South Africans have a longstanding affinity with Germany. From their support of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga to their appreciation of bratwurst and friendships within the German expatriate community in Somerset West and surrounds, people from South Africa largely welcome the central European nation’s influence in their country.
This connection also continues in the world of online lotteries. While the SA Powerball and SA Lotto remain firm favourites among locals, global draws such as the German Lotto are proving increasingly popular as well.
The German Lotto is drawn twice a week. These draws happen on Wednesdays and Saturdays, shortly before 20:30 in South Africa. Twice a week is a reasonable frequency for a lottery draw, though there are other lotto draws that happen once or three times per week.
Also known as the 6-aus-49 (six from 49), entering the German Lotto is straightforward – the requirements are effectively in its name. You need to select six digits from a pool of 1 to 49. There is a super number from 1 to 9 to select, too. When you do this, you have the option of going with your manual selection of numbers or an auto selection via the quick pick function.
Many people prefer to select their own numbers. They often base these important digits on milestones, anniversaries or birthday in their life and those of family and friends. For instance, someone whose birthday is on the fifth of December might opt for 5 to represent the day and 12 the month. Furthermore, if they were born in 1948, they could use 19 and 48 as additional numbers when they bet on German Lotto online.
The average main prize payout of the German Lotto is the approximate equivalent of R75 million. The rand to euro exchange rate makes this an attractive lottery option for South Africans, indeed.
The odds of winning the German Lotto jackpot are around one in 140 million. That might sound like a lot, but consider that the main prize odds for the US Powerball are about one in 292 million. That said, there are lotteries with smaller main prize odds such as the French Lotto at one in 20 million, Polish Lotto at one in 14 million and Irish Lotto at one in 11 million.
The German Lotto is also among the lotteries with the best minimum prize odds. The chances of winning even the lowest prize are one in 63. It is flanked in this category by the Irish Lotto and Polish Lotto at one in 54 and one in 57, respectively, and the SA Lotto and MINI Lotto at one in 72 and one in 128, respectively.
All in all, the German Lotto is a solid option when it comes to the vast selection of online lotteries around the world, which can be bet on from South Africa. As it happens twice a week and offers jackpot prizes in the millions, it remains more popular than some of the others on offer.
