About PCSO Lotto

PCSO Lottery Draw is a game television program in the Philippines. Produced by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), it has been aired on the People's Television Network (PTV) since March 8, 1995, and involves the PCSO workforce consisting of more than 2,000 employees nationwide. The program consists of drawing of paramutual and fixed priced lottery games, sweepstakes games, and since November 15, 2017, it added the centralized draws of the Small Town Lottery (Pares, Swer3 and 2-Digits) for the provinces who are not conducted their own local STL draws.

Types of Lottery Draws

The PCSO Lottery Draw currently hosts a total of eight games, each with their own combinations and mechanics of play.

The number lottery games are:

Pari-mutuel games

• Lotto 6/42 is the flagship lotto draw, first introduced in 1995. The game was initially introduced in Luzon, with a separate game for the Visayas and Mindanao geographical regions as a single unit. The two draws were later combined into a nationwide one in 2005. As the name states, a six-number combination is chosen from a lot of numbers from 1 to 42. To win a prize, at least three of one's chosen numbers must match with to those of the six winning numbers. The odds of getting all six winning numbers, and thus the jackpot, are 1 in 5,245,786. Draws are held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
• Mega Lotto 6/45 is a more improved version of the 6/42 draw and is also introduced as nationwide one. As the name states, a six-number combination is chosen from a lot of numbers from 1 to 45. As with 6/42, at least three of one's chosen numbers must appear among the six winning numbers to win a prize. The odds of getting all six winning numbers are much larger at 1 in 8,145,060. Draws are held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
• Super Lotto 6/49 increases odds and makes winning more difficult than the previous two, this time with a lot of numbers ranging from 1 to 49. Draw mechanics are the same. The odds of winning are now higher at 1 in 13,983,816. Draws are held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
• Grand Lotto 6/55 was introduced in April 2010. Draw mechanics are the same as the previous three, but this time, the number lot is from 1 to 55. The Grand Lotto draw and currently uses the larger of the two-chamber Power Lotto Mega Gem. While its minimum jackpot is pegged at ₱30,000,000, it had the Power Lotto's ₱108,000,000 final jackpot as its jackpot prize on its first draw. The odds are at 1 in 28,989,675. Draws are held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
• Ultra Lotto 6/58 is the most recent of all the lottery draw. It was launched on February 7, 2015. Its first draw was on February 8, 2015. Draw mechanics are the same as the previous four, but this time, the number is from 1 to 58. Draws are held on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Its minimum jackpot is PHP50,000,000.00.[1][2] The odds are, at their highest, at 1 in 40,475,358. On October 14, 2018, two bettors from Albay and Samar split the ₱1,180,622,508 (US$21,862,177) jackpot, the largest won.[3]

There are also three digit lottery games. Unlike the number lottery games, the digits must appear in "exact order", i.e. in the order of the numbered chamers from which each digit is drawn:

• A 4-Digit Game is held with a four-chambered Mega Gem, each drawing a digit from 0 to 9. To win, one must have at least the last two digits of the winning combination. The odds of winning are 1 in 10,000. It is held on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
• There is also a 6-Digit Game, which is drawn the same way as the 4-Digit Game, but with six digits from a six-chambered Mega Gem. To win, one must have at least the first or last three digits of the winning combination. Odds in winning are increased at 1 in 1,000,000. Exclusively played in Luzon, it is held on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

Fixed payout games

• Suertres 3 Lotto is a portmanteau of the Spanish loanwords suerte, "luck", and tres, "three") which uses a three-chambered Mega Gem, each drawing a digit from 0 to 9. The Suertres 3D Lotto is drawn 3 (three) times daily, Monday-Sunday. The nationwide draws are the morning (11AM), afternoon (4PM) and evening (on PTV) (9PM). This game perhaps is the most popular among the fixed payout games, garnering a solid following in social media especially through varied Facebook groups.

A multitude of websites also have been created and are updated regularly every after the morning, afternoon, and evening draws are recorded. Most of these websites also try to compile and pseudo-analyze results based on prevailing results and techniques used by bettors of the game- this even though results are drawn in random.

• EZ2 Lotto uses a two-chambered Mega Gem, each drawing a number from a lot of 1 to 31, thus ensuing a possibility of the same number appearing twice in a combination or a Double. To win the jackpot, one must have the two numbers in exact order as they appear in the chambers. The odds of getting exact order are in 1 in 961. The odds in LLAVE order are 1 in 465. Therefore 465 numbers are LLave (Rambol) (01-02, 02-01). The EZ2 Lotto is drawn 3 (three) times daily, Monday-Sunday. The nationwide draws are the morning (11AM), afternoon (4PM) and evening (on PTV) (9PM).