Online prize draws are legal in Great Britain when they are set up the right way. Plenty are not. Here’s what makes one lawful, who polices it and what to check before you pay.
Why a paid draw needs a free route
A draw where you pay and a winner is picked by chance is a lottery under the Gambling Act 2005, and a lottery needs a licence. Competition sites avoid that by offering a genuine free way in. Law firm Irwin Mitchell puts it this way: “In most cases, paid entry prize draws are unlawful unless they fall within a recognised statutory exemption.” The free route has to be real: advertised with equal prominence, and not putting free entrants at a disadvantage. (Irwin Mitchell: prize competitions and prize draws.)
The skill-question route
A prize competition can also be lawful if winning takes real skill, knowledge or judgement. The same guidance warns that “superficial or token questions are unlikely to be sufficient”. A question everyone gets right is a chance game with a quiz stuck on the front.
Who regulates it
Competition sites are not licensed by the Gambling Commission the way bookmakers and casinos are. The Commission looks at the substance of a promotion, not its label. Advertising is policed by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which has upheld complaints against competition sites over hidden free entry routes, extended closing dates and low cash alternatives. See what the ASA has ruled.
A checklist before you pay
- Is the free entry route easy to find, and does it give the same chance as a paid ticket?
- Can the site move the closing date? The ASA says unsold tickets are not a valid reason.
- Is there a minimum number of sales, and what happens if it isn’t reached?
- Is there a cash alternative, and what share of the prize is it?
- Can you see every prize and your chance per ticket?
- Is the winner picked in a way you can check afterwards? See how a provably fair draw works.
How Hoardsy runs its competitions
- Closing dates are never extended for slow sales.
- There’s no minimum number of sales: every end-draw prize and top instant prize is awarded, sold out or not.
- Every competition page shows its prizes and your chance per ticket before you enter.
- Every competition can be entered free by post, with the same chances as a paid ticket. See free postal entry.
Keep reading
- What the ASA has ruled on UK competition sites
- Are online prize draws legit?
- Cash alternatives explained
- Instant win vs end draw
- How a provably fair draw works
Last checked 12 October 2026.
Hoardsy
See the competitions
Choose a draw or an instant game. Every prize and its chance is on the page before you enter.
18+, Great Britain only. Free postal entry on every competition.
