Quick answer: There is no magic number of competitions to enter, and the better question is how much to spend: set one monthly cap you can afford, treat £0 as a real option by using free routes, and keep every paid entry inside the cap. A handful of games you enjoy beats a scattergun approach.
Key takeaways
- The number that matters is your monthly cap, not your entry count. Each entry carries its own published odds and no entry method changes them, so what you control is how much you spend each month and how much of that spend you replace with free routes.
- Free routes let you run a genuine £0 month. Free daily games and free postal entries put you in the same games as paying players, so you can take part without spending anything, as long as you respect the entry limits in the terms.
- A cap is a hard stop, not a target. Decide the figure before you play, stop when you reach it, and review it monthly instead of topping up to chase a result.
If you want to test a no-spend month before setting any cap, new players can claim free tickets and use the free daily games to see how the routine feels.
Is there a right number of competitions to enter?
No, there is no right number, because the count is not what decides anything: each entry has its own published chance, and the variable you control is spend. Two or three games a week and one game a week cost different amounts but change nothing about the odds of any single entry.
What changes things instead is how you run it:
- What more entries change: how many chances you hold across a month, and how much money or time you commit to holding them.
- What more entries do not change: the published odds attached to any single entry, in any single game.
Time is the hidden cost. A free daily entry takes a minute, and a postal entry takes writing, an envelope and a stamp. The practical answer is therefore: enter as many as fit inside a monthly cap you can afford, starting with the free ones.
How do you set a competition budget?
Start with the amount you can comfortably spend on entertainment in a month, write it down, and treat it as a ceiling rather than a plan. Pick the figure first, then choose the games that fit inside it, because doing it the other way round is how caps get broken.
A simple routine looks like this:
- Decide the monthly figure, using money you can afford to spend rather than money you need for anything else.
- Write it down where you will see it, and note the date your month resets.
- Choose the games that fit, using the price per entry shown on each game.
- Put free routes in first, because they do not use up the cap at all.
- Stop when the cap is reached, and review at the end of the month.
Two habits keep a budget honest: never borrow to play, and never top up a cap that is already spent. The routine above is general guidance about play budgets, not financial advice.
What does a monthly competition budget look like at different levels?
A £0 month uses free routes only, a £10 month buys a small number of paid entries at the prices shown on each game, and a £25 month spreads a little further across instant games and a bigger draw. The figures are illustrative examples, not recommendations or financial advice.
The table below shows one way each cap could be used. It is illustrative only, and the right figure for you is one you can afford and that fits your own budget.
| Illustrative monthly cap | One way it could be used | Free routes to keep using |
|---|---|---|
| £0 | Every entry comes from a free route: daily free games, plus postal entries where a draw offers them. | All of them |
| £10 | A few small paid entries spread across the month, at the price shown on each game, stopped at £10. | Daily free games and any postal route |
| £25 | A wider mix across instant games and one or two larger draws, still stopped at £25. | Daily free games and any postal route |
Notice what does not change between the rows: the discipline. At every level the cap is decided first, the free routes come before the paid ones, and the finish line is fixed.
To start small, every MrRaffle game shows its prize list and how many prizes are left before you play, and new players can claim free tickets to compare options at no cost.
Do free entries change the maths?
Yes, free entries change the maths in your favour, because they cost nothing while counting for the same as a paid entry in the same draw. That makes £0 a genuine budget rather than a compromise, as long as you respect the entry caps and deadlines in the terms.
The two routes worth knowing on MrRaffle are:
- Free daily games. A set number of free entries that refresh each day, in the same games as paying players.
- Free postal entries. A genuine no-payment route into paid chance-based draws, sent by ordinary post and counted as one entry in the same pool.
Postal entries are free to enter but not free to send, so count the stamp honestly in either your money or your time. Our guide to free postal entry competitions covers the details that get entries rejected, including one entry per envelope and closing dates.
When should you stop or take a break?
Stop when the cap is reached, and take a break when playing stops feeling like entertainment. Spending more than planned, chasing a result, or hiding spend are all signals to pause. A run of entries that did not win does not improve the odds on the next one, so chasing a result only adds spend.
The signals are usually easy to spot once you know them:
- You spend past the cap, or plan to make it back next month.
- You use money that was meant for something else.
- You check results constantly or feel flat when you lose.
- You would rather not tell anyone what you have spent.
If spending ever worries you, pause the paid entries, take a break, and talk to someone you trust about it. The free routes will still be there later, and nothing about a competition needs a decision today.
How do you track your spending?
A workable tracker has three columns: date, game and amount, and each entry takes about ten seconds to log. The monthly total is the only figure that tells you whether the cap held, so review it on the same day each month.
A few small habits make tracking easier:
- Keep entries on one payment method, so a single statement tells one story.
- Note free entries too, as time rather than spend, because time is a real part of the hobby.
- Do a weekly check against the cap, which catches an overrun while it is still small.
- At month end, compare total spend with the cap and decide whether to lower it.
Tracking also shows you what you actually enjoy: if a month of small entries in games you like felt better than scattered spending, that is useful evidence for the next month's plan.
For the simplest possible plan, put the whole cap on free routes: the free daily games reset every day, and our guide to low-odds competitions explains what to look for when you do decide to spend.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an ideal number of competitions to enter each week?
There is no ideal number, because no count changes the published odds of any single entry. The practical answer is to decide what the month can afford, start with free routes, and choose a small number of games you genuinely enjoy. Beyond that, extra entries mostly add spend and admin.
How much should you spend on competitions each month?
There is no universal figure, and anyone who quotes one is guessing. Pick an amount you can afford to spend on entertainment without it affecting anything else, write it down as a hard cap, and treat £0 as a valid answer while free routes are available.
Do free entries count the same as paid entries?
Yes. In a properly run draw, a free entry goes into the same pool and counts as one entry with the same chance as any other single entry, and that is a condition of the free route being genuine rather than a favour. Entry caps and deadlines still apply.
What happens if you go over your budget?
The paid part of the month is over: stop paid entries at the cap, keep using free routes if you want to keep playing, and reset at the start of the next month. Topping up a broken cap to chase a result is exactly the habit a budget exists to prevent.
Does entering more competitions improve your chances?
Every extra entry adds its own published chance in the game it is in, so more entries means more chances overall. It does not improve the odds of any existing entry, so more entries always means more spend or more time.
Sources
- Promotional marketing: Free entry routes, ASA and CAP, accessed 6 October 2026
- CAP Code, Section 8: Promotional marketing, ASA and CAP, accessed 6 October 2026
- Voluntary code of good practice for prize draw operators, DCMS, accessed 6 October 2026
- MrRaffle Competition Terms and Conditions, accessed 6 October 2026
- MrRaffle free daily games, accessed 6 October 2026
Play responsibly
MrRaffle is for UK residents aged 18 and over. Only play with money you can afford to spend, set a budget before you start, and take a break if it stops being fun.
If you are ready to put a plan in place, claim free tickets as a new player, start with the free daily games, and read how to win competitions in the UK for the practical side of playing well.
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