. Every platform that claims to accept lottery bets online is illegal, and there is no such thing as a licensed "online lottery" in China⁶.

The rules go further: selling or buying lottery tickets over the internet is prohibited, and violators are investigated and punished²². Unauthorized internet sales, including issuing tickets through remote sales terminals, are explicitly ordered to be stopped²³. Telephone sales exist in a narrow legal form, but only with a registered betting account, and cross-province telephone sales are prohibited²⁴.

The practical warning is this: tickets bought through any website or app are likely to be linked to illegal lottery, private lottery, illegal gambling or fraud, and the buyer can end up treated as a participant in criminal activity¹⁹. If you are in China and want a Super Lotto ticket, the shop counter is the only real option.

Information sites are a different matter. Zhongcai Wang (zhcw.com) is a legitimate results and information portal, but it states clearly on every game page that it is not a ticket purchasing platform and that tickets must be bought at offline stations¹⁵. You can use it freely to check numbers and draw times; just do not expect to buy anything there.

Buying your first ticket

A first Super Lotto ticket is a five-minute errand. Here is what to expect.

Finding a shop. Look for the China Sports Lottery signage, usually green and white with the game logos. Shops are everywhere in Chinese cities, often small kiosks or counters inside convenience stores. Sports Lottery shops sell Super Lotto; the red-and-blue signage of Welfare Lottery shops marks the other network.

Placing the bet. You can mark a playslip with your five front numbers and two back numbers, or simply say "ji qi" (机选, machine pick) and let the terminal choose. If you want the additional bet, say "zhui jia" (追加). A basic single bet is CNY 2; with the additional bet it is CNY 3. Multi-draw tickets covering up to 99 draws are also available if you do not want to come back every week¹.

Paying. Cash is the standard. Small shops may not take cards or foreign payment apps, so carry a few CNY 10 notes.

Checking. Draws are at 21:25 on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday⁴. Results appear the same evening on the official sites⁷. Match your ticket against the nine-tier table above; even CNY 5 for a ninth prize is a win.

Claiming. Take small prizes back to any shop. For anything over CNY 3,000, bring your passport for the real-name registration¹³, and for large prizes go to the provincial lottery center. You have 60 natural days³.

Keeping the ticket. This is the one rule that catches people out. The paper ticket is the only redemption voucher, and an unreadable ticket cannot be claimed³. Photograph it as a backup if you like, but the photo will not pay out; only the slip will.

For the wider picture of what else is on sale in the country, see gambling in China, and for the tax side of a big win, tax on gambling winnings in China.