Established in 1987, the China Welfare Lottery is one of two official lotteries authorised by the Chinese government, along with the Sports Lottery. It has always aimed to provide support to the most underprivileged people in the country, with the money raised from ticket sales going towards the elderly, the disabled, the poor and the vulnerable.
There are a number of different games offered by the Welfare Lottery, including Double Colour Ball, Lucky 7 and Fucai 3D. Find out more about these games below:
To play Double Colour Ball, also known as Shuangseqiu, you just need to select six red numbers from 1 to 33, plus one blue number from 1 to 16. It only costs 2 yuan for one set of numbers.
Draws take place three times a week - on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings at approximately 9:15pm China Standard Time.
There are lots of different ways to win, and you will even receive a prize for matching the blue ball on its own without any of the reds. To win the jackpot, you must match all six red balls and the blue ball. It is common for the total prize pot to be worth hundreds of millions of yuan, and for many players to split the top prize.
Here are all the prize categories and how much you will win in each one.
| Prize Category | Numbers Matched | Prize Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 Red and the Blue | 75% of the jackpot* |
| 2 | 6 Red Balls | 25% of the jackpot* |
| 3 | 5 Red and the Blue | 3,000 yuan |
| 4 | 5 Red, or 4 Red and the Blue | 200 yuan |
| 5 | 4 Red, or 3 Red and the Blue | 10 yuan |
| 6 | 2 Red and the Blue, 1 Red and the Blue, or just the Blue | 5 yuan |
*The percentage allocated to each of the top two categories can vary.
fan favourite since it was launched in October 2004, the 3D Lottery, known as Fucai 3D, now has draws every day of the week. A winning three-digit number, from 000-999, is randomly selected in each draw, and there are various options for how to play.
You can place a single bet on the exact order of the winning numbers, or you can bet that the numbers you select will appear in any order - for example if you select 123 and the winning numbers are 231.
You can also bet on individual numbers, try to predict the sum of all three numbers, or bet that all three will be identical. There are also many other options. Each bet costs 2 yuan. You can submit multiple bets, but the maximum you can spend on one game is 20,000 yuan.
The prizes for each type of bet are fixed amounts, representative of the odds of those numbers being selected. Here are the main prize categories.
| Type of Bet | Prize Amount |
|---|---|
| All three numbers in an exact order | 1,040 yuan |
| Three numbers in any order (when two numbers are the same, e.g. 112) | 346 yuan |
| Three numbers in any order (when they are all different, e.g. 123) | 173 yuan |
The Seven Lottery, Lucky 7, was introduced by the China Welfare Lottery in January 2007. Draws are held on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights, and you just need to pick seven numbers from 1 to 30 to take part. The cost per bet is 2 yuan.
You need to match all seven numbers to win the jackpot, but you can also win by matching fewer numbers. An eighth ball, known as the special number, is also selected in every draw from the 23 balls that are remaining in the machine, helping to create even more ways to win. The following table shows all the prize categories:
| Prize Category | Numbers Matched | Prize Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | 70% of the prize pot |
| 2 | 6 + Special Number | 10% of the prize pot |
| 3 | 6 | 20% of the prize pot |
| 4 | 5 + Special Number | 200 yuan |
| 5 | 5 | 50 yuan |
| 6 | 4 + Special Number | 10 yuan |
| 7 | 4 | 5 yuan |
If you win a prize in the China Welfare Lottery, you must claim it within 60 days of the draw date. You will need to present your ticket to be able to receive a prize, and may need to provide identification. Any prizes that are not claimed in time are allocated to the public welfare fund.