Entering is simple:
Your tickets are confirmed as soon as your payment goes through, and you can see them any time in your account and on the competition’s entry list.
Every competition has a fixed number of tickets, and every ticket has a unique number. When you enter, the numbers you picked (or were randomly allocated) belong to you — no one else can buy them. That means you can check exactly which numbers are yours before the draw, and verify the result against the published entry list afterwards.
Before checkout you’ll be asked a question that takes a bit of skill, judgement or knowledge to get right. This is a legal requirement for prize competitions in the UK — and it matters: entries with a wrong answer are not entered into the draw and the entry fee is not refunded, so take your time.
Every paid competition can also be entered for free by post. Send an unenclosed postcard with your details, the competition name and your answer to the qualifying question — the full instructions are in our Terms & Conditions. Postal entries receive randomly allocated ticket numbers and are treated exactly the same as paid entries, including for instant wins.
Each competition closes at the advertised time, or earlier if it sells out. Once entries close, the winning ticket number is selected using Random.org — an independent, verifiable random number generation service. Neither we nor any entrant can influence the outcome, and the winning number always comes from the published range of entered tickets.
We publish a full entry list for every competition, showing every ticket number and the display name of the entrant holding it. You can check your entries are registered before the draw, and verify the winning number against the list after it. Transparency is the whole point — every draw should be checkable by anyone.
Some competitions include instant win prizes attached to specific ticket numbers, which are listed on the competition page. If one of your tickets matches an instant win number, you win that prize immediately — there’s no separate draw and nothing extra to do. Winning an instant win doesn’t affect your chances in the main draw: your ticket stays in it regardless.
Some competitions have prize tiers that unlock as tickets sell. The competition page shows each threshold and which tiers are currently unlocked. Every tier that’s unlocked by the time the competition closes gets awarded — so the prize pot can grow as the competition fills up.
Winners are contacted by email and/or phone using their account details, and results are published on our Winners page. Cash prizes are paid by bank transfer; physical prizes are delivered free of charge anywhere in the UK; and some prizes can be taken as wallet credit where the competition page says so. Please keep your contact details up to date — we can’t award a prize to someone we can’t reach.