What Are Special Lottery Draws?

Lotteries are a game of chance, and luck can grant you some nifty prizes. The biggest Powerball winner so far has won a jackpot worth over $2 billion. Many lotteries offer grand prizes that can change your life, and that’s only in regular draws. Apart from those, there are also special lottery draws, and they are our focus in this article. These events add a twist to standard lotto games, which makes them popular among the players. Here’s what you should know about special lottery draws!

What Are Special Lottery Draws & When Do They Occur?

A special draw is an occasional lotto event held by a certain lottery. For example, there’s a lotto game that occurs every week and has a $1 million prize fund. The lottery announces a special lottery draw for that game and bumps up the prize fund to $3 million. Sometimes, the only reward increased is the jackpot. Other lotteries add special non-cash prizes, such as a vacation trip, car, or even a house of your dreams.

Here are the specifics of a special lottery draw:

• Prizes are higher. As we established, the reward fund is bigger than that of regular draws.
• Ticket prices might vary. The general rule is that the price per ticket for the special draw is higher than for regular events.
• Draw times depend on the lottery. Some have established special lottery draws around holidays, such as Christmas or Halloween. Other lotteries hold occasional special events once or several times yearly.

Thanks to internet lotto platforms, you can play online lottery from anywhere in the world. A side note is that the lotto should be legal in your area, but if it is, you’ll likely find multiple vendors that sell lottery tickets. Thanks to that, you can participate in special lottery draws and compete for prizes in games organized across different continents.

Are Special Draws the Same as Second Chance Lotteries?

The short answer is no. The truth is that these are very different. A second chance lottery gives you another opportunity to win a prize with the same ticket you purchased for the initial draw.

While buying the ticket, you can decide if you want to pay extra to qualify for the second chance draw. It usually occurs right after the main draw. The prize pool might be somewhat smaller, or there could be only one or two prizes. Some lotteries organize second-chance lotteries with the same rules as the initial draw. Others, however, make the second-chance lottery a raffle. Your ticket code participates in the raffle.

Unlike that, special lottery draws are actually the main drawing events. They usually have bigger prizes and generate a lot more buzz than second-chance draws.

Which Lotteries Have Special Draws?

It’s hard to list all the lotteries that have special draws. Our advice is to check our partner’s online lotto sites regularly, like theLotter. If there’s an active special draw and you can purchase tickets for it, you’ll find it listed on the website. In the meantime, allow us to present the most popular special lottery draws. Here’s a quick overview of games that you shouldn’t miss if you like pursuing big prizes!

EuroMillions Superdraw

The famous European lottery EuroMillions has its Superdraw variant that occurs several times per year. While there aren’t fixed dates, it’s common for this game to occur four or five times a year. The first draw was in 2007, so EuroMillions SuperDraw has a tradition that lasts for more than 15 years.

SuperDraw is specific because it has a guaranteed jackpot prize fund of €130 million. Apart from the whopping jackpot sum, there aren’t changes in game rules. You need to pick five numbers from 1 to 50 from the main pot and then two numbers from 1 to 12 in the Lucky Stars pot. If you guess all seven numbers correctly, you get this life-changing prize.

A total of four EuroMillions Superdraws occurred in 2024. The last one was on September 27th, but there wasn’t a jackpot winner. In this case, the main prize fund rolls over to the next regular draw. Just a week after that, a lucky player from Spain won €162 million. The next EuroMillions Superdraw will likely occur in February or March 2025.

El Gordo de Navidad

Spanish Christmas Lottery or El Gordo de Navidad is a special draw of the El Gordo lotto game. It only occurs once a year and has a huge history. The first Christmas lottery was in 1812, so the game’s tradition is over two centuries long!

During the last few years, the draw is always on December 22nd. El Gordo de Navidad isn’t your classic lottery – it’s actually a raffle. There’s a limited number of tickets each year – only 100,000. They all have a five-digit code from 00000 to 99999. The trick is that each ticket comes with ten shares, so you can also purchase a part of it. Naturally, a single share equals 10% of the promised prize.

The rewards are anywhere from €1,000 to €4,000,000. The odds of landing the main prize are 1:100,000, and that’s far better than in many other lotteries with similar rewards. If you enjoy Spanish lotteries, check out our El Gordo guide to learn more about the playing options.

El Nino Lottery

Spanish El Nino is another annual lottery that’s incredibly popular in this country. Its translation would be the “Boy child lottery.” The game always occurs on January 6th because children receive gifts on this day in Spain. They established the tradition because the baby Jesus received presents from the Three Kings on this day.

Source: Lottoland

The special draw lottery rules are identical to the El Gordo de Navidad. That indicates this is a raffle with 100,000 tickets that have a five-digit code from 00000 to 99999. Each ticket has multiple shares and the prize depends on how many shares you own. The main reward is €2 million, but you can also get €750,000 and €250,000 as consolation prizes. The statistics indicate the prize pool is usually around €14 million.

France Loto Special Draws – Super Lotto and Grand Loto de Noel

France Super Loto is a game that has draws every Friday the 13th. The frequency of the draw depends on the calendar. In regular France Loto draws, the guaranteed jackpot prize fund starts at €2 million. That sum goes significantly up for France Super Loto draws.

The rules, however, remain the same. The national lottery sticks to two-drum lotteries. You’ll have to pick five numbers from 1 to 49 and a special chance number between 1 and 10. That means you should guess a total of six numbers to win the grand prize in France Super Loto on Friday the 13th!

Grand Loto de Noel is another special holiday draw organized by the national lottery. Unlike the previous, this one occurs around Christmas, usually from December 22nd to 24th. The special draw has a guaranteed jackpot fund of €20 million, and 100 winners will also receive €20,000. The draw rules are identical to the standard lottery game in France. Grand Loto de Noel is part of a long holiday tradition in this country, so getting your tickets early is our honest advice.

Australia Superdraw Lotto

Superdraw is a part of the Australia Saturday Lotto, a weekly game with a guaranteed $5 million jackpot fund. The difference is that the creators bump up the main prize in the Division 1 prize fund to $20 million. 

Other than that, the rules remain the same. You need to guess all six winning numbers to qualify to win the jackpot. The supplementary drum with additional numbers is also in play but for some lower prizes. Australia Superdraw Lotto occurs every several weeks, but there’s no established pattern. That’s why following announcements regarding the draw is vital.

FAQs