Name
Operator
Type
Country
Website
Founded
Lottorating

Lotto 6aus49
DLTB
National lottery
Germany
lotto.de
1955
28/50

Introduction

Overview

The German Lotto 6aus49 (6 from 49) is one of the largest single country lotteries in Europe and also one of the oldest, established over 50 years ago. It is run by DLTB on behalf of the 16 state lotteries in Germany.

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Where Available

Germany, though some concierge and betting services offer it in other countries.

Date and time of draws

Two draws take place per week for the Lotto 6aus49 on a Wednesday at 6.25pm CET and on Saturday at 7.25pm CET.

No. of balls and how to hit the jackpot

There are two ball pools of 49 and 10. Players pick 6 from the first and one bonus ball from the second. The jackpot winner needs all seven.

Other Variations

Spiel77 is an extra game that can be played for an extra euro that generates a 7 digit number. Prizes are awarded for matching some or all of the same 7 digits as that chosen in a separate draw. The jackpot prize for Spiel77 starts at 177,777 and can rollover if not hit in a given week. Unusually, the 'extra' game here is more expensive or worse value than the main lottery draw.

Ticket Price

Each line is one euro for this lottery.

Tickets Sold Per Draw

Lotto 6aus49 is a huge lottery in terms of tickets sold each week in one country. In fact it sells more per draw on average than any other lottery with around 36m tickets sold for each draw. For reasons you will see below the numbers of ticket purchases, whilst high, do not tend to grow exponentially when a major rollover is near. You might find on a good (rollover) draw the number of tickets sold rising to 50m.

Sales per draw

As it only costs €1 to play it isn't the largest in revenue terms but is still close to the size of the big multistate lotteries Powerball and Euromillions.

Minimum jackpot

Despite the massive amount of ticket sales and the really long odds of hitting the jackpot, jackpots in Germany are not too special at all. They also suffer from a very low minimum (1.5m euros is the average reseed amount). If you do hit the jackpot on week one you will make nearer 3m euros though with that week's contribution added to the seed.

Average jackpot

Add to these low minimums then the fact that the share of sales that is attributed to the jackpot (and its rollovers) is extremely low - at around 13% of prizes or 7% of sales. This is the lowest of all lotteries we have reviewed. For this reason, the average jackpot in any week will be near the €6m mark.

Average jackpot when hit

The average jackpot when hit is around 10m euros. Not a bad sum you may think, but in the wider context of other lotteries (and the sales volume this draw has) is still quite low.

Highest jackpot ever

Add to this then the fact that jackpots are also capped and not at an amount but according to the number of rollovers! On the 13th rollover draw, if not won by a 6+1 winner, the jackpot amount is rolled down and paid out to the next tier(s) of winners and then starts again on the next draw. Jackpots do not grow massively in Germany, even when they near their maximum. The largest jackpot on the 6 aus 49 lottery for €45m was hit in 2007 by three ticket holders. Most 'big jackpots' on the 6 aus 49 in the last few years have been around €30m.

Jackpot winners per year

There are around 26 jackpot 'hits' per year.

Contribution to the jackpot

As mentioned, the % of sales which is attributed to the jackpot is the lowest at 7%.

Introduction

The headline RTP figure from DLTB is 46%. This varies very little in practice from one draw to the next.

RTP when first seeded

Average RTP

If you play on subscription, you're bang on the 0.46 RTP.

RTP when jackpot typically hit

And if you only play when the jackpot nears its average hit amount of €10m your RTP is 0.5 (or 50c of your €1 stake).

Best RTP

If you're prepared to wait for the 'big' jackpots of €30m+ your RTP will be 0.65 and if it ever reaches €45m again, you're looking at a (still negative) return of 0.75.

Annuity vs Cash

The good news is that the cash amount advertised is a net cash amount.

Jackpot alerts

We are really surprised that this lottery sells so many tickets per draw. Maybe it's just so established in the country after so many years and, like most lotteries, doesn't have much direct competition. Maybe it's the low price and generous (though infrequent) bottom tier prizes. Maybe the frequent roll-downs of jackpots really are popular? For the jackpot hunters out there, you won't find any level at which it becomes a sensible punt.

Pros

Easy entry price of €1. Very high sales which, in principle, means there's plenty of money sloshing around for prizes and jackpots. Generous low tier prizes.

Cons

RTPs not great even when the jackpot hits its maximum. Minimum jackpots too are not at all generous and weekly contributions to jackpots are low. Not much incentive you would think to play week in week out, especially given that the frequency of any win too is a long shot.

Verdict

Still waiting for someone to explain why this lotto sells so many tickets each week! Not our favourite.... To see other lottos, see our Lottery Reviews page and to play other lotteries online, see our preferred agents.