Every year the NKL runs like this:

All the prizes in the lottery are fixed in advance and increase from class to class.

The idea of the game is to start play in the 1st Class and enjoy the increased winning odds from class to class. But you can still join the lottery in any later class provided you pay the ticket stake from the 1st Class onwards. This is logical if you think about it because otherwise the State would be unable to guarantee the prize money. You can terminate your play at the end of any class (month), there is no obligation to play a whole six-month series. Although, of course, it is better to play the whole series to benefit from the full winning odds. 

Tickets are available in various denominations:

As you see, players with whole tickets receive the full amount of any cash prize drawn on their ticket number and players with ticket fractions receive a corresponding share. Cash prizes in the NKL range from € 140 through to a maximum of € 16 million (please see the Prizes section for the complete win schedule of cash and goods prizes). Goods prizes such as cars, houses and vacations cannot be shared among the holders of ticket fractions and are drawn on one unique ticket number, meaning that even the holder of a ticket fraction receives the prize. (A detailed explanation of the draw procedure for goods prizes can be found in the FAQ section).

The beauty of the NKL is that you have so many options. You can play just one single ticket, choose from our popular range of combi-systems or even put together your own system made up of any combination of ticket fractions (full details in the Order Offer section) tailored to your personal winning strategy and budget. And because the ticket stake is payable monthly (you may, of course, pay for the whole series in advance if you prefer), the NKL is also ideal for clubbing together with family members or work colleagues to form a syndicate (see the Order Tickets section for more details).

With a strictly limited 3 million tickets in circulation and pre-determined prizes, another advantage of the NKL is that you can calculate your winning odds in advance:

Have you ever heard of another state lottery in which every 2nd ticket wins a prize? No, neither have we. And that's why we proudly bear the title of Europe's most exciting lottery. You are probably wondering how we can give 100% winning odds with 10 tickets? Here's how:

The 3 million tickets in the lottery all have 7-digits and are numbered 0000001 to 3000000. The winning numbers are generated at random from computerized drums.




In the course of the lottery a number of prizes are drawn on the final digit of the ticket number and every ticket ending in that number wins the same prize. Whenever you buy tickets from us our automated system ensures that they all end in different digits. Consequently, with 10 ticket numbers you hold every possible end-digit from 0 – 9 and are guaranteed to win all of the prizes drawn on the final digit. We can't guarantee how much you'll win, of course, even Europe's most exciting lottery is still a game of chance. So it could be €16 million or it could be the minimum prize of € 140 or any of the thousands of prizes in between. But you WILL win and that's what makes the NKL so special. 

Another feature which sets the NKL apart from other lotteries is that every ticket can win multiple prizes. As you know, the lottery runs for six classes = six months and each ticket is valid for one class and takes part in all the daily draws of that class. So with just one ticket you have the chance to win every single day! Every ticket can win 1 prize from each prize group every day. This means, for example, that if on one particular day there are 

being drawn, one ticket can win 1 prize of € 100,000, 1 prize of € 10,000, 1 prize of € 1,000 and 1 prize of € 140. And still remain in play with the chance to win again in the next draw! 

Only tickets winning prizes in the 6th Class (the final class) are withdrawn from play. You then have the option of purchasing a replacement ticket for the remainder of the draws, if you wish. You will find more information about replacement tickets in the Order Tickets section. 

Prize draws are held every day. Every Friday is the Main Draw Day on which the most prizes are drawn. Find out more about the 2.1 million state-guaranteed prizes awarded by the North German Lottery in the Prizes section!