South Korea Lotto 6/45 Exposed — Lotto Fever and Massive Jackpots

Lotto 6/45 Review

Lottery in South Korea has a long and colorful history. One of the newest additions to the jackpot-winning opportunities in the country is Lotto 6/45. Founded in 2002, the lottery has quickly become a favorite among South Koreans. Not only is it exciting to play, but Lotto 6/45 also offers some world-class jackpots.

South Korea Lotto 6/45: A Brief Overview

Lotto 6/45 started in 2002 as a standard six-number pick game that also features an additional bonus ball. The tickets that cost less than 1 dollar are a characteristic that has boosted the popularity of the lottery over the years.

The drawings take place once per week, on Saturday. The drawing occurs at 8:40 pm and it’s broadcast live on SBS – a local private channel.

Ever since its inception, the game has produced 4,789 jackpot winners and over 1.066 million prize winners overall.

Find out why South Koreans can’t stop talking about 24Lottos

How to Play South Korea Lotto 6/45

There’s absolutely nothing complex about Lotto 6/45. In order to have a shot at winning the jackpot, you have to choose 6 numbers from a pool of 45 and acquire a ticket for the weekly drawing. If you match all of the numbers, you’ll get the top prize.

If there are no winners for the respective drawing, the jackpot will roll over to the next one. This is the main reason why South Korea’s Lotto 6/45 has produced some pretty amazing prizes.

Because of the relatively good odds of hitting the jackpot, the game tends to have multiple jackpot winners per drawing. If this is the case, the sum will be split equally among all of the individuals who have the correct set of numbers.

Prizes and Odds

The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 8,145,060.

The biggest jackpot in the history of the game fell in 2003. After a couple of rollovers, the sum had reached approximately 70 million US dollars. The lucky drawing produced 13 top-prize winners. Each one of them went home 5.4 million dollars richer.

When this massive jackpot came into existence, Lotto 6/45 was subjected to massive criticism. According to opponents, such serious sums were to lead to lotto fever, making many people spend excessive sums of money on the acquisition of tickets.

At the time, the price of the ticket was approximately 2 dollars. Due to the serious social pressure, the ticket price was reduced. This is how the prize pool decreased, as well, preventing the game from producing such massive jackpots again.

The biggest jackpot won by a single person in the history of Lotto 6/45 was 40 million dollars. The massive accomplishment took place in 2003, as well. The sum was acquired by a person who worked as a policeman but quit his job soon after becoming a millionaire.

South Korea has strict rules in place to protect lottery winners. All of the jackpot holders can maintain their complete anonymity and are not required to participate in press conferences or other media events.

On top of the jackpot, Lotto 6/45 has 4 additional prize tiers. People who match 5 numbers and the bonus number will win the second prize which can reach as much as approximately 47,000 US dollars. The third prize varies, as well. The sum depends on the number of tickets bought for the respective drawing and the number of division winners.

Apart from these main prizes, there are 2 smaller ones. Players who match 4 numbers out of six will win 50,000 won (43.75 dollars). The smallest prize is handed to individuals who have 3 correct numbers out of 6 and it is 5,000 won (4.37 dollars).

Information for Winners

Confirming the winning numbers can happen by either watching the live TV broadcast or visiting the official South Korea Lotto 6/45 website. If you have a winning ticket, make sure that you sign the back of it, preventing others from cashing out the prize.

The smaller prizes can be collected at all authorized retail venues, as well as at all branches of the Nonghyup Bank throughout South Korea. A jackpot claim, however, can be made solely by visiting the headquarters of Nonghyup Bank.

All prizes are paid in the form of a cash lump sum.

Players need to keep in mind that taxes do apply to lottery prizes in South Korea. A sum of up to 50 million won will have a 22 percent tax applied to it. Any prize that exceeds the amount will be subjected to a 33 percent income tax.

International players are free to play Lotto 6/45 and claim prizes, as long as they’re in South Korea and over the age of 18.

Can You Play Lotto 6/45 Online?

Unfortunately, South Korea has strict regulations in place and these prevent the purchase of Lotto 6/45 tickets online. You have to be in the country in order to get your lucky piece of paper.

Why You Should Play South Korea Lotto 6/45

Pros:

There’s a very low ticket price (less than 1 US dollar)

Jackpots roll over if there is no winner

The game also has a pretty impressive second-prize tier

Due to these characteristics, the jackpots can reach pretty massive sums

Playing the game is simple, it comes with a straightforward 6/45 format

All of the prizes are paid out in the form of a cash lump sum, including the jackpot

Both South Korean residents and visitors to the country can buy tickets

Why You Shouldn’t Play South Korea Lotto 6/45

Cons:

There are regulations preventing the purchase of South Korean lottery tickets from online lotto agents

The lower prize tiers aren’t too impressive

There aren’t additional numbers or multipliers that can increase the prizes

South Korea has an income tax of at least 22 percent that applies to lottery money

Is Lotto 6/45 Legit?

Lotto 6/45 is an official game in South Korea and it can be played legitimately by anyone who’s currently in the country. The fact that the game has been in existence for 15 years already stands as evidence of its safety.

The history of the lottery in South Korea dates back to 1969. This is when the first House Lotto was introduced and it remained a big hit for more than two decades. Scratch cards were added to the luck-testing opportunities in the 1990s and Lotto 6/45 came into existence in 2002.

Today, South Korea doesn’t have a big number of games that players can choose from. Still, 6/45 is an opportunity worth trying. The prize pool can get quite impressive and the game has produced multiple millionaires so far. If you’d like to try out the game, you have no reason to worry. Lotto 6/45 is regulated by a national legislative framework that gives players peace of mind.

If you are in South Korea and you’ve played Lotto 6/45, we would love to hear from you. Did you enjoy the experience? Did you like the game and how much did you win? In theory, Lotto 6/45 sounds like a pretty good opportunity and we’re confident that it’s worth trying.