How MUCH is Wednesday Lotto and Lotto Plus worth?
· The South African
How much is Wednesday Lotto and Lotto Plus worth on 29 July 2026? Well, it breaks down like so. Straight Lotto is worth R4 million, Lotto Plus 1 sits at R3.5 million and for Lotto Plus Max 5 you can tag on another R1.5 million.
All tallied up that put’s the total worth of the Wednesday game at R9 million, a R2.5-million increase over Saturday’s game past …
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Crucial to your success for Wednesday Lotto and Lotto Plus is knowing how recently one of the three lottos has paid out. A bit like the old days playing slot machines in the casino, the longer it goes, the bigger the payout becomes.
Looking at the above figures, we can see that almost all have paid a small amount recently. This has been one of the criticisms of new game mechanics – that payouts, while more frequent, rarely allow winnings to climb to big numbers anymore.
WEDNESDAY LOTTO AND LOTTO PLUS
As such, Wednesday Lotto and Lotto Plus has always been the National Lottery’s kind of bread-and-butter game. Cheaper than PowerBall and PowerBall XTRA, easier to win, but less dramatic when it comes to jackpots. Nevertheless, Sizekhaya’s 1 June 2026 takeover reshaped it further. The core mechanics require players to choose six numbers from a pool of 1 to 52, which is reduced from 1 to 58 previously.
As ever, numbers can be chosen manually or auto generated through the popular Quick Pick. Pricing sits lower than PowerBall’s controversial increase. A standard Lotto board costs R5, with Lotto Plus 1 adding R2.50 and Lotto 5 Max adding a further R2.50 on top. Therefore, playing all three together costs R10 per board.
What players are still wrapping their head around is the new MultiPlay (MP) option. It lets players add a seventh number to their existing six in each of the three games. And it gets proportionally more expensive as you go. The total combination if you add MP1 across all boards is R70 – that’s R35 + R17.50 + R17.50. However, your odds are massively improved if you do go down this rabbit hole.
HOW TO HANDLE MULTIPLAY
Lotto Plus 1 had a small payout this weekend, keeping the winnings for Wednesday muted. Image: FileIf you add MP1 to Wednesday Lotto and Lotto Plus across all three games, your total ticket will cost R70.00. Plus, if you’re using your banking app, be sure to lookout for digital banking fee of roughly R2.95 added to the transaction. So, the question remains, is it worth spending the extra money?
Jackpot odds have already improved substantially under the new number matrix. The chances of matching all six numbers now sits at 1 in 20 million. That’s twice as likely as the old 1 in 40 million under ITHUBA. However, dabble with the MP1 and all of a sudden, you’re playing with seven numbers instead of six. This means your odds now become just 1 in 2.9 million, which represents a straight sevenfold improvement. And don’t forget that’s across all three games since they share the board.
DRAW TIMES AND CLAIMING POWERBALL WINNINGS
Remember, if you’re someone like a SASSA beneficiary playing Wednesday Lotto and Lotto Plus, decide on a budget before buying lotto tickets, and don’t chase a bad week by spending more. The National Responsible Gambling Programme runs a toll-free counselling line on 0800 006 008 for anyone who is struggling.
Lotto and Lotto Plus draw every Wednesday and Wednesday at 21:00. Sizekhaya brought back live televised draws using physical draw machines. Ticket sales cut off half an hour before the draw typically at 20:30. All lottery prizes must be claimed within 365 days of the draw date. Anyone who misses that window forfeits their prize and the money is transferred to the National Lottery Distribution Trust for charitable causes.
How and where to claim Wednesday Lotto and Lotto Plus winnings depends on the amount won:
- Small prizes (up to R4 999) get paid out directly at licensed retailers.
- Mid-tier prizes (R5 000 to R49 999) can be claimed at selected partner banks.
- Anything above R50 000 requires an in-person visit to a Sizekhaya regional office, with the original ticket and a valid South African ID.
- Online and banking-app players have prizes up R249 999 are deposited automatically into their accounts.
CONTACT SIZEKHAYA FOR HELP
The new lottery operator took over on 1 June 2026. Image: FileAnyone unsure where to start can call the Sizekhaya helpline on 0861 026 000. Or you can visit one of the eight regional offices nationally:
- Head Office/Gauteng at 36 Homestead Road, Edenburg, Sandton
- KwaZulu-Natal at 10 Rydall Vale Crescent, Umhlanga Ridge
- Western Cape at 1st Floor, The Barracks, 50 Bree Street, Cape Town
- Eastern Cape at 153 Cape Road, Newton Park, Port Elizabeth
- Free State & Northern Cape at 3 Barnes Street, Arboretum, Bloemfontein
- Limpopo at Gateway Park, Polokwane
- Mpumalanga at 29@Marloth, Nelspruit
And one final note, around R257 million in lottery prizes currently sits unclaimed across South Africa from the previous operator. Therefore, checking old ticket numbers against those drawn (up to one year ago) costs you nothing and might just turn up forgotten money. You can do so by clicking past results HERE.