Quick answer: An instant win game is a fixed pool of tickets, often 1,000,000, with every prize assigned to a set number of them before the game opens. Each prize's odds are the pool divided by its tickets, so one top prize in 1,000,000 tickets is 1 in 1,000,000. Your ticket is drawn at random when you buy.
Key takeaways
- Odds come from counting. Every "1 in X" is total tickets divided by the tickets carrying that prize.
- The shape is deliberate. Many small prizes and a few big ones is what makes a game feel alive and still fit its pool.
- The table is locked. Once tickets are sold the prize list cannot be rebalanced, and when a game closes its unsold tickets retire with it.
Every MrRaffle game shows its full prize table before you play. New players can claim free tickets and see one for themselves.
How do instant win games work?
An instant win game is a fixed pool of tickets with a fixed prize list. Before the game opens, every prize is assigned to a set number of tickets in the pool. When you buy a ticket, it is drawn at random from the tickets still in the pool, and the reveal shows what that ticket holds.
The scratch, spin or drop is presentation: the result was settled when your ticket was drawn. What we design by hand is the prize table, and it has four ingredients:
- The pool size, the total number of tickets (the ticket limit).
- The ticket price.
- The prize ladder, the list of prize amounts from the top prize down.
- The count for each prize, how many tickets carry it.
Every "1 in X" on a game page follows from those four numbers.
How do you choose the number of tickets and the prizes?
We start from the top prize, then choose a pool big enough to keep it rare and a ticket price that suits the game. Pool sizes typically run from tens of thousands to millions of tickets. Then we fill the ladder below the top prize, step by step, down to the smallest win.
A few house rules shape every ladder:
- Round amounts. Cash prizes are round sums in steps of 5p, so you will never see a prize of 13p or £1.37.
- Small steps at the bottom. The frequent, smaller prizes climb in small steps: jumping straight from £1 to £5 piles too many wins onto too few amounts, and the game feels repetitive.
- No single amount too often. We cap how often any one cash amount can appear, at no more than one ticket in five, for the same reason.
- Whole tickets only. Every prize sits on a whole number of tickets (there is no such thing as two and a half winners), so counts come first and odds follow.
How are the "1 in X" odds worked out?
The odds for any prize are the pool size divided by the number of tickets carrying that prize. One top prize in a 100,000-ticket pool is 1 in 100,000. Add up every prize ticket and divide the pool by that total, and you get the odds of winning anything at all.
Illustrative example, not a live game: a pool of 100,000 tickets at 50p each.
| Prize | Tickets carrying it | Odds per ticket |
|---|---|---|
| £1,000 cash (top prize) | 1 | 1 in 100,000 |
| £500 cash | 3 | 1 in 33,333 |
| £250 cash | 6 | 1 in 16,667 |
| £100 cash | 10 | 1 in 10,000 |
| £50 cash | 30 | 1 in 3,333 |
| £20 cash | 50 | 1 in 2,000 |
| £10 cash | 150 | 1 in 667 |
| £5 cash | 250 | 1 in 400 |
| Site credit, £1 to £5 (spread across several amounts) | 19,500 | 1 in 5.1 |
| 10 jackpot tickets | 5,000 | 1 in 20 |
| No prize | 75,000 | n/a |
| Total | 100,000 |
Now the maths:
- Top prize: 100,000 ÷ 1 = 1 in 100,000.
- Any cash prize: 1 + 3 + 6 + 10 + 30 + 50 + 150 + 250 = 500 cash tickets, so 100,000 ÷ 500 = 1 in 200.
- Any prize at all: 500 + 19,500 + 5,000 = 25,000 prize tickets, so 100,000 ÷ 25,000 = 1 in 4.
Most "any prize" wins here are site credit or jackpot tickets, not cash. That is typical, so we show every tier, not one headline win rate. Across our live games on 24 September 2026, the median game paid cash on about 1 in 582 tickets (see our competition odds vs lottery odds study).
Why are there so many small prizes and so few big ones?
Because every prize comes out of the same fixed pool. A big prize can only be offered if it is rare, and a game with only rare prizes feels dead: you would play for ages and see nothing happen. Frequent small wins keep a game playable, and rare big ones give it something to hope for.
In our live catalogue on 24 September 2026, every cash prize was worth at least ten times its game's ticket price, and the smaller, more frequent wins came as site credit, free tickets or jackpot tickets. That keeps cash prizes meaningful when they land, and explains why "any prize" and "cash prize" odds can look so different.
Why are site credit and jackpot tickets on the prize table?
Site credit, free tickets and jackpot tickets let a game produce frequent small wins without diluting its cash prizes. Site credit is balance to play other games, free tickets are plays on another game, and jackpot tickets, awarded in bundles, are a second chance in our Daily, Weekly or Monthly draw.
None of these are cash, and the game page says so. How the draws work is in MrRaffle jackpots explained, and if cash is what you care about, our guide to low odds competitions shows how to read the cash tiers.
How is a new game tested before it goes live?
Every new prize table goes through three checks before launch: an automated rules check, a computer simulation of around 100,000 plays, and a full build on a test copy of the site. Only then does a person publish it, by hand, to the live site.
- Rules check. Our design tool rejects cash amounts off the 5p grid, a cash amount that repeats too often, and counts that are not whole tickets or exceed the pool.
- Simulation. Around 100,000 simulated plays show how the table feels: how often something happens, how long the gaps between bigger wins are, and whether any prize is too rare to realistically appear.
- Test build. On a test environment we check the page shows every prize and its odds, and that the animation can display every outcome. A plinko board has only so many slots, so its table is kept to a small set of amounts.
Can the prize table change once a game is open?
No. Once tickets have been sold, the prize structure is locked: we do not add prizes, remove them or move tickets between tiers. Players bought into a specific set of odds, and changing them part way through would change the deal after the fact.
Our Competition Terms do allow an unavailable prize to be replaced with one of equal or greater value, or a cash alternative, and say we will not extend a closing date simply to sell more entries.
What happens to unsold tickets when a game closes?
Each game closes at a set time shown on its page, or earlier if every ticket is sold. When it closes, any unsold tickets retire with the game, and any prizes sitting on those tickets are not awarded, because nobody holds them. The game page shows how many of each prize are left at any moment.
As tickets sell, prizes are used up too, so if a headline prize has already gone, the remaining counts show it before you buy. More on the pool in are instant win competitions fixed?
Frequently asked questions
Are instant win games fixed?
The prize table is fixed before the game opens, but which ticket you get is not. Each ticket is drawn at random from the tickets left in the pool when you buy, so no one picks who wins what. What you should check is that the operator publishes the full table and how many of each prize remain.
Are instant win competitions legit?
Legitimate UK instant win competitions publish their full prize list and odds, name the company behind them, offer a free entry route, and pay winners in line with their terms. MrRaffle is operated by True Haven Group Ltd, and every game page shows its prizes and remaining counts before you play.
Why do two games with the same top prize show different odds?
Because the odds depend on pool size as well as the prize. A £1,000 top prize on one ticket in a 100,000-ticket pool is 1 in 100,000. The same prize in a 1,000,000-ticket pool is 1 in 1,000,000. Always compare the odds, not just the headline prize.
Is there a free way to enter an instant win game?
Yes. Every MrRaffle game has a free postal entry route. A free entrant is allocated an entry number at random, in the same way as a paid ticket, and the full rules are in our Competition Terms. It is slower than playing online, but it follows the same prize table.
Sources
- The CAP Code, Section 08: Promotional marketing, ASA/CAP, accessed 24 September 2026
- MrRaffle Competition Terms and Conditions, accessed 24 September 2026
- MrRaffle public instant games catalogue, accessed 24 September 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.
Want to read a real prize table? Every game on our instant wins page shows its full prize list and remaining prizes. New players can claim free tickets, and get a 25% deposit bonus + 10 free tickets on their first deposit (terms apply).
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