Vietlott Max 3D

Max 3D at a glance

Max 3D is one of Vietlott's self-selected number games, sitting alongside Mega 6/45, Power 6/55, Max 4D, Keno and Max 3D Pro in the national lottery company's lineup³. Instead of picking six numbers out of a big drum, you pick three digits from 000 to 999, and the draw machine pulls out winning triples of three digits each.

The game comes in two plays on the same ticket. The single triple play (basic Max 3D) has you pick one set of three digits and has 4 prize tiers. The two triples play (Max 3D+3D, sometimes written 3D+3D) has you pick two sets of three digits and has 7 prize tiers, with a special prize of 1,000,000,000 dong for matching both special-prize triples².

Draws happen at 18:00 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and the broadcast runs from 18:00 to about 18:30 on TodayTV and SCTV2⁴. In each draw the machine selects 20 winning triples: 2 special prize triples, 4 first prize triples, 6 second prize triples and 8 third prize triples². The related game Max 3D Pro draws at 18:00 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, so between the two, the Max 3D family gives you a draw six days a week⁵.

If you are new to Vietlott generally, the company also runs Keno and the Mega 6/45 and Power 6/55 jackpot games, and you can read more in our overview of Vietlott.

Who can play and the age limit

Vietlott's own rules for Max 3D set out who may take part: Vietnamese citizens, Vietnamese people residing abroad, or foreigners who enter Vietnam legally¹. So if you are a visitor or expat in Vietnam on a valid visa, you can buy Max 3D tickets like anyone else.

You must also be 18 or older, and you must not be a person with restricted or lost civil act capacity under Vietnamese law¹. That is the whole eligibility test, and it is the same for Max 3D Pro⁶.

One practical point worth knowing: Vietlott reserves the right to refuse to pay a prize to someone who was not permitted to participate but played anyway and won⁶. So it is worth being sure you fit the categories above before staking money. For context, the age bar for Vietlott games is lower than for casinos and licensed sports betting in Vietnam, where the minimum is 21.

Bet types: basic Max 3D and 3D+3D

A Max 3D ticket lets you play in two ways, and you can mix them on one play slip.

Basic Max 3D (single triple). You pick one set of three digits, for example 1-2-3. The draw produces 20 winning triples, and your numbers must match a winning triple in the exact order to claim the top prizes. This play has 4 prize tiers²:

There is also a combined triple play, where your three digits can match a winning triple in any order rather than exact order. The payouts are lower: for example, matching a first prize triple in any order pays 120,000 dong instead of 350,000 dong, and matching a third prize triple in any order pays 30,000 dong².

3D+3D (two triples). You pick two sets of three digits, for example 1-2-3 and 4-5-6. This play has 7 prize tiers and much bigger payouts, because you need to match combinations across the 20 drawn triples²:

Two rules make the payouts work in your favor. If an entry wins several prizes at once, you receive the sum of all of them². And if you pick two identical triples in the 3D+3D play, the prize value is doubled from the table above².

Max 3D Pro is a separate game. It also uses two three-digit numbers from 000 to 999, but it has its own draw days, its own 8-prize structure with a Jackpot and Sub Jackpot, and a Bao system play option⁷. Its first prize pays 30,000,000 dong for matching 2 of the 4 first prize triples, and its third prize pays 4,000,000 dong for matching 2 of the 8 third prize triples⁶. If you pick two identical sets of numbers in Max 3D Pro, the prize value for the first through sixth prizes is doubled, just as in Max 3D⁶.

How to fill in a play slip

The Max 3D play slip has four frames, A, B, C and D, each with a left and a right number board. Each frame you fill in produces one printed entry on your ticket¹.

For basic Max 3D, mark three digits, for example 1-2-3, on the left number board of a frame. For the 3D+3D play, mark three digits on the left board and three more on the right board of the same frame, for example 1-2-3 on the left and 4-5-6 on the right¹.

If you do not want to choose, mark TC in frame A or in all frames and the machine picks the numbers for you¹.

On the Max 3D Pro selection card the layout is similar: mark three digits horizontally per board, each board corresponding to one printed entry, or mark TC to let the machine choose. The Pro card adds a KỲ (draw period) field: mark it to enter several draws at once, and leave it blank to enter just one⁶.

The Pro card also has a self-selected Bao section, from Bao 3 to Bao 20, where the machine generates multiple sets of numbers for you. If you want Bao 9 through Bao 20, you need to ask the sales staff for help⁶.

Buying tickets: sales points and the Vietlott SMS app

Vietlott sells through exactly two official channels: terminal devices at sales points, and phone distribution through the Vietlott SMS app⁸. Anything else claiming to sell Vietlott tickets is not official, and Vietlott has repeatedly warned customers to buy only at its own points of sale and to follow its official website and fanpage⁹.

The retail network is large: Vietlott has 6,118 sales points across the country, and its products are sold in 63 provinces and cities nationwide⁸. Sales points are ordinary shops and kiosks with a Vietlott terminal; you fill in a play slip, hand it over, and the terminal prints your ticket. You then pay the value printed on the ticket¹. The Vietlott website has a sales point locator listing addresses down to the village level, so you can find your nearest one before heading out¹².

For the app route, the official Vietlott SMS website is vietlott-sms.vn, and the app had more than 4 million registered betting accounts as of Vietlott's own reporting⁸. Registration is quick:

1. You register.
2. You verify your account.
3. You deposit money.
4. You can then buy any of Vietlott's self-selected games from your phone⁸.

Prizes are paid at the head office, branches or stores of the lottery company and at its authorized agents, so a sales point is often where small prizes get handed over too¹³.

Playing by mobile: staking and prize-receiving accounts

If you play through the Vietlott SMS app, the rules require you to have two accounts: a staking account (tài khoản dự thưởng) and a prize-receiving account (tài khoản nhận thưởng)¹. The same requirement applies to Max 3D Pro and the other Vietlott games sold by phone⁶.

The staking account is where your deposited money sits and where bets are debited. The prize-receiving account is where winnings are credited. Under Vietnam's betting regulations, a player's betting account must be linked to a payment account at a licensed bank or foreign bank branch in Vietnam, or to an e-wallet licensed by the State Bank of Vietnam, and payouts move through accounts held at Vietnamese credit institutions¹⁴.

The practical upshot for a first-time mobile player: you cannot just download the app and tap numbers. You need to complete account verification and connect a bank account or licensed e-wallet before you can stake, and winnings arrive in your linked account rather than as cash.

Prices, stakes and the default 10,000 dong bet

Everything in Max 3D is priced in Vietnamese dong, for both staking and payouts¹. One entry costs 10,000 dong, and that buys you either one set of three digits (basic play) or two sets (3D+3D play)².

If you do not mark a stake value on the selection card, the default bet is understood as 10,000 dong⁶. Mark a higher value and your ticket counts as multiple entries: the payout for any win is the number of entries of the winning number multiplied by the prize value for that tier². So a 50,000 dong stake on a second prize win in basic play pays five times 210,000 dong.

Max 3D Pro works the same way at heart, with 10,000 dong per participation as the base price⁶, and if you do not mark a stake value on the selection card the default of 10,000 dong applies⁶. Its Bao system play costs more than a single entry because it covers multiple combinations of numbers, so the total price rises with the number of combinations your chosen numbers create⁶. Each drawing consists of 8 prizes and 20 sets of winning numbers drawn⁶.

Checking results and claiming prizes

The draw is broadcast live on TodayTV and SCTV2 from 18:00 to about 18:30 on draw days, and you can also watch it on Vietlott's official Facebook fanpage⁴. Results are published on Vietlott's website after each draw, with the full list of winning triples for every prize tier¹⁵.

To check a paper ticket, take it to a checkwin machine at any Vietlott sales point and scan it, or check it yourself on the Vietlott SMS app⁶. The checkwin machines are the fastest way to settle any doubt, since they read the ticket directly rather than you comparing numbers by eye.

When it comes to claiming, Vietlott's prize rules set four conditions a winning ticket must meet: it must have been recorded on Vietlott's system before the sales cutoff time set by the Ministry of Finance and the product's rules; it must not already be recorded as paid; it must be within the claim period; and the player's betting information must match the registered betting account information¹⁶. For tickets paid out by an agent, payment is made by bank transfer into the prize-receiving account¹⁶.

A few practical habits follow from this. Keep the paper ticket safe and unsigned until you claim, because it is the only proof of the bet. Check your ticket soon after the draw rather than weeks later, so you stay comfortably inside the claim period. And if you played on the app, make sure your account details are consistent, since a mismatch between the ticket and the registered account can block a payout.

For the wider picture of legal gambling in the country, including casinos and betting, see our guide to gambling in Vietnam, and for the other big Vietlott draws see the Vietnam lottery.