Research · Published 29 September 2026 · By Fin Southon, founder of PrizeComparison
We worked out the real odds on 501 live paid prize draws across 11 UK competition sites. The typical £10 spend buys a 1 in 184 chance of winning, but that hides huge differences: £10 in a typical car competition buys about a 1 in 7,500 chance, and the biggest house draw on offer gives 1 in 576,923.
Key findings
- Car draws have long odds. Across 49 car competitions, £10 bought a median 1 in 7,500 chance. The best car draw offered 1 in 55; the worst, a Lamborghini draw with 20 million tickets, 1 in 100,000.
- Small prizes have the best odds. Collectibles (1 in 49), tech (1 in 140) and watches (1 in 190) all beat the average, because their draws cap tickets in the hundreds rather than the millions.
- Operators take in about twice the prize. If every ticket sells, a cash draw brings in a median of 2.0 times its cash prize, and a car draw about 2.4 times its cash alternative.
- Cheap tickets usually mean long odds. Draws with tickets under 50p gave a median 1 in 569 for £10, against 1 in 120 for tickets at £1–£2, because cheap draws sell far more tickets.
- Most draws are winnable, a few are lottery-like. 37% of draws gave better than 1 in 100 for £10; 7% (37 draws) gave worse than 1 in 10,000.
Typical odds for £10, by prize type
| Prize type | Draws | Median odds for £10 | Median ticket price | Median ticket cap | Sell-out takings vs prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collectibles | 43 | 1 in 49 | £1.97 | 99 | 2.2× |
| Other prizes | 100 | 1 in 120 | £1.99 | 499 | 2.5× |
| Tech | 128 | 1 in 140 | £1.99 | 569 | 2.5× |
| Watches | 30 | 1 in 190 | £2.47 | 999 | 2.4× |
| Cash | 105 | 1 in 300 | 69p | 10,900 | 2.0× |
| Holidays | 6 | 1 in 500 | £1.99 | 999 | – |
| Motorbikes | 6 | 1 in 999 | £3.97 | 2,999 | – |
| Instant wins | 33 | 1 in 6,250 | 39p | 225,000 | – |
| Cars | 49 | 1 in 7,500 | 66p | 64,999 | 2.4× |
| Houses | 1 | 1 in 576,923 | 19p | 29,999,999 | – |
How ticket price affects your odds
| Ticket price | Draws | Median odds for £10 |
|---|---|---|
| Under 50p | 162 | 1 in 569 |
| 50p – £1 | 57 | 1 in 160 |
| £1 – £2 | 127 | 1 in 120 |
| £2 – £5 | 110 | 1 in 125 |
| £5 – £10 | 45 | 1 in 299 |
How spread out the odds are
| Chance of winning with £10 | Draws | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Better than 1 in 100 | 183 | 37% |
| 1 in 100 to 1 in 1,000 | 203 | 41% |
| 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 10,000 | 78 | 16% |
| Worse than 1 in 10,000 | 37 | 7% |
What this means if you enter
- Check the maximum number of tickets before you buy. It decides your odds more than the ticket price does. Our odds calculator does the maths.
- Look for the free postal entry route. Most UK prize draws offer one, and it has the same chance of winning.
- Compare the cash alternative, not the RRP.
- Set a limit and stop if it stops being fun.
See every live draw ranked by odds on our odds page, or compare sites in our Top 15 competition sites.
How we worked it out
- Data: every live paid draw in PrizeComparison.com’s odds table on 29 September 2026 with a published ticket cap and a ticket price of £10 or less: 501 draws across 11 UK competition sites. Draws without a ticket cap (such as BOTB, Omaze and Raffle House) can’t be given fixed odds and aren’t included.
- Odds for £10: the ticket cap divided by the number of whole tickets £10 buys. This assumes the draw sells every ticket; draws that don’t sell out give better odds.
- Sell-out takings: ticket cap × ticket price, compared with the prize’s stated cash value. This is gross revenue, not profit, and ignores free entries and discounts.
- Prize types are grouped from each draw’s title. Figures are medians, so one huge draw doesn’t skew a group. Groups with fewer than 10 draws (holidays, motorbikes, houses) are shown for completeness but are too small to generalise from.
Using this research
You’re welcome to use these figures with credit and a link: “Source: PrizeComparison.com analysis of 501 live UK prize draws, September 2026”. Journalists can request the full dataset, named examples or an interview via our contact page.
PrizeComparison.com is an independent UK comparison site. Some links on the site are affiliate links; they don’t affect the odds we report. 18+ only.