Every UAE Lottery Game Ranked by Payout Rate (RTP), From 42.62% to 68.25%

Last updated: 20 October 2026

The UAE Lottery publishes a return-to-player (RTP) figure for every game it sells, and they range widely. Lucky Day, the Dh30 million jackpot draw, pays back the least: 42.62 per cent of the pre-VAT ticket price, plus the Lucky Chance raffle. At the top are two e-instant games, Lucky Lagoon and Marble Run, at 68.25 per cent. We checked each figure against the operator's own prize and odds tables, and found that the figures for one game family, Pick 3 and Pick 4, appear to be calculated on a different basis from the rest.

Key takeaways

• RTP is the share of money staked that a game is designed to pay back as prizes over the long run. The UAE Lottery states every RTP "excluding VAT", which means it is measured against the ticket price before the 5 per cent VAT.
• Ranked by published RTP: Lucky Lagoon and Marble Run (68.25%), the Cash Splash scratch card (67.07%), House of Gold (65%), Color Prediction (63%), then most other scratch cards at 53.03–62.53%, Quick 5 at 59.92%, four e-instants at 52.5%, Pick 3 and Pick 4 at 48–51%, and Lucky Day at 42.62%.
• For every Dh100 you actually pay, VAT included, expect about Dh40.59 back from Lucky Day and Dh65 from the best e-instant. These are long-run averages, not what you will get.
• By our calculation, Pick 3 and Pick 4 appear to be measured against the VAT-inclusive Dh5 price. On the same pre-VAT basis as every other game, Pick 3 Exact works out at 52.5 per cent, not 50.
• The faster games return more per dirham but lose more per hour, because you play far more rounds.

What does RTP mean in plain English?

Return to player is an average. If a game has an RTP of 60 per cent, then out of every Dh100 that all players put in, about Dh60 comes back as prizes over a very large number of plays, and the operator keeps the rest. The rest pays for running the lottery, the good causes it supports and its profit.

The average says nothing about one session: most players of a 60 per cent game get back far less than Dh60 per Dh100, and a few win big.

The UAE Lottery's figures carry one more detail: each one is stated "excluding VAT". A Dh50 Lucky Day ticket includes 5 per cent VAT, so the price before tax is Dh47.62, and the RTP is a percentage of that. To find what comes back per Dh100 you pay, divide the RTP by 1.05. So Lucky Day's 42.62 per cent becomes Dh40.59 per Dh100 paid.

Which UAE Lottery game has the best RTP?

On published figures, the e-instants Lucky Lagoon and Marble Run lead at 68.25 per cent. Among scratch cards, Cash Splash (Dh50 a card) is highest at 67.07 per cent. Among draw games, Color Prediction is highest at 63 per cent. Here is the full ranking, from the operator's How to Play page as of 17 October 2026:

Game — Type — Published RTP (ex-VAT) — Back per Dh100 paid*

• Lucky Lagoon, Marble Run — E-instant — 68.25% — Dh65.00
• Cash Splash — Scratch card, Dh50 — 67.07% — Dh63.88
• House of Gold — Scratch card, Dh20 — 65% — Dh61.90
• Color Prediction — Draw every minute — 63% — Dh60.00
• Jungle Jewels — Scratch card, Dh10 — 62.53% — Dh59.55
• Golden 7, Mission Million, Mega Sails, Golden Dynasty — Scratch cards, Dh50/Dh20 — 60% — Dh57.14
• Wicket Winnings — Scratch card, Dh5 — 59.96% — Dh57.10
• Quick 5 — Draw every 2 minutes — 59.92% (average) — Dh57.07
• Copper Cups, Fortune Festival, Oasis Bonanza, Karak Kash — Scratch cards, Dh10/Dh5 — 55% — Dh52.38
• Crowns & Jewels, Treasure Hunt — Scratch cards, Dh5/Dh10 — 53.03% — Dh50.50
• Ice Gems, High 5, Sports Mania, Gemstone Riches — E-instant — 52.5% — Dh50.00
• Pick 3 — Daily draw, Dh5 — 50% Exact, 51% Any — Dh50.00 / Dh51.00
• Pick 4 — Daily draw, Dh5 — 50% Exact, 48% Any — Dh50.00 / Dh48.00
• Lucky Day — Twice-weekly draw, Dh50 — 42.62% + Lucky Chance — Dh40.59 + Lucky Chance

*Our calculation: published RTP divided by 1.05, except Pick 3 and Pick 4, which we recalculated from the prize table (see below).

How did we check the official figures?

For games whose prize table and odds are published as text, RTP can be rebuilt from scratch: multiply each prize by its probability, add the results, and divide by the pre-VAT price.

Lucky Day. You pick six numbers from 1 to 31 and one from 1 to 12. There are 736,281 ways to choose six from 31, multiplied by 12 months, which gives 8,835,372 combinations. That matches the official jackpot odds exactly. Working through every tier gives an expected prize of Dh20.29 per Dh50 ticket. Divided by the Dh47.62 pre-VAT price, that is 42.62 per cent, the operator's figure to two decimal places.

One detail stands out. About 41 per cent of that expected return comes from the Dh100 fifth prize, which needs only the Month number (odds 1 in 12.1), and 31 per cent from the Dh5 million second prize. The Dh30 million jackpot accounts for less than 17 per cent. The calculation also assumes nobody shares the top two prizes. Both are split between winning tickets, so in practice a ticket's expected return is slightly lower. Lucky Chance (three Dh50,000 prizes per draw) comes on top, but its value per ticket depends on how many entries are sold, which the operator does not publish.

Scratch cards. Ten of the 14 cards publish full odds tables. For Treasure Hunt (Dh10), prizes times odds sum to Dh5.05 per card, or 53.03 per cent of the Dh9.52 pre-VAT price, an exact match. Golden 7 comes to 60.01 per cent against a stated 60, and Oasis Bonanza to 55.01 per cent against 55. Cash Splash, House of Gold, Jungle Jewels and Wicket Winnings show prize amounts where the odds should be, so their RTPs cannot be checked.

Color Prediction. A Dh1 bet on a single number (0–9) pays Dh6, a 1-in-10 chance, so the expected return is Dh0.60. Against a pre-VAT price of Dh0.952 that is 63 per cent, as published.

Quick 5. Five numbers are drawn from 11. Using the published multipliers, each play type works out at between 57.3 per cent (Any 2, Any 3, Exact 1) and 63.6 per cent (Any 8) on the pre-VAT basis. The official 59.92 per cent is an average across play types. We cannot check it exactly because the operator does not publish the mix of bets.

Why are Pick 3 and Pick 4 different?

The Pick 3 Exact prize is Dh2,500 at odds of 1 in 1,000, an expected Dh2.50 on a Dh5 ticket. The operator lists this as 50 per cent "excluding VAT". But Dh2.50 is 50 per cent of the Dh5 price including VAT. Against the Dh4.76 pre-VAT price, the basis used for every other game, it is 52.5 per cent. The same applies to Pick 3 Any (51 per cent published, 53.55 per cent on the same basis), Pick 4 Exact (50 and 52.5) and Pick 4 Any (48 and 50.4).

This does not affect what you are paid: prize amounts are fixed and published. It only means the Pick 3 and Pick 4 percentages are not directly comparable with the others. Per Dh100 actually paid, Pick 3 Any returns Dh51, which is slightly better than the 53.03 per cent scratch cards (Dh50.50) despite the lower headline number.

Do faster games cost more?

Usually, yes. RTP measures the return per dirham, not per hour, and fast games get through dirhams quickly. The figures below are illustrative arithmetic at minimum stakes, not data on how people play:

• Color Prediction: a draw every minute. Sixty Dh1 plays in an hour is Dh60 staked, with Dh60 × 60% = Dh36 coming back on average, an expected cost of about Dh24 an hour.
• Quick 5: a draw every two minutes. Thirty Dh2 plays is Dh60 staked, with an expected cost of about Dh25.76 an hour.
• Lucky Day: one Dh50 ticket per draw has an expected cost of about Dh29.71 (excluding Lucky Chance). With two draws a week, that cost comes round twice a week, not 60 times an hour.

The game with the worst RTP can still be the cheapest habit, because it is slow. The game with the best RTP can be the most expensive if you play continuously. The operator caps single transactions (Dh1,000 for Quick 5, Dh10,000 for Color Prediction), and our guide to responsible gaming rules in the UAE covers the limits and cooling-off tools.

Is a higher RTP a better bet?

It is a smaller expected loss, nothing more. Every game here returns less than you pay in, by design. Lucky Day's low RTP pays for a Dh30 million jackpot at 1 in 8.8 million; the high-RTP games spread their prizes as many small wins. Set a budget first, and do not treat RTP as a strategy.

FAQ

What is the RTP of the UAE Lottery Lucky Day draw? 42.62 per cent of the pre-VAT price, plus the Lucky Chance raffle, according to the operator. That is about Dh40.59 back per Dh100 paid, on average.

Which UAE Lottery scratch card pays back the most? Cash Splash, at 67.07 per cent (Dh50 a card, top prize Dh1 million). The lowest are Crowns & Jewels and Treasure Hunt, at 53.03 per cent.

Does RTP mean I will get that money back? No. It is a long-run average across all players. Most sessions return less, and a few return much more.

Why does the UAE Lottery say "RTP excluding VAT"? The ticket price includes 5 per cent VAT, and the operator measures RTP against the price before tax. Divide by 1.05 to get the return per dirham you actually pay.

Do UAE Lottery winners pay tax on prizes? The operator's FAQ says prizes are not currently subject to personal tax in the UAE. See our guide to tax on lottery winnings.

Further reading

• UAE Lottery rules explained
• Color Prediction explained
• Quick 5 explained
• How to claim a UAE Lottery prize
• Responsible gaming rules in the UAE

Sources

• The UAE Lottery, "How to Play" (Lucky Day V2.3, Pick 3, Pick 4, Quick 5, Color Prediction, 14 scratch cards and 6 e-instants; RTP, odds, prices), accessed 17 October 2026: https://www.theuaelottery.ae/how-to-play?key=How-to-Play
• The UAE Lottery, "FAQs" (prize tax answer), accessed 17 October 2026: https://www.theuaelottery.ae/faq?key=FAQs&category=6&parentId=0&lotteryType=0
• Khaleej Times, "UAE Lottery scratch cards: Residents can win up to Dh1 million" (28 July 2025; Cash Splash, House of Gold, Jungle Jewels, Wicket Winnings prices): https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/uae-lottery-releases-four-new-scratch-cards