Where to Buy Lottery Tickets in Asia: Outlets, Convenience Stores and Street Vendors

Convenience stores in Japan: FamilyMart and 7-Eleven

Japan is the easiest place in the region to buy a lottery ticket on a whim, because two of the biggest convenience chains sell sports lottery games over the counter. The catch is that not every branch can do it. Both FamilyMart and 7-Eleven sell toto and BIG only at stores that have a multi-copy machine installed, so a small branch without one will turn you away¹.

The machine does the work. You touch the sports lottery option on the screen, pick the game you want, and the machine prints an application slip. You take that slip to the register and pay. That is the whole transaction, and it takes about a minute once you know which buttons to press¹.

FamilyMart's sales window for BIG runs from 8:00 am to 10:30 pm, and on the final day of a sales period the cut-off is 11:30 am². If you are buying on the last day, go in the morning.

7-Eleven works the same way, and the chain also handles payouts, which FamilyMart does not. More on that below.

FamilyMart: games, hours and how to buy at the multi-copy machine

FamilyMart sells both toto and BIG through the multi-copy machine, and the flow is nearly identical for each.

For toto, touch the sports lottery button on the machine screen, then select the toto purchase option. The machine issues an application slip. Take it to the register and pay¹. When you are picking your entries, you can either make your own predictions or let the computer choose for you by selecting the random option¹.

For BIG, the flow is the same: touch the sports lottery button, select the BIG purchase option, choose how many units you want, then take the issued application ticket to the register and pay².

Two timing rules matter here.

• The application ticket is valid for 30 minutes. If you do not reach the register within 30 minutes of the machine printing it, the slip becomes invalid and you have to start over¹.
• BIG sales at FamilyMart run 8:00 am to 10:30 pm, with an 11:30 am cut-off on the final sales day².

One thing to know before you pay: there is no cancellation and no refund once you have bought a BIG ticket at FamilyMart². Check the screen carefully before you take the slip to the counter, because the purchase is final.

FamilyMart is a sales channel, not a payout channel. If your ticket wins, you cannot collect at the FamilyMart register.

7-Eleven: toto tickets and the JPY 15,000 refund limit

7-Eleven sells toto at stores with a multi-copy machine, and it is also one of the few everyday places in Japan where you can collect a small win³.

The buying process mirrors FamilyMart. Touch the sports lottery option on the multi-copy machine, select the toto purchase option, choose your game, then take the printed slip to the register and pay³.

The payout side is where 7-Eleven stands out. You can collect winnings of JPY 15,000 or less per ticket at 7-Eleven stores nationwide¹². The process is:

1. Take your ticket to the multi-copy machine and select the sports lottery option, then the winning check and payout option.
2. Scan the ticket barcode.
3. The machine prints a refund acceptance slip.
4. Take that slip and your ticket to the register, where the refund is processed¹³.

Refunds and winning checks are only possible from the refund start date printed on the ticket, so a ticket bought today for a draw next week cannot be checked yet¹³. The refund deadline is 22:30 on the date printed on the ticket¹⁴.

The JPY 15,000 limit is a hard ceiling at 7-Eleven. For larger amounts, the rules scale up by channel:

Some lottery counters set their own lower limits, so a small shop may cap payouts at JPY 10,000 or JPY 50,000 per ticket even though the headline figure is higher¹⁵. If you are collecting anything close to the limit, a credit union is the safer bet.

Winnings from tickets bought at a shop are paid in cash at the shop or collection point. They are not automatically transferred to your account¹⁴. If you bought online, the winnings go to your account automatically¹⁷.

Da Ma Cai outlets in Malaysia: opening hours and rest days

Da Ma Cai runs a network of betting outlets across Malaysia, and you can place a bet at any of them⁵. The hours change with the draw calendar, so it is worth knowing the pattern before you set out.

The Thursday closure is the one that catches people out. Da Ma Cai outlets are shut all day Thursday as a rest day⁵. If you are planning a trip specifically to buy tickets, avoid Thursday and avoid late afternoon on a Monday.

Draws themselves run on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 7:00 pm, with special draws generally on Tuesdays at 7:00 pm⁴.

If you win, where you collect depends on the size of the prize:

• Prizes up to RM1,000,000, and fixed-payout prizes except bonus prizes up to RM1,000,000, can be claimed at any Da Ma Cai regional office in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Perak, Melaka or Johor⁴.
• Prizes over RM1,000,000, and bonus prizes over RM1,000,000, must be claimed at the Da Ma Cai head office in Kuala Lumpur, at 16th Floor, Wisma Genting, Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 Kuala Lumpur⁴.

The head office phone numbers are +60 3 2182 2188 and +60 3 2182 2199⁴.

Thailand's Government Lottery: vendors and the 10% tax on winnings

Thailand sells its Government Lottery through licensed vendors rather than a single chain of shops, and the tickets are printed with fixed numbers rather than chosen by the buyer. That changes how you buy and where you buy.

Quota agents in Bangkok collect their tickets at the Government Lottery Office at Don Mueang. Provincial quota agents collect at provincial halls or provincial treasury offices. Buyers who order or reserve tickets receive them through Thailand Post at post offices nationwide⁶.

On the money side, two deductions apply to prizes:

• Income tax is withheld at source at 1 percent of the prize money⁷.
• Stamp duty is charged at THB 1 per THB 200 of prize money, or part of THB 200⁷.

Prize money is paid to the holder of the winning ticket who presents it to claim, so the physical ticket is what matters⁷. If tickets are not all sold, the prize money for each prize is reduced proportionally¹⁹.

There is also a 12 percent ticket discount rate in the system⁶. That is a wholesale figure rather than something a walk-up buyer negotiates, but it explains why vendor pricing varies.

Hong Kong: what HKJC off-course betting branches do and do not sell

The Hong Kong Jockey Club is the only lawful operator for horse racing, football betting and the Mark Six lottery, and its off-course betting branches are the main walk-in channel²⁰.

Mark Six is available at off-course betting branches, racecourses and through electronic shroff card purchases⁸. If you want to cover several draws in one visit, the multiple draw entry covers 5, 10, 20 or 30 draws in a single purchase⁸.

Two rules apply to everyone, resident or visitor:

• The Club will not sell betting tickets to underage customers, and will not pay dividends on winning tickets held by them²⁰.
• Only cash betting and account-based betting are offered. No credit facilities and no credit card betting are allowed²⁰.

The Club's licensed offering is limited to horse racing, Mark Six and football²⁰. Authorized gambling in Hong Kong also includes certain activities under the Gambling Ordinance, such as mahjong parlors, but those are separate from the lottery²¹.

Mainland China: lottery sales outlets in public venues

In mainland China, lottery tickets are sold through physical stores rather than online channels⁹. The sports lottery is the clearest example: the physical store is the only regular and legal channel for buying sports lottery tickets¹⁰.

Recognizing an authorized seller is straightforward. Look for:

• Clear signage and the China Sports Lottery logo⁹.
• A China Sports Lottery Sales Agency Certificate issued by the lottery center and bearing its official seal, posted in a prominent position in the store⁹.

If a shop is selling lottery tickets without those markers, it is not an authorized outlet. Buying from it carries the same practical risk as any unlicensed sale.

What convenience stores and outlets do not handle

The gaps in the system are as useful to know as the channels themselves, because they are where people waste a trip.

• FamilyMart does not pay out sports lottery winnings. Store checks for WINNER are only available at lottery counters and 7-Eleven²².
• DUNK payouts are not currently possible at convenience stores²³.
• Some competition prediction lotteries cannot be bought at lottery counters at all, including J.League title predictions across all three divisions and B.League title predictions²⁴.
• Sales-only lottery stores, some credit unions, Lawson, FamilyMart and Ministop cannot pay refunds²⁵.
• Winnings from tickets bought at a shop counter are not automatically transferred to your account²⁶.

For takarakuji products such as the Jumbo Lottery, the picture is different again. Tickets can be checked at lottery sales offices in all prefectures and the 20 designated cities nationwide²⁷. LOTO7 winnings are collected at a lottery counter or at Mizuho Bank, depending on the amount²⁸. LOTO7 tickets can be bought at lottery counters, online, at ATMs of some banks, or at some convenience stores²⁸. The official lottery site sells online 24 hours a day after member registration²⁷.

If you are buying online rather than in person, the payment step still often runs through a convenience store. FamilyMart takes the M Copy service application barcode at the register, and 7-Eleven takes the internet ticket issuance payment slip, with the slip number shown to staff²⁶.