What Is UK49s and How the Draws Work
UK49s is one of the most followed numbers games in South Africa, yet many readers are unsure what it actually is. Is it a lottery? Who runs it? Why are there four draws a day, and what is the Booster Ball? This page answers those questions with the plain facts. It explains how the game works. It does not sell anything, and this site takes no bets.
UK49s Is a Results Draw, Not a Lottery Ticket
UK49s is a draw service run by 49’s Ltd in the United Kingdom. The draws are broadcast live by SIS, the company that supplies pictures and data to betting shops. There is no UK49s ticket and no national lottery behind it.
Bookmakers in the UK, South Africa and elsewhere offer fixed-odds bets on the outcome of these draws. That is the whole model. A player picks numbers, a bookmaker sets the odds, and the draw decides the result. Because the bets look and feel like a lottery, most players call UK49s a lottery. Strictly, it is betting on a draw.
This matters for one practical reason. There is no shared prize pool and no jackpot that rolls over. Each bookmaker pays its own customers at its own odds, out of its own pocket.
How a Draw Works
Every draw uses one set of 49 balls, numbered 1 to 49. Six main numbers are drawn. One more ball is then drawn as the Booster Ball. The results of all draws are published straight afterwards, which is when they appear on this website.
There are four draws a day, seven days a week, including Sundays and public holidays:
- Brunchtime at 11:49 UK time
- Lunchtime at 12:49 UK time
- Drivetime at 16:49 UK time
- Teatime at 17:49 UK time
South Africa is one hour ahead of the UK in the UK summer and two hours ahead in the UK winter, so the South African times of the draws move by one hour twice a year. Betting on each draw closes a short time before it starts, usually around 15 minutes. The exact cut-off is set by each bookmaker.
The Booster Ball: 6-Number and 7-Number Draws
The Booster Ball causes more confusion than anything else in this game, so it is worth explaining slowly. The draw itself always produces seven balls: six main numbers and then the Booster. Nothing changes in the draw. What changes is the bet.
In the 6-number version, the Booster is ignored. Only the six main numbers count. In the 7-number version, the Booster counts as a seventh number. Including it makes a full match much less likely, so the payout for matching numbers with the Booster included is much higher. The two versions are priced differently for exactly that reason.
On this website the Booster Ball is always shown separately from the six main numbers, in its own column or after a separator, so the two can never be mixed up when checking a result.
How Many Numbers Can Be Played?
A full line is six numbers, but most bets are smaller. Players usually bet on one, two, three, four or five numbers, and every number picked must be drawn for the bet to win. There is no prize for matching some of them. This all-or-nothing rule is why the odds grow so fast as more numbers are added: matching one number is common, matching five is rare.
Stakes: What Does It Cost?
There is no fixed ticket price, because there is no ticket. Each player chooses a stake with the bookmaker. Stakes start from as little as R1. The possible payout is the stake multiplied by the odds, which is why two players with the same winning numbers can win different amounts: they staked different sums, or used different bookmakers.
Odds and Payouts: Why They Differ
UK49s odds are fixed odds. They are set by each bookmaker before the draw and do not change with how many people win, unlike a lottery pool. Because each bookmaker sets its own prices, the same bet can pay noticeably different amounts at different bookmakers. Comparison sites in South Africa track these differences, and regular players often hold accounts with more than one bookmaker for this reason.
Two more facts complete the picture. First, payouts are capped. Every bookmaker sets a maximum payout per bet or per day, and a very large win is paid at the cap, not above it. Second, a bet that includes the Booster Ball pays more than the same bet without it, because seven numbers are harder to match than six.
Quick Pick and Lucky Dip
Most bookmakers offer a quick pick, called KwikPik or Lucky Dip depending on the bookmaker. The computer chooses the numbers at random. A quick pick has exactly the same chance as any hand-picked set. No selection method changes the odds, because the draw does not know or care which numbers were sold.
Playing the Same Numbers for Several Days
Bookmakers generally allow the same numbers to be entered in advance for several days of draws, up to about a week. Many players do this with favourite numbers. It changes nothing about the odds of each draw. It only saves the effort of entering the same bet again every day.
Common Questions
Who runs UK49s?
49’s Ltd, a company owned by a consortium of UK bookmakers. The draws are produced and broadcast by SIS (Satellite Information Services) and are licensed in Great Britain.
Is UK49s legal in South Africa?
Betting on UK49s is offered in South Africa by locally licensed bookmakers, and betting with a licensed bookmaker is legal for adults. The draws themselves take place in the UK. This site only publishes results and information.
How many numbers are drawn in UK49s?
Seven balls are drawn: six main numbers from 1 to 49, and then one Booster Ball from the same set of balls.
Does the Booster Ball count as one of my numbers?
Only in the 7-number version of the bet. In the standard 6-number version it does not count. Our results always show it separately so you can check either version.
Where can I watch or check the draws?
The draws are broadcast live on the SIS network, which betting shops carry. Results are published on this website within a few minutes of each draw, on the homepage and on each draw’s own page.
Lunchtime Result publishes UK49s results and information only. We do not sell entries, take bets or pay out prizes. Results are checked against the official 49s draw. Betting on these draws is restricted to over 18s. Read our responsible gambling guidance.
