Australians have always been enthusiastic Lottery players, and the New South Wales game has been running successfully since 1930. The Lottery is still owned by the state, but it has been operated by the Tatt Group Limited under a 40-year exclusive licence since 2010.
The Tatt Group runs all the NSW Lottery games through a network of land-based agents such as newsagents, as well as through several online sites. Some of the NSW Lottery games are run by the organisation itself, while others on offer are syndicates that are actually offered by interstate Lottery organisations in Australia. This gives players a satisfying range of Lotto options.
New South Wales Lottery Options
Aside from the main draw game options NSW Lottery players can also choose from a number of Instant Scratchies, or Scratch Cards. These entertaining games online usually offer favourable odds of at least 1:5, so that when a set of 5 is bought players will usually get at least something out.
In terms of the main draw games the most popular is the Lotto, which holds 3 weekly draws. These are identically marketed by the NSW Lottery organisation, but their ownership is different.
The Saturday Lotto draw is a national contest that is owned by the Tatts Group Limited and syndicated by NSW Lotteries. Elsewhere in Australia, it’s the same game but is known as Gold Lotto or Tatts Lotto. The Monday and Wednesday draws are owned by NSW Lotteries and played across the country, except in Queensland. Every draw is played identically, and requires people to choose a series of 6 numbers, from 0 to 45. A set of winning numerals is then drawn, and players are paid out according to how many of their selections match the winning draw and how many other successful tickets there are. Because the Saturday game has a bigger prize pool, it’s a little more expensive to enter.
Players can also choose to play the connected Lotto Strike game by paying a little extra. This takes place just before the main Lotto draw, where a 6-digit number is drawn and prizes are awarded for correctly predicting the first or last digits. Other games syndicated to the NSW Lottery organisation include Oz Lotto and Powerball, both run by Tattersalls, and 6 From 38 Pools, run by South Australian Lotteries. These all involve drawing winning numbers from pools of varying sizes, with and without Bonus Balls.
There are also 2 Lucky Lotteries games, with tickets costing different amounts. In these games players never choose their numbers themselves, and they are always auto-picked. For each draw a first, second and third prize is drawn, as well as many smaller prizes going all the way down to 10 Australian Dollars. If a player’s ticket numbers sit alongside the winning numbers in either direction, they’ll get a One-off prize that includes cash and free tickets. After all of this, the tickets that have already been drawn are put into a pool to win a separate Jackpot. A ticket is drawn out, and if it matches the winning numbers the holder wins the Jackpot. If not, the holder wins 10 free Lottery tickets.
Playing the NSW Lottery Online
When buying tickets online, players can choose from any of the games on offer in New South Wales, rather than being limited to what a single land-based dealer is selling. It’s also a lot easier to access advice and tools to help them win online. By checking out all their options carefully, online players should feel satisfied with the choices they make.