How To Play

This page explains what happens when you enter a competition here, from choosing one to being paid. The full rules are in our Terms and Conditions, which apply where the two differ.

Entering, step by step

1. Choose a competition

Every competition page shows the prize, the ticket price, the number of tickets, the closing date, how the draw will be made and any instant prizes still unclaimed. You need a free account, and you must be 18 or over and resident in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. We may ask you to confirm your age, identity or address with photo ID.

2. Pick how many tickets

Each ticket is one entry number, and one chance. Some competitions set a maximum number per person, shown on the competition page.

3. Check out

We accept debit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay. We do not accept credit cards. Any Wallet balance is applied automatically at checkout, in full or in part, reducing what you pay by card. Entries are not refundable unless we cancel a competition, when every entry fee is refunded. Because your number is allocated the moment you enter, the 14-day cancellation right under the Consumer Contracts Regulations does not apply. That does not affect your statutory rights in respect of our service generally.

4. Your numbers are allocated instantly

Your entry numbers are allocated the moment you check out. You can choose your numbers or have them allocated at random, whichever you prefer, and they appear in your account straight away.

5. Reveal any instant wins

If the competition has instant wins, you find out immediately. The reveal may be shown as a game, such as a wheel or a scratchcard, but that is presentation only: the result was already fixed by the number you hold, and nothing you do while playing changes it.

The numbers carrying instant prizes are drawn before the competition opens, from numbers nobody holds yet. We do not choose which numbers carry a prize, and no entrant knows until it is revealed.

6. The main draw happens on the published date

Draws are made by TrueNorth, an independent random number generator. Each draw is committed in advance and can be independently verified afterwards, so the result can be checked rather than taken on trust. If TrueNorth were unavailable we may use another established generator, such as Google's or random.org. Some draws run live on our social channels, others automatically shortly after the closing date; the competition page says which.

The draw goes ahead whether or not every ticket has sold. Where a competition sells out early and we have chosen to draw it on sell-out, it closes and is drawn at that point; where we have not, it closes to new entries but the draw still takes place on the advertised date. We extend a closing date only where a force majeure event, a serious technical failure affecting access to the site, or another emergency has stopped people entering, and never because of the level of sales.

7. How you find out you have won

We contact the winner personally as soon as we can, by email or telephone. Within seven days of the closing date the winner is published on the competition page as a first name, surname initial and winning ticket number, along with the draw details and a link anyone can use to check the result. Recent winners are also listed on our results and instant winners pages.

We ask before using anyone's photograph or including them in publicity, and a winner can say no without it affecting their prize. If we cannot reach a winner, or a prize is not claimed within 21 days of the announcement, we may offer it to the next eligible entry drawn.

8. How you get paid

Where a prize is named in cash terms, for example "£100 Cash", it is paid as site credit into your Wallet. It is worth the same in pounds as the amount stated, and it is real money: spend it on the site, or withdraw it in pounds sterling by bank transfer to a UK bank account in your own name. We do not pay third parties. The minimum withdrawal is £10. Anything below that stays in your Wallet and can be spent on the site.

Instant prizes land in your Wallet automatically the moment the ticket is revealed, so there is nothing to claim. There is one Wallet. It holds prize money, refunds and any cashback or credit we have given you. Before paying a withdrawal we may ask you to verify your identity, age and address and to account for the source of the funds, and we may require that only one withdrawal request is outstanding at a time. Delivery of a physical prize may take up to 14 days.

If your number carried a Gold Ticket boost, the ordinary prize credits automatically and the boost amount is added separately, by hand. We aim to add it within 24 hours of the win, and within 5 working days in any event. If it has not arrived within 5 working days, tell us and we will put it right. A boost never changes which numbers win, or anybody's odds.

Entering for free

By post

There is a free postal entry route on every competition, whatever the ticket price. Send one unenclosed postcard per entry, clearly handwritten, giving the name of the competition and your full name, date of birth, address, email address and telephone number, to the Competition Manager at our registered office. Your details must match your account, and the postcard must reach us before the closing date. The full requirements, including the address, are in Schedule 1 of our Terms and Conditions. When it arrives we email you to confirm, with your entry number.

Postal entries take instant prizes as well as the main prize. If the best instant prizes have already been won by the time your postcard reaches us, we give you site credit to cover an entry in the next competition offering instant prizes at least as valuable as the one you missed.

By telephone

A few competitions run for four days or less from going live to closing, which is too short for a postcard to reach us. For those, and only those, there is a free telephone route: call 07983644446 and give the name, address, date of birth, telephone number and email address registered on your account. A random ticket number is allocated and emailed to you. For anything with a longer run, please use the postal route. That line is for free entry only; for anything else, please use the details on our contact page.

A free entry has exactly the same chance of winning

Free entries are treated no less favourably than paid ones: the same pool of numbers, the same draw, and instant prizes as well as the main prize. No purchase is necessary to enter or to win. Where a skill question is used, it is an optional extra, never a replacement for the free route.

Why a free entrant still needs an account

Every entry number is allocated to an account, paid for or not. Without one there is nothing to allocate your number to, and no way to pay you if you win. The account is free, and it is the same one anyone entering online opens, which is what keeps the two routes equal.

Playing sensibly

Entering should stay enjoyable, and affordable. From My Account, under Play Safe, you can set a spending limit for a week, a month or a year. Lowering it takes effect immediately; raising or removing it waits 24 hours. You can also take a timeout, from a single day up to permanent, and close your account at any time. Be sure before setting a timeout: it cannot be shortened or lifted early by anyone, including us.

We watch for patterns that suggest things may not be going well, and get in touch if we see them. There is more help, some of it free and confidential, on our player protection and debt advice pages.

If something goes wrong

Ask us. Email [email protected], write to us at our registered office, or message us on our social channels. If you are unhappy with a decision we have made, you can ask us to review it, and we aim to respond within three working days. Our complaints procedure sets out how that works. There are more answers on our FAQs and instant wins explained pages.