How to Play The Health Lottery

When you play the Health Lottery, you need to select five numbers from 1 to 50. Draws take place every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, so there are five chances to play and win each week. The main draw’s name, previously known as the Health Lottery, has been changed to The Big Win.

Tickets cost £1 each and are available online or from any of the 32,000+ authorised retailers across the UK:

Step1

Pick your five numbers from 1-50 If you need help choosing then you can ask for a Quick Pick ticket, or use the random number generator to create a line.
Step2

Decide how many draws to play You can just enter the next scheduled draw, or play in advance for up to eight weeks.
Step3

Purchase your entries before sales close
Step4

Check to see if you're a winner The latest winning numbers will be made available on the Health Lottery Results page.

Ticket sales close at 19.45 on the day of each draw, before reopening again later for the following draw.

Free Prize Draws

The Health Lottery introduced a free prize draw on Wednesdays and Saturdays, in which players who buy a ticket for could win £100,000 on Wednesday or £475,000 on Saturday. The free prize draw takes place after the main Health Lottery, now known as The Big Win, draw; in it, five more numbers between 1 and 50 are randomly selected and if you match all five you win the second chance jackpot amount. There are no other prizes available in this second draw and the prize money does not roll over if it is not won.

There is no additional purchase necessary to enter the extra draws; all you need to do is purchase a line of Health Lottery numbers for any Wednesday or Saturday draw. The numbers you pick for the main draw will then be used for the second one.

Health Lottery Playcards

You can also use a Health Lottery Playcard to take part more quickly and easily at a shop. These are available from participating retailers and can either be activated at the store or online. If you want to pick your own numbers, you can use a blue Playcard to store up to ten different lines. Just pass it to the retailer and they will swipe it to generate a ticket. A red Playcard is also available if you are happy to play random numbers. The retailer will scan it to produce a Quick Pick ticket for the next draw(s).

As well as helping you to play quickly, Playcards provide plenty of additional benefits. If you register a blue card online, you will automatically join the Health Lottery reward scheme to gain access to exclusive offers. These may include special £1 bonuses for every £10 you spend, or other exciting promotions. You can change the numbers stored on your card at any time.

How Does the Bonus Ball Work?

Although Health Lottery players only pick five numbers for their ticket, there are actually six winning numbers in each draw. This extra number is the Bonus Ball and it exists to boost the winnings of players who have matched two, three or four main numbers.

Fact1

The Bonus Ball is drawn from the same pool as the five main numbers, so the same number cannot appear twice in a winning line.
Fact2

You do not need to match this ball to win the jackpot, only the five main numbers contribute towards the top prize tier.

Here is an example of how the Health Lottery Bonus Ball can be beneficial, especially for those who have missed out on the jackpot by a single number:

Imagine that you buy a ticket with the numbers 4, 7, 18, 24 and 40.
When you check the results, you see that the five main numbers were 4, 7, 18, 24 and 26.
This would mean you have matched four to win £250.
But then you check the Bonus Ball, which is 40, by matching this extra number your prize is then increased up to £10,000!

How Many Numbers Do You Need to Win?

There are six different ways to win the Health Lottery, from matching just two numbers and the Bonus, all the way up to the jackpot:

Numbers Matched	You Win
Match 5	Jackpot - £25,000
Match 4 + Bonus Ball	£10,000
Match 4	£300
Match 3 + Bonus Ball	£50
Match 3	£10
Match 2 + Bonus Ball	£5
Match 2	Free Ticket
Match 1 + Bonus Ball	Free Ticket

For more information about your chances of winning each of these prize tiers, visit the Odds page.

Claiming Prizes

How to redeem your winnings can vary depending on whether you are an online or retailer player, and the exact value of the prize. Visit the Claims page for the full details.