Most people would be thrilled to win free money—there is no doubt about that. Thankfully, the internet abounds with free lotteries that allow players to do just that. However, while it is great to get free money without having to pay a penny for it, as with all things in life, things rarely come at no cost. In this free lottery guide, we will look at what these games are, as well as the pros and cons of entering them.
WHAT IS A FREE LOTTERY?
As you may have guessed from the name, a free lottery is a lotto draw that does not require you to pay to enter—that’s right, you don’t pay a cent. How is this possible, you ask? Because these draws are usually sponsored by companies or by the advertising—often a lot of it—that appears on the website. These companies and ads are what pays for the whole party and what allows the site to give away money for free.
THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FREE LOTTERIES
There are two main types of free lotteries: free lottery draws and free lottery raffles. While these two types are incredibly similar in the way that they operate and in the way that they select winners, there are a few distinctions between the two types of draws.
- Free Lottery Draws: Free lottery draws function in the exact same way as regular lotteries that you would be required to pay for. You select a sequence of numbers that you hope will be the winning ones, and you submit them to the lottery. At the time of the draw, a random number sequence will be drawn by the lottery operator (usually by making use of a random number generator (RNG) stored on a secure computer). If your submitted numbers match those drawn, then you are a winner of a small influx of completely free cash. Lottery sites that hold these types of lotteries include Free National Lottery and FreeLottoFest.
- Free Lottery Raffles: As mentioned above, free lottery raffles are almost identical to free lottery draws. The difference, however, is that in lottery raffles you are not required to choose any numbers. Instead, when entering the lottery, you will enter a ticket that has a unique number. All unique numbers that are entered will be entered into a randomiser that will select a winner out of all the tickets entered. If your ticket number matches the ticket number chosen by the randomiser, then you are a winner. Some sites that host this type of lottery include Big Free Giveaway and Freemoji Lottery.
THE ADVANTAGES OF FREE LOTTERIES
There are plenty of advantages to playing in free lotteries:
- Play lotto online free: The biggest advantage is, of course, the fact that you can win money without having to pay anything out of your pocket—unlike conventional lottery sites and lottery agents that charge for every transaction. This is true also of most of the best sweepstakes websites as well.
- Respectable odds: The odds of winning are better than traditional lotteries. Even though many people play in free lotteries, participation in these lotteries does not come close to that of lotteries such as Powerball and Mega Millions. Because of this, the chances of actually winning a prize are generally much higher than with a paid lottery.
- Easy to play (usually): While some free lotteries require you to jump through a few hoops before you can enter them, as a standard these lotteries are easy to participate in. Most of them simply require you to register a free account on their website, which can usually be done in a few minutes.
- Quick and easy payments: Payments are usually made through PayPal, Amazon, or another quick and easy method. Winnings gained through free lotteries are mostly paid using the methods mentioned above—meaning that it is easy for you to get your money. Also, because winnings are paid using these methods, payments are generally made rather quickly without having to wait for a mass of paperwork to be done for you to claim your prize.
THE DISADVANTAGES OF FREE LOTTERIES
It may be hard to imagine that any lottery that gives you winnings for free will have any disadvantages. Sadly, this is not entirely accurate. Free lotteries almost always come with their own unique set of irritating strings attached to their winnings. Some of the biggest disadvantages of free lotteries include:
- Usually small jackpots: Because these lotteries are paid for by advertising and by company sponsorships, the prize pools available in free lotteries are generally small (such as $5 Amazon gift cards or $20 jackpots) and do not come anywhere close to the prize pools of paid lotteries.
- Obscene amount of ads: While we do understand that these sites use advertising to pay for the prizes that they offer, there are certain sites that completely abuse this privilege. As a result, the Internet would be a better place without them. So, when looking for a free lottery website, make sure that you find one that does not bombard you with adverts every time you click on something—because this will get extremely annoying very quickly. Trust us on this one.
- Number of entries and website visitors determines the jackpot: Most free lottery websites determine the jackpot amount for each draw by looking at the number of entries a particular draw has had and how much site traffic their website has had leading up to the draw. These factors play a huge factor in the jackpot amount, and you may find yourself winning a rather diminished jackpot solely due to the fact that very few people visited the lottery website leading up to the draw, ultimately wasting your time.
- Take up excessive time: Since many free lotteries hold a draw each and every day, they require you to visit their site each day to check if you are a winner (and in the process be subjected to more ads, which earns the site money). While free money may seem worth the effort in the beginning, most people soon tire of visiting free lottery sites every single day—especially if you haven’t won anything, or just a few dollars at best.
- Strings attached: Winning free money might sound great, but as we said earlier, things rarely come at no cost. Some free lotteries require you to take surveys, refer friends, or complete daily online tasks in order to qualify for entry into a specific draw. These things may soon outweigh the benefit of winning free cash since you’ll find yourself basically working for much less than minimum wage—or for nothing at all.
THE FINAL VERDICT – ARE FREE LOTTERIES WORTH PLAYING?
You may immediately think that a free lottery is totally worth signing up for. However, we would like to caution you about the disadvantages listed above because many of the free lotteries are not actually worth the effort involved to (potentially) win just a little extra cash. That being said, each person is different, and some are much luckier than others, so we’ll let you decide.
So, to answer the question of whether or not free lotteries are worth playing in, the answer is a resounding "maybe". Any legit lottery that gives players the chance to win money for nothing gets a giant tick in our book. Just make sure to read our free lottery reviews above to see which ones are actually worth taking the time to enter and which ones you should avoid at all costs. If you play the right ones and luck happens to be on your side, you just might win yourself some extra pocket money without losing any of your own hard-earned money (or hair) in the process.
However, if you find that these sites are more hassle than they're worth, then check out the best lottery sites instead. You may quickly find that paying a few dollars to avoid hassles and have a chance to win oodles of money is well worth the price of admission.
FAQ - frequently asked questions
Is there any free lottery?
Yes, there are actually quite a few free lotteries out there. That being said, the quality between them varies considerably, and some will make you jump through many hoops at a mere chance to win a small prize. Therefore, make sure you read our free lottery reviews above before you start signing up with them, as some are definitely not worth the hassle while others are—if you're lucky.Is free lottery legit?
That depends on which free lottery you're talking about. Some are legit and do pay out small(er) prizes regularly, while others are elaborate schemes set up just to make people visit websites and earn the website owners ad revenue. Others still go even further to get people's private details such as their email addresses in order to sell them to mailing lists. Therefore, read our reviews above so that you know what you're getting yourself into before signing up with any lotteries that claim to give you free money.
What is a free online lottery?
A free online lottery is a lottery game that costs absolutely nothing to play. Compared to conventional lottery sites, which usually charge a small fee on top of the regular price of a lottery ticket, free online lotteries allow people to play games and win real money without paying anything upfront. However, as the old adage goes, you get what you pay for—and many free lottery sites offer pretty lousy prizes, while some are even scams altogether.
How do free lotteries afford the prizes they pay out?
Most free lotteries feature anywhere from a little to a ridiculous amount of ads on every single page, and they'll make you jump through all sorts of hoops several times per day to enter the draws. Every time you come back to the site and are exposed to the ads, the site makes a little bit of money, and when many people visit the site multiple times per day, that can really add up.Are free lotteries worth it?
Some are worthwhile because they don't overwhelm players with ads and actually give them fairly good odds at winning small (but still decent) prizes. However, other free lotteries are borderline if not full-blown scams designed only to make the operators money and/or to get private information such as email addresses from people. These you should obviously avoid like the plague.
What is Free-Lottery.net?
Free Lottery is an online lottery game that holds daily £500 draws and weekly £10,000 draws. There is absolutely no cost to play, as the prizes are paid for through the ads and other aspects of the website that generate money for the owners of the site. For an in-depth review of the site, check out our review here.