How Much of a Lottery Ticket Comes Back in Prizes: Payout Ratios Compared

What the payout ratio means

The payout ratio is the share of all ticket money that goes back to winners as prizes. If a game's ratio is 73%, then out of every 100 spent by all players together, 73 is paid out in prizes and 27 is kept.

Operators measure it the same simple way. Japan's boat racing site, for example, defines its payout rate as total payouts divided by total purchases, times 100⁶.

What this means for you as a player:

• It is an average across everyone. Almost all tickets win nothing or a small prize. A handful win large amounts. The ratio tells you how much the whole group of players gets back, not what you personally will get.
• It is the "expected value" of a ticket. In a 50% game, a ticket is worth, on average, half its price. That is the cost of playing, the same way a movie ticket is the cost of the movie.
• A higher ratio does not mean better odds of a big win. A game can return a lot in total but spread it across many small prizes. For the chance of each prize, see lottery odds in Asia.

If you want the basics of draws and prize pools first, start with how lotteries work.

Prize fund: 73% of total sales

China's sports lottery uses a standard split for most of its football and basketball games. The game rules set aside 73% of total sales for prizes, 9% for the issuance fee and 18% for the public welfare fund¹.

The same 73% share appears across the main sports games:

• Jingcai football betting sets aside 73% of sales for prizes⁷
• The basketball Big/Small game uses the same 73%, 9% and 18% split⁸
• The basketball single-match winning margin game also uses 73%, 9% and 18%⁹

This is one of the higher returns among state lotteries in the region. It applies to the sports lottery games, which ask you to predict match results. China's number draws, such as Super Lotto, return less (see below). For how these match-based pools work, see sports lotteries explained.

How the prize fund is split: 72% to prizes, 1% to the adjustment fund

The 73% is not all paid out in the same draw. Within it, 72% goes to the current prizes and 1% goes to an adjustment fund¹⁰.

The adjustment fund works as a reserve. The basketball Big/Small game rules describe the 1% as exactly that⁸. It lets the operator smooth out prizes over time rather than paying the full 73% every single draw.

The football Total Goals game uses the same 72% and 1% split¹¹. So in practice, in any one round, about 72% of what players spent is what winners share.

Some Chinese games move a share into a rolling pool instead. In Super Lotto, the prize money that floats with sales is split 49% to the jackpot pool and 2% to the adjustment pool². For how carried-over money builds up, see jackpot rollovers.

Where the remaining 27% goes

In the 73% games, the other 27% of sales is split two ways¹¹:

• 9% issuance fee: the cost of running the lottery, including selling tickets
• 18% public welfare fund: money set aside for public causes

Other Chinese games keep a bigger share back:

• Super Lotto: 51% to prizes, 13% to the issuance fee and 36% to the public welfare fund²
• Guangdong Kuai Le Cai: 67% to prizes, 13% to the sales fee and 20% to the public fund¹²
• Any 9 Matches (胜彩选9场): a prize pool of 64% of total sales, with 1% going to the rollover¹³

So even within one country, the share you get back can differ by more than 20 percentage points depending on which game you pick.

Payout ratios compared across the region

Here is how the published prize shares compare for the lottery games where the figure is set out in the rules. Each figure is the share of sales that goes to prizes.

• China sports lottery (football and basketball games): 73%¹
• Guangdong Kuai Le Cai (China): 67%¹²
• Any 9 Matches (China): 64%¹³
• Singapore Toto: 54%⁴
• Sikkim Dear Legend Monday (India): 52.999%¹⁴
• China Super Lotto: 51%²
• Sikkim Labhlaxmi Bliss (India): 50.92%¹⁵
• Japan sports lottery (toto and BIG): 50%¹⁶

A few practical notes on reading this list:

• Japan's figure is fixed in law. The sports lottery pays out 50% of sales, and sales to anyone under 19 are banned¹⁶. For more on Japan, see gambling in Japan.
• India's figures are per scheme. Sikkim publishes a separate prize table for each draw scheme, so the share can differ from one game to the next¹⁴.
• Singapore's 54% covers the whole draw, including all prize groups⁴. For a side-by-side of two popular draws, see Hong Kong Mark Six vs Singapore Toto.

For prices, top prizes and draw days in all 12 jurisdictions, see Asia's lotteries compared.

How much of the prize money goes to the top prize

Two games with the same payout ratio can feel very different, because one puts most of the money into the jackpot and the other spreads it out.

Japan's BIG shows how top-heavy a game can be. Of the prize money (50% of sales), the split is³:

MEGA BIG goes further in a different way: 35% of total sales goes straight into the first prize pool¹⁷.

China's 7 Star lottery (7星彩) sets 49% of the prize fund as current-period prizes and 1% as an adjustment fund¹⁸. Its first prize takes 90% of what is left after the fixed prizes, plus anything in the pool, with a cap of CNY 5,000,000 per winning bet¹⁸.

There is one unusual rule worth knowing. When the 7 Star pool reaches CNY 300,000,000 or more before a draw, the first and second prize shares swap: first prize gets 10% and second prize gets 90%¹⁸. The idea is to spread a huge pool across more winners. For prize caps by game, see the biggest lottery jackpots.

How lotteries compare with racing and betting

If you are wondering how lotteries stack up against the racetrack, pool betting usually returns more:

• Japan horse racing: at least 70% of net turnover goes to winners¹⁹
• Japan boat racing: 75% of sales, or more if the organizer sets a higher rate²⁰
• Hong Kong horse racing: the Trio pool pays out 77% as dividends²¹
• Vietnam betting: operators must plan to pay out at least 65% of ticket sales for each betting product²²

This is not a reason to choose one over the other. It simply shows that lotteries tend to keep a larger share for public funds and costs.

Ticket price and format: the single THB 80 ticket

Thailand's government lottery works differently from the games above. It does not publish a percentage. Instead, it sets the prizes for each set of tickets.

The official price is THB 80 per ticket. Since the draw of September 1, 2017, tickets have been sold as a single THB 80 ticket instead of a pair²³.

In practice, street sellers do not always stick to that price. Official reports found a minimum street price of THB 90, and THB 110 and up for "pretty" numbers or tickets sold as a set²⁴. If you pay more than THB 80, the prizes stay the same, so the value of your ticket drops.

You can buy digital tickets at THB 80 each through the Paotang app²⁵. For more on buying, see how much a Thai government lottery ticket costs and where to buy lottery tickets.

What a full set pays

One set has 1,000,000 tickets at THB 80 each. If the whole set sells, it pays 14,168 prizes worth THB 48,000,000 in total⁵. Here are the prizes each winning ticket gets:

Almost every winning ticket in a set wins one of the smaller prizes. Your realistic "win" on a Thai ticket, if you win at all, is most likely a digit prize rather than the first prize.

Government Lottery and Charity Lottery: the two ticket types

Since the draw of May 2, 2019, the Government Lottery Office has printed two types of tickets: the government lottery and the charity lottery²⁶.

For you as a buyer, they work almost the same way:

• Same results. Charity lottery tickets are checked against the government lottery results of the same draw²⁷.
• Different tax. Charity lottery prizes have 1 percent of the prize money withheld as tax when paid²⁸.

So a THB 4,000 digit prize on a charity ticket comes with that 1 percent deduction, while the same prize on a government ticket does not have this withholding.

Who can buy: the age-20 minimum and the school sales ban

You must be at least 20 years old to buy Thai lottery tickets, including through the Paotang app²⁹. Lottery tickets may not be sold in schools³⁰.

The age rule applies to everyone, whether you are Thai, a foreign resident or a visitor. Foreign winners can claim prizes by showing a passport or an official government-issued document along with the winning ticket²⁸.

For the wider picture of what is and is not allowed, see gambling in Thailand.

Claiming a prize: where, when and what ID you need

If your ticket wins, here is how it works at the Government Lottery Office.

Step 1: Book a queue. You need to book online in advance through the GLO website, the GLO Lottery app or a QR code. Each booking covers one person and up to 200 tickets³¹.

Step 2: Go on a weekday. The prize counter is open Monday to Friday, except official and public holidays, from 08.30 to 15.00 with no lunch break³².

Step 3: Bring your ticket and ID. Thai citizens bring their ID card. Foreigners bring a passport or official document²⁸. Prizes are paid to whoever holds and presents the winning ticket, so keep it safe²⁷.

Where: Government Lottery Office, 359 Nonthaburi Road, Tha Sai subdistrict, Mueang Nonthaburi district, Nonthaburi 11000³³.

How you get paid: Prizes up to THB 20,000 are paid in cash, and prizes of THB 20,000 and above are paid by check³⁴. You can also claim through three banks that act for the GLO, but they charge a service fee³¹.

Deadline: You have 2 years from the draw date to claim. After that, the money goes to the state⁵. For details, see how long you have to claim a Thai lottery prize and how to claim a lottery prize in Asia.

Help for problem gambling: GLO support channels

The Government Lottery Office offers channels for advice and help for people who may be at risk of lottery addiction, working with outside groups that specialize in this area³⁵.

For general questions, the GLO Call Center is 0 2528 9999³⁶. For spending limits and help services across the region, see lottery spending limits, self-tests and help services.