How to Play German Lotto 6aus49: Rules & Draw Times

Lotto 6aus49 ("6 out of 49") is Germany's oldest and best-known national lottery, running continuously since the 1950s. Here's who can play, how the numbers work, and what to expect from a draw.

Who can play

Lotto 6aus49 is Germany's national lottery, operated jointly by the 16 state lottery companies (Deutscher Lotto- und Totoblock) that together cover the whole country. Tickets are sold through licensed retailers and official channels inside Germany. Players outside Germany sometimes take part through licensed international betting services, which is a different arrangement from buying an official German ticket directly.

How to play

Choose 6 main numbers from 1 to 49. A separate Superzahl ("super number") from 0 to 9 is then drawn on top, working like a bonus ball. Matching all 6 main numbers plus the Superzahl wins the jackpot; matching fewer numbers can still win one of the lower prize tiers.

Draw schedule and ticket price

Draws are held every Wednesday and Saturday — Wednesday's draw starts at 18:25 and Saturday's at 19:25, both German time. A standard line costs €1.20, one of the lowest entry prices among major European lotteries.

Jackpot size and odds

The jackpot starts at a minimum of around €1 million and can climb to a cap of €50 million (raised from €45 million in November 2023) before further rollovers move down into lower prize tiers. Because the format is 6-from-49 plus a Superzahl, the jackpot odds work out to 1 in 139,838,160 — the same figure as EuroMillions and EuroJackpot's 5-from-50-plus-2-from-12 format. See our full odds guide for the maths behind that.

A brief history

The first Lotto 6aus49 draw took place in Hamburg on 9 October 1955, introduced in post-war Germany partly as a way to raise funds for social and cultural projects. It ran on a 7-from-38 format at first, switched to the current 6-from-49 matrix in June 1986, and added the Superzahl bonus number in May 2013.

See real Lotto 6aus49 statistics

LottoScopeX tracks every Lotto 6aus49 draw with colourful ball displays just like the latest result — browse Lotto 6aus49 results, number frequencies & probability patterns.