Can You Buy UAE Lottery Tickets Online? Who Can Play From Where

Last updated: 8 November 2026

Yes, you can buy UAE lottery tickets online, but where you are standing decides which ones. The UAE Lottery sells online only to registered UAE residents who are physically inside the country when they play, while Big Ticket and Dubai Duty Free sell their raffle tickets on their websites to buyers outside the UAE too, including people who have never lived there. Those three are the only lottery operators the federal regulator allows, so any other site selling "Dubai lottery" tickets online is unlicensed.

Key takeaways

• Three operators can legally sell lottery tickets in the UAE: The UAE Lottery, Big Ticket Abu Dhabi and Dubai Duty Free, according to the GCGRA's December 2024 notice.
• The UAE Lottery's online account is for UAE residents aged 18 or over, and its terms say you can only play or deposit on the site while physically in the UAE. Your browser must share your location.
• Big Ticket sells online to people outside the UAE, and its help centre says Indians abroad can buy with an Aadhaar card if they have no passport. All 11 Big Ticket grand prizes of 2026 went to tickets bought on the website.
• Dubai Duty Free sells Millennium Millionaire tickets online at Dh1,000 plus 5% VAT; a businessman from Kosovo who bought online won US$1 million in October 2026.
• Mahzooz, once the best-known weekly online draw, says it has "permanently ceased operations".

Can I buy a Dubai lottery ticket online?

There is no lottery run by the Dubai government, so the "Dubai lottery" people search for usually means one of three things. The UAE Lottery is the national lottery, run by The Game LLC and available in every emirate, including Dubai. Dubai Duty Free's Millennium Millionaire is the raffle sold at Dubai International Airport. Big Ticket is the Abu Dhabi airport raffle, which has no outlet in Dubai but sells online.

All three sell online. The difference is who is allowed to buy, and from where.

Operator — Sold online? — Who can buy online — Ticket price

• The UAE Lottery — Yes — UAE residents, 18+, physically in the UAE — Dh50 (Lucky Day)
• Big Ticket — Yes — Anyone 18+, including non-residents — Dh500
• Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire — Yes — Buyers 18+ with a DDF account, including non-residents — Dh1,000 plus 5% VAT

The prices are from each operator's own site: the UAE Lottery's Lucky Day page shows "1 Entry for AED 50", Big Ticket's draw rules give Dh500 per ticket including VAT, and Dubai Duty Free lists the Millennium Millionaire at AED 1,000, which its terms say excludes 5% VAT. For more on the Dh500 Big Ticket price and its free-ticket offers, see our Big Ticket price guide.

Can I play the UAE Lottery online from outside the UAE?

No. The UAE Lottery's FAQ answers the question "Do I need to be physically present in the UAE?" with a flat "Yes. You are not allowed to participate in our games unless you are physically located in the UAE at the time."

Its terms and conditions, version 20260225, go further. Clause 2.3 says you can only use the site for playing games and depositing funds if you are physically in the UAE, and not inside any "sensitive geographic areas" set by the GCGRA. The same clause says the operator will not pay a prize if you played from outside the country or used a VPN or similar technology to hide your location. Clause 2.5 adds that you can only claim a prize while physically present in the UAE.

Residency is a separate test. The FAQ says that to register an online account "you must be a UAE resident and at least 18 years old". A tourist in Dubai can still buy a Lucky Day or Pick 3 ticket in person, because the in-store rule is only that you are in the UAE and at least 18. Authorised retailers sell those two games only, according to the FAQ. Our guide to UAE Lottery retailers lists where to find them.

Why does the UAE Lottery ask for my location?

Because it has to check you are in the country. The FAQ says local laws require the operator to "only accept deposits and game purchases from customers located in the UAE", and that location services must be switched on in your browser for theuaelottery.ae so it can verify your approximate position. If you refuse the browser's location prompt, the site cannot confirm where you are, and you will not be able to buy.

The UAE Lottery's FAQ lists debit card, credit card, Botim Pay and cash as payment methods, with cash accepted only in shops. Its terms say deposits and withdrawals must use a payment method in the same name as your account.

Can I buy Big Ticket online from India or another country?

Yes. Big Ticket's help centre says people who do not live in the UAE can join the draw and buy on bigticket.ae. It also answers the Indian case directly: an Indian living outside the UAE can buy online, and one without a passport can buy "by providing your Indian ID card (Aadhaar card)". Under-18s cannot enter.

The website is not a side channel; it is where the winners come from. Big Ticket's official Winners' Club lists every 2026 grand-prize ticket, all 11 from Series 282 to 292, as "Purchased from: Web". One of them, the Dh25 million July winner Kanika Arora, lives in New Delhi, according to Khaleej Times. Our list of every 2026 Big Ticket winner has the full table.

What you cannot do remotely is collect the top prize. Big Ticket's help centre says smaller prizes can be paid by bank transfer, but a grand-prize winner must come to the office to collect a cheque. The help centre also says there is no Big Ticket outlet in Dubai; the only counters are at Abu Dhabi and Al Ain airports.

Can I buy Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire tickets online?

Yes. The tickets are sold on dubaidutyfree.com at AED 1,000 each plus 5% VAT, with every series capped at 5,000 tickets. Dubai Duty Free says every passenger arriving, departing or transiting through Dubai International Airport is welcome to take part, but you do not have to be at the airport to buy.

The October 2026 draws show it. Gulf News reported that Liridon Selmani, a 34-year-old businessman from Kacanik in Kosovo, won US$1 million in Series 560 with a ticket he bought online on 25 September, and that the Saudi winner of Series 561, Mishari Aldukair, also bought online. Selmani told Gulf News he had been entering since his first holiday in Dubai in 2016.

Dubai Duty Free's Millennium Millionaire terms say participants must be at least 18 to register an account and must give their name as on their passport, their passport number and nationality, and that winners need the e-ticket, proof of purchase, valid ID and a passport copy to claim.

Is it legal to buy lottery tickets online in the UAE?

Only from the three operators the GCGRA allows. On 9 December 2024 the GCGRA, the federal regulator, said it had granted "the sole lottery license" to The Game LLC, operator of The UAE Lottery, and that "only Big Ticket and Dubai Duty Free" were authorised to continue as pre-existing airport lotteries. All other pre-existing lotteries were ordered to shut down. The same notice warned that people who play with unlicensed operators risk financial loss, fraud, stolen data and being drawn into a criminal investigation.

That is why Mahzooz is no longer an option. Its website now says Mahzooz, "previously a weekly draw in the UAE, has permanently ceased operations". Our explainer on what happened to Mahzooz covers the closure. Apps and websites that still sell "UAE lottery" or "Dubai draw" tickets under other names are not licensed by the GCGRA; our guide to fake UAE lottery and casino apps explains how to spot them, and our check on Dream Dubai looks at one of them in detail.

What should I check before buying online?

Check the address before you pay: theuaelottery.ae, bigticket.ae and dubaidutyfree.com are the official sites. If an operator not on that list asks you for card details, treat it as a warning sign. Dubai Duty Free's own ticket page carries a warning about fraudulent prize-winning claims, and the GCGRA has told the public to play "only with licensed operators".

Then decide whether to play at all. These are games of chance: a Millennium Millionaire ticket is one of 5,000, and Big Ticket's rules say its odds "cannot be fixed in advance" because entries are uncapped. Set a budget you can afford to lose. If buying tickets stops being fun, our guide to responsible gambling help in the UAE lists where to get support.

FAQ

Can tourists buy UAE Lottery tickets? In person, yes, at an authorised retailer, as long as they are 18 or over and in the UAE. Online, no: the FAQ says an online account requires UAE residency.

Can I buy Big Ticket online from outside the UAE? Yes. Big Ticket's help centre says non-residents can buy on bigticket.ae, and Indians without a passport can use an Aadhaar card.

Does the UAE Lottery work with a VPN? No. Its terms say it will not pay a prize if you played from outside the UAE or used a VPN or similar tool to hide your location.

Can I buy Dubai Duty Free tickets without travelling? Yes. Tickets are sold on dubaidutyfree.com, and October 2026 winners from Kosovo and Saudi Arabia both bought online, according to Gulf News.

Is Mahzooz still available online? No. Mahzooz's website says it has permanently ceased operations.

Which online lottery is legal in the UAE? Only The UAE Lottery, Big Ticket and Dubai Duty Free, the three operators named in the GCGRA's December 2024 notice.

Further reading

• Big Ticket ticket price in 2026
• Every Big Ticket grand prize winner of 2026
• Are Big Ticket and Dubai Duty Free legal in the UAE?
• UAE Lottery retailers explained
• How to spot fake UAE lottery and casino apps

Sources

• The UAE Lottery, "FAQs" (accessed 4 November 2026): https://www.theuaelottery.ae/faq
• The UAE Lottery, "Terms and Conditions", version 20260225 (accessed 4 November 2026): https://www.theuaelottery.ae/Terms-and-Conditions
• The UAE Lottery, home page, Lucky Day entry price (accessed 4 November 2026): https://www.theuaelottery.ae/
• Big Ticket help centre, FAQ folder (accessed 4 November 2026): https://bigticket-org.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/folders/64000111141
• Big Ticket, "Winners' Club" (accessed 4 November 2026): https://bigticket.ae/winners-club
• Big Ticket, "Draw Rules & Procedures", version 20260716v1.1 (accessed 4 November 2026): https://bigticket.ae/draw-rules-and-procedures
• Khaleej Times, "'Completely speechless': Indian participant wins Dh25 million in Big Ticket Abu Dhabi" (3 July 2026): https://www.khaleejtimes.com/offbeat/uae/big-ticket-july-3-live-draw-winners
• Dubai Duty Free, "Millennium Millionaire" (accessed 4 November 2026): https://www.dubaidutyfree.com/millennium-millionaire/category/MM
• Gulf News, "Kosovar and Saudi nationals win $1m each in Dubai Duty Free draw" (21 October 2026): https://gulfnews.com/uae/kosovar-and-saudi-nationals-win-1m-each-in-dubai-duty-free-draw-1.500718469
• GCGRA, "GCGRA Issues Warning Against Unlicensed Lottery and Gaming Operators" (9 December 2024): https://www.gcgra.gov.ae/en/news/press-releases/december-2024-press-release-gcgra-issues-warning-against-unlicensed-lottery-and-gaming-operators/
• Mahzooz, home page (accessed 4 November 2026): https://www.mahzooz.ae/