What is the lotto pick 3?
Pick 3 is an exciting lottery game offered by the South African National Lottery and this lotto is part of a great lineup of lotto’s including SA Lotto, SA Daily Lotto, Lotto Plus, SA PowerBall and PowerBall Plus. Pick 3 is dissimilar to the mentioned lotto’s because its draws are conducted on a daily basis just like the ‘Daily Lotto’ whereas the aforementioned lottery have two weekly draws, this is crucial to the popularity of Pick 3 because it offers punters with several opportunities of winning on a daily basis with the top daily prize being a cool R10,000. Pick was launched on the 3rd of December 2016 and there has been a total of 834 draws ever since. Pick 3 is quite an affordable lottery and the tickets come in four divisions of R3, R5, R10 or R20, the lottery might not be as lucrative as other lotteries available but the chances of winning in this lottery are quite realistic with odds of winning being 1 in 1,000. The lottery’s last draw was conducted on 15th of March 2019 and it remains to be seen when and if the lottery continues to run because our efforts to contact the customer care were not fruitful.
How do you play Pick 3?
Pick 3 is one of the easiest lotteries you will ever come across, just like the name suggests, you are required to choose/pick three numbers and you will win if you manage to match all the three winning numbers. Currently, there is no option for you to play Pick 3 online so you can only play this lotto at any Ithuba retailer nearest to you.
Playing at a retailer
You need to visit any retailer of your choice any day before the cut-off time of 19:30 and get a PICK 3 betslip there. On that betslip, you must select the following:
The number of draws that you wish to bet on
The bet amount
The bet type
Once you have done that, you can proceed by choosing your 3 numbers for the draw or opt for Quick Pick option whereby the computer system will randomly select numbers for you.
There are a total of six ways to bet and win with Pick 3 but it is important to note that you can only choose one bet type on a single bet slip. A single bet slip comprises boards which are numbered 0-9 and you must choose three numbers of your choice there. Below is a list and explanation of the six ways of betting:
Straight – You must match the 3 winning numbers in their exact order.
3-Way Mix – You must pick 3 numbers and one of the chosen numbers gets repeated.
6-Way Mix – You must pick 3 numbers without any specific order but none of the numbers must be repeated.
Front Pair – You must match the first 2 numbers.
Back Pair – You must match the last 2 numbers.
Split Pair – You must match the first and the last number.
It is very important to note that the prizes on the Pick 3 lotto are based on the bet type and the bet amount and below is the breakdown of how the prize structure looks like;
Bet Type Prize Based on Amount
` R3 R5 R10 R20
Straight R1,500 R25,00 R5,000 R10,000
3-Way mix R501 R835 R1,670 R3,340
6-Way mix R252 R420 R840 R1,680
Front pair R150 R250 R500 R1,000
Split pair R150 R250 R500 R1,000
Back pair R150 R250 R500 R1,000
When are the draws conducted?
The Pick 3 draws are conducted on a daily basis from Monday to Sunday at 20:00hrs with the exception of the Christmas Day which is the only day when there is no lotto draw. The draws for Pick 3 are broadcast live on ETV everyday at 20:00Hrs and you can get the results from there. You can also access the results on the official ithuba website https://www.nationallottery.co.za/ or through a variety of dedicated lottery websites in South Africa.
Who can bet on the Pick 3?
Pick 3 is available to South Africans and legal immigrants only and you can only bet through a physical retail outlet.
What are the odds of winning the Pick 3?
Pick 3 is a winnable lotto and check the odds of winning below;
Pick Odds
Straight 1 in 1000
3-Way mix 1 in 333
6-Way mix 1 in 167
Front pair 1 in 100
Split pair 1 in 100
Back pair 1 in 100