Quick answer: Among the UK's main lotteries, the Health Lottery's All or Nothing has the best jackpot odds (about 1 in 1.35 million for £25,000) and the best per-draw odds of any prize (1 in 4.5). For a bigger top prize, Thunderball leads at 1 in 8,060,598 for £500,000. Lotto has the National Lottery's best any-prize odds: 1 in 4.9.
Key takeaways
- Ranked by top-prize odds, the main lotteries go: All or Nothing, The Big Win, Thunderball, Set For Life, Lotto, EuroMillions, then Powerball.
- Ranked by any-prize odds, All or Nothing and Lotto lead, but most of their wins are £1, so also check your odds of winning more than your stake.
- The National Lottery's HotPicks add-ons let you choose shorter odds for one fixed prize, including £1 million at 1 in 2,118,760 on EuroMillions HotPicks.
Like to see exactly what you could win before you play? Every MrRaffle game shows its full prize list and how many of each prize are left, and new players can claim free tickets.
Which lottery gives the best chance of winning the UK?
It depends which prize you want. Among the main lotteries, the Health Lottery's £25,000 games have the shortest top-prize odds, Thunderball is best for £500,000 at 1 in 8,060,598, and All or Nothing (1 in 4.5) and Lotto (1 in 4.9) are best for winning something. HotPicks add-ons let you choose your own odds.
How we ranked them:
- Same unit: odds are for one line in one draw, from each operator's published game rules on 24 September 2026.
- Two rankings: top prize against top prize, and any prize against any prize.
- Main lotteries only: the five main National Lottery draw games, the Health Lottery's draw games and People's Postcode Lottery. HotPicks add-ons get their own table; small local charity lotteries are not included.
People's Postcode Lottery appears separately, because it publishes its odds per month rather than per draw. For the full odds of each game, including every prize tier, see our pillar guide to the odds of winning the lottery.
Which UK lottery has the best jackpot odds?
The Health Lottery's All or Nothing has the best jackpot odds of the UK's main lotteries, at about 1 in 1.35 million for a £25,000 top prize. The Big Win follows at about 1 in 2.1 million. Of the main National Lottery draws, Thunderball is best: 1 in 8,060,598 for a fixed £500,000.
Ranking 1: top-prize odds (one line, one draw)
| Rank | Game | Top prize | Top-prize odds | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Health Lottery: All or Nothing | £25,000, shared if more than one winner | about 1 in 1.35 million | £1 |
| 2 | Health Lottery: The Big Win | £25,000, shared if more than one winner | about 1 in 2.1 million | £1 |
| 3 | Thunderball | £500,000, fixed | 1 in 8,060,598 | £1 |
| 4 | Set For Life | £10,000 a month for 30 years | 1 in 15,339,390 | £1.50 |
| 5 | Lotto | Jackpot, starts at £2m, shared | 1 in 22,528,738 | £2 |
| 6 | EuroMillions | Jackpot, capped at €250m | 1 in 139,838,160 | £2.50 |
| 7 | Powerball | Jackpot, starts at £10m, paid over 30 years | 1 in 292,201,338 | £4 |
The bigger the top prize, the longer the odds. All or Nothing pays its jackpot for matching all 12 of your numbers or none, which is why its odds are so short. Thunderball and Set For Life have fixed top prizes that are not shared (subject to rare prize capping). Since June 2026, each £2 Lotto line plays two rounds, doubling the old 1 in 45,057,474 chance.
Which lottery gives the best odds of winning £1 million?
EuroMillions HotPicks gives the best odds of a £1 million prize: 1 in 2,118,760 for a £1.50 Pick 5 line, though it has no smaller prizes. Among the main draws, Lotto is next: each £2 ticket has about a 1 in 3.2 million chance of £1 million or more, counting the jackpot and Match 5 plus the Bonus Ball.
| Route to £1 million | Odds per ticket | Price |
|---|---|---|
| EuroMillions HotPicks: Pick 5 | 1 in 2,118,760 | £1.50 |
| Lotto: jackpot or Match 5 + Bonus Ball | about 1 in 3.2 million (our calculation) | £2 |
| Lotto: Match 5 + Bonus Ball only | 1 in 3,754,790 | £2 |
| EuroMillions: UK Millionaire Maker, normal Tuesday | about 1 in 4.27 million | £2.50 |
| EuroMillions: UK Millionaire Maker, normal Friday | about 1 in 6.04 million | £2.50 |
| Powerball: Match 5 | 1 in 11,688,054 | £4 |
Lotto tops up each jackpot-winning line to at least £1 million, subject to capping, which is why we count it here. Millionaire Maker odds are Allwyn's estimates, because a raffle's odds depend on how many people enter.
Which UK lottery has the best odds of winning any prize?
All or Nothing has the best per-draw odds of winning any prize, at 1 in 4.5, followed closely by Lotto at 1 in 4.9. But many of those wins are small: the lowest prize in both is £1, which only returns your stake on All or Nothing and is half your stake on Lotto.
Ranking 2: any-prize odds (one line, one draw)
| Rank | Game | Any-prize odds | As a % | Smallest prize | Odds of winning more than your stake | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Health Lottery: All or Nothing | 1 in 4.5 | 22% | £1 | about 1 in 26* | £1 |
| 2 | Lotto | 1 in 4.9 | 20.4% | £1 | about 1 in 46* | £2 |
| 3 | Health Lottery: The Big Win | 1 in 9.7 | 10.3% | Free ticket | about 1 in 108* | £1 |
| 4 | Set For Life | 1 in 12.4 | 8.1% | £5 | 1 in 12.4 | £1.50 |
| =5 | EuroMillions | 1 in 13 | 7.7% | Varies | Varies | £2.50 |
| =5 | Thunderball | 1 in 13 | 7.7% | £3 | 1 in 13 | £1 |
| 7 | Powerball | about 1 in 13.2* | 7.6% | Varies | Varies | £4 |
* Our calculation from each game's published tier odds.
That extra column changes the picture. Every Set For Life and Thunderball prize is worth more than the ticket, while most wins on All or Nothing, Lotto and The Big Win are £1 or a free ticket. EuroMillions and Powerball's smallest prizes change from draw to draw, so we cannot give a fixed figure.
What about Lotto HotPicks and EuroMillions HotPicks?
HotPicks are add-on games where you choose how many numbers, from one to five, you think will be drawn in Lotto or EuroMillions. Each Pick game has one fixed prize, paid only if all your numbers come up, so its top-prize and any-prize odds are the same. Fewer numbers means shorter odds and a smaller prize.
| Pick | Lotto HotPicks (£1) | Odds | EuroMillions HotPicks (£1.50) | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pick 1 | £3 | 1 in 5.2 | £10 | 1 in 10 |
| Pick 2 | £30 | 1 in 57.3 | £100 | 1 in 123 |
| Pick 3 | £400 | 1 in 813 | £1,500 | 1 in 1,960 |
| Pick 4 | £6,500 | 1 in 15,172 | £30,000 | 1 in 46,060 |
| Pick 5 | £175,000 | 1 in 417,200 | £1,000,000 | 1 in 2,118,760 |
Lotto HotPicks uses both Lotto rounds, so you win if all your numbers come up in either one. HotPicks odds can be far shorter than the main games at a similar prize: EuroMillions HotPicks Pick 4 pays £30,000 at 1 in 46,060, against £25,000 at about 1 in 2.1 million on The Big Win. The catch is how much comes back. On average, 61.02% of Lotto HotPicks Pick 1 sales are paid out as prizes, falling to 41.95% for Pick 5; on EuroMillions HotPicks it falls from 66.67% to 30.87%.
Which lottery gives the best value for money?
No lottery is good value in money terms: they all pay out less in prizes than they take in sales. On average, half of Lotto sales and 52% of Thunderball sales go back as prizes, 41.2% for Powerball, and 34% across the Health Lottery's games. Value is about which prize you want to chase.
One way to see it is the average spent, across all players, for each prize won (ticket price multiplied by odds):
| Game | Average spend per top prize | Top prize | Average spend per any prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| All or Nothing | about £1.35m | £25,000 | £4.50 |
| The Big Win | about £2.1m | £25,000 | £9.70 |
| Thunderball | about £8.1m | £500,000 | £13 |
| Set For Life | about £23m | £3.6m over 30 years | £18.60 |
| Lotto | about £45m | Jackpot, starts at £2m | £9.80 |
| EuroMillions | about £350m | Jackpot, up to €250m | £32.50 |
| Powerball | about £1.17bn | Jackpot, starts at £10m | about £53 |
No game here is a bargain. Cheap tickets with fixed top prizes and big rolling jackpots are simply different products, so pick the prize you care about and set a budget first. Our guide on how to win the lottery in the UK explains what does and does not change your chances.
Is postcode lottery better than national lottery?
It depends what you want. People's Postcode Lottery says a ticket has better than a 1 in 4 chance of a prize each month, but it costs £12.50 a month and some prizes are shared between the tickets in a winning postcode. National Lottery lines cost £1 to £4 a draw, with far bigger jackpots and longer odds.
| People's Postcode Lottery | Main National Lottery draw games | |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | £12.50 a month per ticket, subscription only | £1 to £4 per line, per draw |
| Draws | 20 a month, winners announced daily | 2 to 4 a week, depending on the game |
| Any-prize odds | better than 1 in 4 a month | 1 in 4.9 to about 1 in 13 per draw |
| Biggest prizes | better than 1 in 250,000 a month | from 1 in 8,060,598 (Thunderball) per draw |
The units differ (a month against a single draw), so the odds cannot be compared directly. Our guide to Postcode Lottery odds goes through every prize.
Where do Premium Bonds fit in?
Premium Bonds are not a lottery, because you keep your money and can cash your Bonds in. NS&I puts the odds at 21,000 to 1 for each £1 Bond in each monthly draw, with a variable prize fund rate of 4.35% at the time of writing. The cost is the interest you give up.
Prizes run from £25 to £1 million, tax-free, and you can hold up to £50,000. Bonds are a savings decision, so they sit outside our ranking; our guide to Premium Bonds odds has more.
How do prize competition odds compare?
Prize competitions and instant win games usually have a fixed number of tickets and a fixed prize list, so each prize tier can show its own "1 in X" odds before you play. To compare one with a lottery fairly, match top prize with top prize and any prize with any prize, and check the entry price.
We compare real numbers in prize competition odds vs lottery odds and explain prize tables in low odds competitions. You can also see the full prize list on every one of our instant win games.
Frequently asked questions
Is Lucky Dip more likely to win?
No. A Lucky Dip line has exactly the same odds as numbers you choose yourself, because every combination is equally likely in each draw. On Lotto that is 1 in 22,528,738 for the jackpot per ticket either way. Lucky Dip only saves you picking the numbers; it cannot make a line more or less likely to win.
Which National Lottery game has the best odds?
Of the main draw games, Thunderball has the best top-prize odds (1 in 8,060,598 for £500,000) and Lotto the best any-prize odds (1 in 4.9 per £2 ticket). HotPicks add-ons can be shorter still, because you choose how many numbers to match for one fixed prize. See our Thunderball odds guide for every tier.
Are EuroMillions odds better on a Tuesday or a Friday?
The jackpot odds are the same on both days: 1 in 139,838,160. UK Millionaire Maker is different, because it is a raffle and fewer people usually play on Tuesdays. Allwyn estimates about 1 in 4.27 million on a normal Tuesday against 1 in 6.04 million on a normal Friday.
Is the Health Lottery easier to win than the National Lottery?
Its top prizes are easier to win than the main National Lottery draws: about 1 in 2.1 million on The Big Win against 1 in 8,060,598 for Thunderball. But the top prize is £25,000, shared if there is more than one winner. The Big Win's 1 in 9.7 any-prize odds include free tickets; a cash prize is about 1 in 108.
Do the odds change when the jackpot rolls over?
The jackpot odds do not: each line has the same chance whatever the jackpot. What changes is how many people play, which makes a shared jackpot more likely. UK Millionaire Maker odds get longer too: Allwyn estimates about 1 in 5.29 million on a Tuesday and 1 in 7.29 million on a Friday after a fourth EuroMillions rollover.
Sources
- Lotto Online Game Procedures, The National Lottery, accessed 24 September 2026
- Double Your Luck: New Lotto Gives Players Two Chances to Win, Allwyn, accessed 24 September 2026
- New Lotto, The National Lottery, accessed 24 September 2026
- EuroMillions and UK Millionaire Maker Online Game Procedures, The National Lottery, accessed 24 September 2026
- Powerball Online Game Procedures, The National Lottery, accessed 24 September 2026
- Powerball lands in the UK with a record £300 million jackpot, Allwyn, accessed 24 September 2026
- Set For Life Online Game Procedures, The National Lottery, accessed 24 September 2026
- Thunderball Online Game Procedures, The National Lottery, accessed 24 September 2026
- Lotto HotPicks Online Game Procedures, The National Lottery, accessed 24 September 2026
- EuroMillions HotPicks Online Game Procedures, The National Lottery, accessed 24 September 2026
- The Big Win, The Health Lottery, accessed 24 September 2026
- All Or Nothing, The Health Lottery, accessed 24 September 2026
- Lottery Odds FAQ, People's Postcode Lottery, accessed 24 September 2026
- How Postcode Lottery Works, People's Postcode Lottery, accessed 24 September 2026
- Premium Bonds, NS&I, accessed 24 September 2026
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