Part of the complete guide: Lottery odds: the complete guide
From ticket sales to the pool
Each ticket costs $5. When the draw closes, the number of paid tickets is counted. Ninety percent of the total becomes the prize pool. The pool is not fixed in advance and does not roll over. It is whatever that draw's tickets produced.
| Tickets sold | Sales | Prize pool | The other 10% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | $250 | $225 | $25 |
| 500 | $2,500 | $2,250 | $250 |
| 1,000 | $5,000 | $4,500 | $500 |
| 10,000 | $50,000 | $45,000 | $5,000 |
The split
The three parts add up to 100% of the pool. Everything in the pool is paid out.
| Prize | Winners | Share of the pool | Total share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand prize | 1 | 50% | 50% |
| Runner-up | 3 | 10% each | 30% |
| Lucky draw | 10 | 2% each | 20% |
Example with 1,000 tickets
- Pool: $4,500.
- Grand prize: $2,250.
- Each runner-up: $450 (three of them).
- Each lucky draw: $90 (ten of them).
Why a split instead of one jackpot
A single huge prize is exciting but very rare. Spreading the pool across 14 winners makes winning something much more common, while still keeping a headline grand prize. It also keeps the game honest: you can see exactly how many winners there are and what each tier pays.
Minimum tickets and cancelled draws
A draw with very few tickets would give tiny prizes and a high risk of a handful of players dominating. So there is a minimum of 50 tickets. If fewer are sold, the draw is cancelled, every ticket is refunded in full, and nothing is set aside from those tickets.
No rollovers
Some lotteries carry unclaimed jackpots into the next draw, which creates headline-grabbing prizes with terrible odds. This lottery pays out each draw's pool in that draw. There is no roll-forward pot, so what you see for a draw is the whole story.
What a small pool means in practice
With the minimum of 50 tickets, the pool is $225, so a grand prize is $112.50 and each lucky-draw prize is $4.50, which is less than the price of a ticket. That is why small draws are more about the chance to win something than about big money, and why we say plainly that prizes depend on how many tickets are sold.
As the ticket count grows, prizes grow in proportion. At 1,000 tickets, a lucky-draw prize is $90, 18 times a ticket. At 10,000 tickets it is $900.
Prize table across pool sizes
| Tickets | Pool | Grand | Each runner-up | Each lucky draw |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | $225 | $112.50 | $22.50 | $4.50 |
| 250 | $1,125 | $562.50 | $112.50 | $22.50 |
| 1,000 | $4,500 | $2,250 | $450 | $90 |
| 5,000 | $22,500 | $11,250 | $2,250 | $450 |
Rounding and exact amounts
Prize amounts are rounded to the cent. Published results list the exact prize for each winner, and the total across all 14 prizes equals the pool within rounding.
Example: following $5,000 of ticket sales
A draw sells 1,000 tickets at $5, collecting $5,000. Ninety percent, $4,500, goes to the prize pool and $500 to good causes, improvements and the developer. The $4,500 is split: $2,250 to the grand prize, $450 to each of three runner-ups and $90 to each of ten lucky draws. The totals add up: 2,250 + 1,350 + 900 = 4,500. If sales had been 1,400 tickets, every prize would be 40% bigger, because the pool scales with sales. If only 40 tickets had been sold, the draw would be cancelled and every buyer refunded in full.
Pool lotteries versus jackpot lotteries
| Feature | Pool lottery | Jackpot lottery with rollovers |
|---|---|---|
| Prize size | Set by that draw's sales | Grows with each rollover |
| Winners per draw | Several, by design | Often none |
| Odds | Depend on tickets sold | Fixed, very long |
| Payout share | Fixed percentage of sales | Average over time, with big swings |
Check these before you play any pool
- The stated payout share, in the terms.
- How prizes are split between winners.
- What happens when too few tickets are sold.
- How and when winners are paid.
Ready?
A weekly draw you can check yourself.
$5 tickets, a public random value, and every result published with the data to recompute it.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the other 10% go?
To good causes such as feeding people in hunger and helping those affected by war, to improving the site and to its developer.
Can the prize pool change after I buy?
Yes. It grows as more tickets are sold until the draw closes.
Are prizes guaranteed amounts?
No. They depend on how many tickets are sold in that draw.
Who pays the prizes?
Prizes are paid by us in crypto after winners confirm a wallet address.
Does the prize pool include my own ticket money?
Yes, 90% of every ticket, including yours, goes into the pool.
Can the prize pool be smaller than advertised?
The pool is exactly 90% of the draw's sales. There is no fixed advertised amount.
Are prizes paid in dollars?
Prizes are quoted in dollars and paid in the crypto the winner chooses.