The People’s Postcode Lottery is a subscription lottery where you play with your postcode instead of choosing numbers, and prizes are shared between everyone in a winning postcode who has a ticket. You pay a fixed monthly amount, are entered into multiple draws, and if your postcode is drawn, you and any participating neighbours win according to that draw’s prize structure.

Basic idea

  • You register with your full postcode and set up a monthly subscription payment (commonly around £12 per ticket per month in recent guides).
  • Your “ticket” is your postcode plus a unique identifier, and you can usually hold more than one ticket to increase your share if your postcode wins.
  • Only active, paying postcodes are entered, so every advertised prize has at least one winner.

How the draws work

  • Draws use certified random number generator software to select winning postcodes from all the eligible, paid postcodes.
  • Multiple draws are run each month, and the winning postcodes are then announced on specific days according to a prize calendar (daily, weekend, and monthly events).
  • Because the draw is postcode-based, several neighbours on the same street can win together if they all play with the same postcode.

Types of prizes

  • Weekday draws: Typical structures include daily prizes (for example, 20 winning postcodes each weekday with a fixed amount like £1,000 per ticket in that postcode in some recent formats).
  • Weekend draws: There can be “Millionaire Street”–style draws where a £1 million pot is shared among players in one winning postcode.
  • Monthly “Postcode Millions”: A multimillion-pound pot (recently at least about £3.2 million) is split between a winning postcode and the wider postcode sector, with those in the exact postcode getting the biggest share.

How the money is split

  • Each winning ticket in a postcode receives either a fixed cash amount or a share of a prize pool, depending on the draw.
  • If there are more players in a winning postcode, the total pot is shared among more tickets, but the overall advertised pot stays the same for that draw.
  • Some formats top up smaller prize totals by adding extra £15-style wins or by carrying forward leftover funds from the 40% prize allocation of ticket sales to future draws.

Charity and where funds go

  • People’s Postcode Lottery is marketed as a charity-supporting subscription lottery, with a significant portion of each ticket (often around 32% or more in recent years) going to designated charities and good causes, while up to 40% funds prizes.
  • Funds have supported thousands of community projects and national charities across Britain, which is a major part of its branding and advertising.

Who can play and key rules

  • It is generally open to UK residents, but with some exclusions (for example, Northern Ireland residents are currently excluded from People’s Postcode Lottery).
  • You must be over the legal gambling age (18+ in the UK), and payments are usually taken via Direct Debit or card each month before you’re entered into the next set of draws.
  • If payment fails or you cancel, your postcode/tickets are not entered into future draws, and you would not receive prizes for those draws.

Things to keep in mind

  • Every eligible ticket has the same chance of being in a winning postcode, but the overall odds depend on how many active postcodes are in that month’s draw, so odds can change over time.
  • Holding multiple tickets increases what you win if your postcode comes up, but it also increases your monthly spend, so it is still gambling and should be budgeted for carefully.
  • As with any lottery, there is no reliable way to “improve” your underlying odds other than buying more entries, and outcomes are always random.

TL;DR: You pay a monthly fee to play with your postcode, your postcode is entered into multiple random draws, and if it is selected, you and any neighbours who also play share the prize, while a significant chunk of revenue supports charities.