Lottery Ticket Prices in Asia

Ticket prices at a glance

Lottery prices in Asia are set by the operator or, in some countries, by the government, and they are printed on the ticket or published in the official rules. There is no haggling and no tiered pricing: one bet costs the same wherever you buy it. What varies is what a "bet" or "entry" means, because some games sell a single line of numbers while others sell a whole set of combinations.

Here are the headline prices for the main games, in each country's own currency:

Two things are worth noticing. First, the cheapest games are the number-picking lotteries and sports pools, where JPY 100 or KRW 100 buys one line. Second, the price of a ticket tells you nothing about the prize: a JPY 100 toto bet can pay up to JPY 500 million when a carryover builds up, while a Rs. 500 Indian bumper ticket competes for a prize pool of Rs. 30 crore¹.

If you are curious how these games work behind the price tag, see how lotteries work and Asia's lotteries compared.

Japan: toto costs JPY 100 a bet

Japan's flagship sports lottery, toto, is priced at JPY 100 for one bet¹. That JPY 100 buys a prediction card covering 13 designated football matches: for each match you mark the home team's win as "1", loss as "2", or other (draw or extra time) as "0", based on the 90-minute result¹¹.

The same JPY 100 unit price applies across the whole toto family. mini toto, which covers fewer matches, and the smaller totoGOAL2 and totoGOAL3 games all cost JPY 100 per bet as well¹⁴. So does the main toto card itself, whichever version you play¹⁴.

The prize money comes from a fixed share of sales. Half of total toto sales goes to prizes, and that pool is split with 70% to the first prize, 15% to the second and 15% to the third¹¹. The prize tiers are simple: first prize means all 13 predictions correct, second prize means one wrong, third prize means two wrong¹⁴.

toto is often described as an entry-level game precisely because of the price point: the operator's own materials highlight that you can buy in casually at JPY 100 per bet¹⁵. For a fuller picture of how these football pools work, see sports lotteries explained.

BIG: JPY 300 a bet, with cheaper versions from JPY 100

BIG is toto's big-prize sibling. Instead of predicting match results, you receive a random set of numbers and hope they match the winning set drawn from the same pool. A standard BIG bet, covering 14 numbers, costs JPY 300².

The BIG family has four members at three price points¹⁰:

• BIG: JPY 300 per bet, 14 numbers, six prize tiers
• MEGA BIG: JPY 300 per bet, 11 numbers
• mini BIG: JPY 200 per entry, 9 numbers, three prize tiers
• 100円BIG: JPY 100 per bet, 14 numbers, four prize tiers

The prize tiers work on a count of misses: first prize means all numbers match, second prize means one wrong, third prize two wrong, and so on down to sixth prize with five wrong in the 14-number game¹⁶. The odds come from the number of possible combinations, which is 4,782,969 for BIG and 100円BIG, 16,777,216 for MEGA BIG, and 19,683 for mini BIG¹⁶.

The number of combinations is also why the prices differ. A mini BIG entry draws from a much smaller pool of possibilities, so it costs less and pays less; MEGA BIG draws from the largest pool, so it carries the biggest maximum prize. The operator pitches BIG as a weekly shot at a large payout for the price of a cup of coffee, at JPY 300 per bet¹⁷.

Power 6/55: 10,000 đồng an entry

Vietnam's Power 6/55, run by Vietlott, starts at 10,000 đồng for one entry: you pick 6 numbers from 01 to 55³. All betting and prize payment is in Vietnamese dong¹⁸.

The basic game is just that: mark 6 numbers on panel A of a play slip. Beyond the basic bet, Power 6/55 offers two other ways to play¹⁸:

• Bao play: you pick more than 6 numbers and the system generates every possible 6-number combination from them. Bao 5 works in reverse: you pick 5 numbers and software chooses the 6th from the remaining 50, creating 50 entries.
• Machine pick (TC): the terminal chooses your numbers.

Bao play multiplies your cost, because each combination is a separate entry at 10,000 đồng. Picking 7 numbers creates 7 entries, 8 numbers create 28, 9 numbers create 84, 10 numbers create 210, and it scales up from there: 12 numbers make 924 entries and 15 numbers make 5,005¹⁸. You can also buy up to 6 draws in advance on one play slip¹⁸.

The prize table scales with the number of entries you bought. A Bao 10 ticket that matches all 6 numbers wins Jackpot 1 plus 1,00 tỷ đồng on top; matching 6 numbers plus the bonus number on the same ticket wins both jackpots plus 769 triệu đồng³. Smaller fixed prizes exist too: matching 4 numbers on a Bao 10 ticket pays 11.500.000 đồng, and matching 5 numbers plus the bonus number pays Jackpot 2 plus 190 triệu đồng³.

The live draw is broadcast on TodayTV (SCTV2) television or on the Vietlott Facebook fanpage¹⁸. For how this compares with other pick-6 games in the region, see pick-6 lotto games in Asia compared.

What a bet buys: bet types and combinations

The single most confusing thing about lottery pricing is that the ticket price is not the total cost. The price quoted in the rules is per bet, per entry or per unit, and many games let you stack many bets onto one ticket.

In Japan, one toto bet is one complete set of predictions for the 13 matches. If you want to cover multiple combinations, you buy multiple bets, each at JPY 100¹. In Vietnam, one Power 6/55 entry is one 6-number combination, so a Bao 12 ticket is really 924 entries and costs 924 times the 10,000 đồng unit price¹⁸.

Korea's sports Toto games use the same logic with a KRW 100 unit. A voting ticket can be win/loss type (predicting the result), score type (predicting points scored and conceded), mixed type, or special type (predicting the champion, rankings or goalscorers of a tournament)¹⁹. You can also combine 2 to 10 matches into one purchase, with each unit again costing KRW 100²⁰.

Horse racing works the same way. A Japan Racing Association betting ticket requires four decisions: the racecourse and race, the bet type, the horse number, and the amount²¹. A bet is defined as the race number, bet type, combination number and number of tickets purchased, bundled together as one unit²². A "wide" bet, for example, asks you to pick two horses that both finish in the top 3, and you pay per combination²¹.

Singapore's TOTO shows how bet types change the price of a single ticket. An Ordinary entry is one set of numbers, but System 7 through System 12 entries cover more numbers and therefore cost more, and System Roll, iTOTO and Group TOTO each work differently²³. Online, you can place Self Pick bets for Ordinary, System Entry and System Roll for the current draw, or Quick Pick bets by bet type or by bet amount²⁴.

The general rule across all of these: find the unit price first, then count the units. For more on multi-line bets, see lottery system bets.

Jackpots and how carryovers raise the cap

Several Asian lotteries cap their top prize, but the cap can rise when money carries over from one round to the next. A carryover happens when no one wins the first prize, or when the first prize dividend is not fully paid out; the leftover amount rolls into the next round's first prize pool²⁵.

toto works like this: the first prize pool equals the previous round's carryover plus 35% of the current round's total toto sales²⁵. Normally the first prize is capped at JPY 100 million, but when a carryover is in place the cap rises to JPY 500 million²⁶.

The BIG family has its own caps: BIG and 100円BIG double with a carryover, while MEGA BIG's cap rises from JPY 700,000,020 to JPY 1,200,000,000¹⁰:

BIG's first prize pool is the previous round's carryover plus 40% of the current round's BIG sales²⁸. The operator gives a worked example: if the first prize pool reaches JPY 1.8 billion, up to three winners could each receive JPY 600 million²⁸. Note that the carryover figures exclude special edition rounds².

Japan's number games carry over too. LOTO6's first prize maximum is JPY 600 million when a carryover occurs; when a prize grade has no winners, that grade's entire prize money, plus any amount exceeding the preset maximum, is carried over to the next draw's first prize²⁹.

Not every game carries over. WINNER, the single-match football lottery, has no carryover at all¹⁶. And in Thailand, if a draw's tickets are not fully sold, each prize amount is reduced proportionally rather than rolled forward⁵. For more on how rollovers work across the region, see jackpot rollovers, snowballs and cascades and the biggest lottery jackpots in Asia.

Where to buy and when sales close

In Japan, toto and BIG are sold at lottery counters, at convenience stores that handle sports toto, and over the internet through the official sports lottery site and partner sites²⁸. Counter opening hours run roughly 8:00 to 23:00, though they vary by store³⁰.

The sales deadline is the thing to watch. At lottery counters, sales close at noon on the final sales day; at convenience store terminals the cutoff is 11:30¹⁶. If you wait until the last day, you need your ticket before lunch.

Singapore works on a similar principle with longer hours. Singapore Sweep tickets can be bought from the end of the previous draw until half an hour before the draw itself⁴. For Singapore's TOTO, sales for each draw close at 6pm on draw day, or 9pm on draw day if the current draw is a cascade draw³¹.

In Vietnam, Power 6/55 tickets are sold at Vietlott points of sale, and players betting by mobile phone must have both a betting account and a prize-receiving account¹⁸. In India, the Sikkim bumper rules are blunt: no tickets may be sold after the draw has commenced or after unsold tickets have been reported by the distributors or retailers¹³.

For a fuller rundown of outlets, see where to buy lottery tickets in Asia and buying official lottery tickets online.

Checking results and collecting winnings

For BIG bought in a store, you have four ways to check results. In person, winning results can be checked at lottery counters and 7-Eleven stores, and in-store checking is limited to those two channel types³². Online, you go to the website's top page, click the results-check button, select the lottery type and draw number, enter the reference number printed on your ticket, and display the result³³. If you bought online as a Club toto member, you log in, open your purchase history, and can filter by product, purchase period and result³².

Collecting winnings in Japan depends on where you bought the ticket and how much you won. For tickets bought at a shop, winnings can be collected at shinkin banks that handle the sports lottery, at lottery counters that allow payouts, and at 7-Eleven²⁵. For internet purchases, winnings are transferred automatically to your registered bank account, including tickets bought on the official site with convenience store payment²⁸.

The payout tiers matter for larger wins. Prizes of JPY 100,000 or less per ticket can be collected at booths, credit unions or Seven-Eleven; anything over JPY 100,000 must be collected at a credit union; and amounts over JPY 500,000 require a credit union procedure, with cash paid after 12 business days or a bank transfer. Seven-Eleven pays out only up to JPY 15,000, and some booths cap payouts at JPY 10,000 or JPY 50,000 per ticket¹⁶.

In Vietnam, you can scan your ticket at a checkwin machine at any point of sale or check on the Vietlott SMS app¹⁸. In Korea, winnings for Basketball Toto tickets bought on Betman are paid to a deposit account or a refund bank account, with refunds returned automatically to the member's deposit and withdrawals sent to the member's bank account¹².

Thailand has the region's most generous claim windows. Government lottery winners have two years from the draw date to claim; after that, the money goes to state revenue. Thai charity lottery winners have ten years⁵. Prize money is paid to whoever holds the winning ticket and presents it⁵. For more, see how to claim a lottery prize in Asia and unclaimed lottery prizes.

Who can play: age and eligibility rules

Japan's sports promotion lottery, covering toto and BIG, is closed to anyone under 19, who may neither buy tickets nor receive them from someone else²⁶.

In Vietnam, Power 6/55 is open to people aged 18 and over, and the rules exclude anyone with restricted or lost civil act capacity under Vietnamese law¹⁸. Eligibility is broad beyond that: Vietnamese citizens, Vietnamese people settled abroad, and foreigners who legally enter Vietnam may all participate¹⁸.

Singapore's TOTO draws run on Mondays and Thursdays, with online betting available to Singapore Pools account holders²⁴. Korea's sports Toto voting tickets are sold under terms that classify bets by type, with the KRW 100 unit applying across win/loss, score, mixed and special formats¹⁹.

One practical note on price and eligibility together: because the unit prices are so low, the real limit on spending is the number of bets you stack, not the ticket itself. A Bao 15 Power 6/55 ticket is 5,005 entries, all on one play slip, and the entry count only grows from there¹⁸. Set your budget before you choose your bet type, not after.