Health Lottery FAQs

On 15th August 2023, The Health Lottery changed the name of their main draw game to The Big Win. They also updated the prize amounts, so make sure you check out our news article for more information about all the changes.

To play the Health Lottery, now known as The Big Win, you must pick five numbers between 1 and 50. You can play online or purchase entries from any Health Lottery retailer in the UK. Once you’ve picked your numbers, just choose which days you want to play on and how many weeks in advance to enter.

Draws take place five days a week – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday – at approximately 8:00pm.

The cut-off time for ticket sales is 7:45pm on the day of a draw.

You have the option to enter up to five weeks in advance. It is therefore possible to play 25 consecutive draws if you are taking part on every available day. You can also play continuously by direct debit.

It costs £1 for each line of Health Lottery (now known as The Big Win) numbers you play.

The Bonus Ball works to boost the value of prizes. It is drawn from the remaining 45 balls after the first five numbers have been selected, so you won’t see the same number appearing twice and there won’t be a Bonus Ball on your ticket.

If the Bonus Ball matches up with one of your five numbers, you will receive a larger prize if you have already matched at least one of the main five main numbers.

Health Lottery playcards are available to help you take part more easily if you prefer to play in stores. With a blue playcard, your favourite numbers (up to 10 lines), are stored so the retailer can just swipe it and give you a ticket straight away. If you have a red playcard, the retailer can scan the barcode to produce a Quick Pick for the next available draw. Playcards are available at participating retailers and can be activated in stores or online.

To win a Health Lottery (now known as The Big Win) prize, you must match your numbers to the winning numbers drawn. The lowest prize is a free ticket, which you win by matching two main numbers or one main number and the Bonus Ball. There are eight ways to win, with awards increasing in value as you match more numbers.

The jackpot is £25,000 in every draw. You win the jackpot by matching all five main numbers. The top prize will be shared if there is more than one winner in the ‘Match 5’ category.

No, the jackpot does not roll over if there are no winners. The top prize is always £25,000.

The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 2.1 million. Overall, the odds of winning a prize are 1 in 9.7. See the Health Lottery Odds page for more information.

All Health Lottery (now known as The Big Win) prizes must be claimed no later than 6:00pm on the 180th day after a draw.

A £100,000 free prize draw takes place every Wednesday and a £475,000 free prize draw on Saturday, in addition to the regular Health Lottery (now known as The Big Win) draw. Five numbers are randomly selected from 1 to 50 and you win the jackpot if you match all the numbers. The prize is split if there are multiple winners and does not roll over if there are no winners. There are no other prizes in these special draws. You are automatically entered into the special draws at no extra cost when you buy a Health Lottery ticket for any Wednesday or Saturday draw.

The Mega Raffle came to an end with its final draw on 1st March 2020, so draws no longer take place and there is no need for a raffle code on your ticket. The raffle used to take place at the start of every month and would see one player win a prize of £250,000.

QuickWin is a Health Lottery game that can only be played online. You can take part in the same way as the main draw - by selecting five numbers from 1 to 50 at a cost of £1 per entry - and win all the same prizes. The difference is that draws take place every three minutes all through the day and night and you will be entered into the next available draw. Go to the QuickWin page for more information.

No, the Health Lottery independently from the National Lottery. It consists of 12 regional society lotteries across Great Britain, with money raised from the draws going to a different area each month. The areas are: East, East Midlands, London East, London West, North East & Cumbria, North West, Scotland, South East, South West, Wales, West Midlands, and Yorkshire & Humber. For every £1 spent on the game, 25.5p is allocated to good causes.

All the good causes supported by the Health Lottery are focused on tackling health inequality, making sure that local projects across Great Britain can help the most vulnerable communities in each region. Go to the section on Good Causes for more information.