Unless you live in Poland, you probably haven’t heard of Polish Mini Lotto.
This daily lotto game might not have as much recognition as bigger European lottos like Eurojackpot and EuroMillions, but it’s certainly worthy of your attention.
In this guide, we’ll examine all the reasons why this should be a lottery game on your radar. We'll also show how you can buy Polish Mini Lotto tickets online.
About Polish Mini Lotto
Despite its low international profile, Polish Mini Lotto has actually been around for a very long time. And thanks to online lotteries, foreign players have slowly been turning their attention to the game over the last few years.
The first draw took place in March 1976, though the game was known as Express Lotek.
Since it was first introduced, Polish Mini Lotto has undergone more than just a name change, with its operator Totalizator Sportowy eventually turning the small draw from a monthly to a daily game.
The first change came in August 1976, when monthly draws were increased to weekly Wednesday draws.
This format stuck for many years, until draw frequency was increased again to weekly Wednesday and Saturday draws in January 1995.
The game was put on a brief hiatus from 1998 to August 2000, and the frequency was increased again in October 2008, when Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays became the weekly draw dates.
The name of the lotto was changed to Polish Mini Lotto in 2009, and the amount of weekly draws jumped to six in April 2014.
Finally, the lotto started taking place every day in December 2015, which is the format that remains to this day.
Polish Mini Lotto Draws
Unlike the bi-weekly draw schedule of its big brother Polish Lotto, Mini Lotto draws take place at 9:40 pm CET every day of the week.
The draws occur in the capital city of Warsaw, and the official results are posted to the Totalizator Sportowy website.
How to Play Polish Mini Lotto
Polish Mini Lotto is a very simple game to play.
Players must choose five numbers from a pool of 1 to 42 and win the jackpot if they match all five numbers.
There is no extra number or bonus on Polish Mini Lotto tickets. However, there is an add-on game called Super Chance that is available at an additional cost.
One of Polish Mini Lotto’s best features is its low ticket cost. Players in Poland only have to pay PLN 1.25 per line, which is equal to approximately $0.33 USD or £0.25. This is practically a steal, and one of the cheapest lottery tickets in the world.
However, if foreigners choose to play Polish Mini Lotto online by buying lottery tickets through a private lotto agent, the price per line will vary.
Mini Lotto Prizes and Odds
As draws occur daily, jackpots typically don’t get too big.
The jackpot is determined based on the number of ticket sales that day, and usually amounts to approximately £60,000.
There is a total of three prize tiers, with the lower tiers requiring four and three matches, respectively.
If no player matches all five numbers on their ticket, then the jackpot will roll over to the next day.
However, since draws occur so frequently, jackpots usually do not go unclaimed for long and do not climb too high.
Another great feature of Mini Lotto is the incredible odds. Though jackpots are lower than many of the most popular lotto games in Europe and North America, the odds for this small lotto are much better.
Each player has odds of 1 in 850,668 of winning the jackpot. Compare that to EuroMillions odds of 1 in 139,838,160, or 1 in 95,344,200 with Eurojackpot, and the appeal of Polish Mini Lotto becomes obvious.
Number of Matches | Win | Probability of Winning |
5 | Jackpot | 1 in 850,668 |
4 | Allocation (estimated PLN 773, $202 USD, or £155.50) | 1 in 4,598 |
3 | Allocation (estimated PLN 34, $8.90 USD, or £6.80) | 1 in 128 |
Claiming Mini Lotto Prizes
Winners of Polish Mini Lotto receive their prize, regardless of size, as a single lump-sum payment.
The prizes are subject to a 10% federal tax on any winnings higher than PLN 2,280 (approximately $597 USD).
Foreign players purchasing from an online lottery site may also be subject to the tax laws of their country of residence. Depending on the country, this could mean that they have to pay taxes twice.
Notable Mini Lotto Winners
Polish Mini Lotto will likely never see the huge, multi-million-dollar jackpots that are common with popular American lottos like US Powerball and Mega Millions.
Still, some notable winners have walked away with respectable prizes.
The biggest prize in Polish Mini Lotto history was won in December 2015 and totalled PLN 366,518 (approximately $95,793 USD or £73,738).
Polish Mini Lotto-Should You Play?
Though you won’t become a multi-millionaire playing Polish Mini Lotto, you also likely won’t find much better jackpot odds anywhere else.
The excellent odds, combined with the low ticket cost and frequent draws, make Polish Mini Lotto a great game to keep your eye on.
On top of all that, it's quite easy to play it online because most of the top online lottery websites feature it in their catalogues.
Agnieśka