Frequently asked questions

No. Every competition turns on a genuine skill question you must answer correctly, and every one can be entered free by post. Those two things together place skill-based prize competitions outside UK gambling law, so no gambling licence is required.

Yes. You must be 18 or over and a UK resident to enter.

It varies by competition, and many tickets cost less than £1. If you would rather not pay, every competition can be entered free by post.

It is the legal backbone of the whole site. A genuine skill question is what makes each competition a lawful prize competition rather than a lottery, and you must answer it correctly to qualify.

Yes. Every competition caps the number of entries one person can hold, so nobody can buy their way to a near-certain win.

Send a postcard with your details and your answer to the skill question to our free entry address. Postal entries go into the draw with exactly the same chance as paid tickets. The free entry route page sets out the full method.

Every competition needs a minimum number of entries before its draw goes ahead: half its ticket allocation, with the exact figure shown on the competition page. If it reaches that minimum by the closing date, it is drawn. If it doesn’t, the prize rolls over to the next draw rather than being drawn on a tiny number of entries. We never shrink a prize or quietly cancel a competition.

By a verifiable, provably-fair random method that runs automatically at 9pm on the closing date. The draw is not live-streamed, but you never have to take our word for it: we contact the winner directly, publish the result in the winners archive, and anyone can recompute and check any result at /draw-check.

Cash, every time. Prizes are tax-free, there is nothing to ship and no voucher to redeem. The amount shown on the competition is the amount that reaches the winner’s bank.

We contact the winner directly after the draw, confirm their identity and age, and transfer the cash straight to their UK bank account. We aim to pay within one working day of verifying the winner.