Read our detailed game reviews of the most popular and most played lottery style games in South Africa. We have done all the hard work, so you do not have to.
What are Lottery Games?
Lottery games are instant win games. Compared to other forms of lottery draws you do not have to wait for a certain draw to take place. For example, if you are playing SA Powerball or are betting on it you will only know the result every Tuesday or Friday after the draw.
Online lottery games play 24/7 and give you a lot more flexibility and choice to get involved while results are available straight away. Modern lotto-style games are live games. This means that they are hosted with a live presenter, the draw happens and is streamed to your device in real time.
Compared to standard lotto draws these games offer you a wider selection of betting options. Instead of just picking a few numbers and hoping they match the results, you can also bet on the ball colour, sum of numbers, over/ unders and much more.
Main advantages of online lotto-style games:
- Fast-paced and fun
- Most games are available 24/7 with draws happening every few minutes
- Bigger variety of betting options compared to standard lotto draws
- Real-time entertainment: the games are streamed live with a real person presenter
Types of Lottery Games available in South Africa
Nearly all countries in the world operate national lotteries or offer standard lotto draws. In South Africa we have our own SA national lottery. But you can also bet on the outcome of various popular and multi-jackpot international lotteries. Lotto is usually played with you picking a certain amount of numbers (X) within a certain number range (Y). Then you hope that you can match as many as possible. The games are frequently referred to as “X of Y” such as ‘GoSloto 6 of 45’ or ‘SA Lotto 6 out of 52’. While doing online lotto betting you predict the outcome of a lotto draw and bet on how many numbers you will predict correctly.
But lotto is not the only available lottery game. The following games can also be put into this category as well:
- Keno, such as Keno 20/80 by Golden Race
- Betgames’s lotto-style games Lucky 5, Lucky 6, Lucky 7
- Instant Games and scratch cards
Let’s take a slightly more detailed look at the alternative types of lotto style games, who knows you might just find something you like.
What is Keno 20/80 by Golden Race?
Keno 20/80 is a classic numbers game based on the lottery. You select your lucky numbers or you can use the automated selector and then press the start button. Just as with the weekly national lottery, you hope to match as many of your numbers to the numbers being called. The more you match, the higher the pay-out.
Interesting fact: Keno nowadays is one of the top 5 most played games in Africa.
Read our detailed Keno game review for our recommended bookies where you can play.
What is Lucky 5 by Betgames?
Lucky 5 by Betgames is a great introduction to Lotto style instant live games. As the name suggests, 5 balls are drawn out of a possible 36. However, there is a slight twist, rather than matching numbers and winning a jackpot here each outcome is paid as a multiple of your bet placed.
Players can place bets on the number of coloured balls being called, how many odd or even numbers and loads of other combinations. Best of all, you can place as many bets per round as you wish. This really makes the game entertaining each round it is played.
For more information on Betgames Lucky 5 game, why not read our detailed game review by following the link.
Instant Win Games also called Scratchies
We all know and love scratch cards. Whether we religiously buy one every week or because we feel lucky while paying for our milk on our way home, most of us have bought one.
Unfortunately compared to other countries around the world where scratch cards are legal to play online, South Africans cannot play their favourite scratch card at all of their preferred online bookies. Hopefully this will change in the near future. One site that features scratchcards so is Lottostar.
In addition you can also play scratchies online in SA via the National Lottery. Players who would like to do so can actually create an account with the National Lottery provider Ithuba and enjoy online scratch cards there. Read more about their offering and available games you can play in our EAZIWIN article.
All Lottery Games are games of chance so there is no skill involved or necessary to participate.