How to Play
Three steps, a game in most of them, and a free way in on every single competition.
- STEP 01
Pick a competition
Every one shows its ticket price, the total number of tickets, the closing date and exactly how the winner is decided — before you buy, not after.
- STEP 02
Buy, or post
Tickets online, or a postcard through the door for nothing. Both routes have exactly the same chance of winning, and buying more tickets gives you more entries, not better odds per entry.
- STEP 03
Play it
Most competitions hand you a game the moment you have a ticket — darts, a penalty, a run through the gaps. Draws are settled at the published time and the result goes up the same day.
The games
Your ticket gets you a go at one of these. They take under a minute and you can play on a phone with one thumb.
The Fruity
Press spin. Three the same and the prize is yours.
Sky Run
Fly through the gaps. Every ticket gets you a go, and a free instant win.
The Oche
Three darts. Highest score takes it.
Back of the Net
One ticket, one penalty. Pick your corner and hit it.
Lucky Scratch
One panel per ticket. Scratch it and see what it holds.
Spin to Win
One spin, one prize. Land it and it is yours.
The 4:45
Ten seconds, counting down. Stop it on 4.45 dead.
Pool Drop
Drop the ball. Take whatever it lands in.
Find the Score Draw
Memorise, shuffle, find three score draws.
Does playing change whether you win?
No. Your instant win is allocated to the ticket number before the competition opens and is not affected by how you play. Miss every dart and a winning ticket still pays; hit the treble twenty and a losing ticket still pays nothing. The game is how the result is shown to you, not how it is decided.
Where a competition also has a leaderboard, that part is different and it is the part your play decides: your score is worked out from what you did, the same throw always scores the same, and there is no random element in it. Leaderboard prizes are separate from the instant win, are paid as site credit when the competition closes, and where players tie, everyone on that score receives the prize for the position.
Enter free by post
No purchase necessary, on any competition. Send your name, address, date of birth and the competition name on an unenclosed postcard to:
Freepost THE POOLS PRIZES
One entry per postcard. It must arrive before the competition closes. Postal entries have exactly the same chance of winning as paid entries.
Questions people ask us
Can I enter without paying?
Yes, on every competition. Send your name, address, date of birth and the competition name on an unenclosed postcard to Freepost THE POOLS PRIZES. One entry per postcard, and it must arrive before the closing date. Free entries have exactly the same chance of winning as paid ones, and there is no limit on how many you send.
How is a skill competition judged?
A panel of three independent judges decides the answer after entries close. That means there is no answer sitting somewhere to look up, and no photograph to reverse-search. The panel's decision is final and the judges' full names are available on request.
When and how do I get paid if I win?
We ring you first, then pay by bank transfer within seven days. We never ask you for a fee, an admin charge or a payment of any kind to release a prize. If anyone contacts you claiming to be us and asks for money, it is not us.
What are the odds?
Every competition has a fixed maximum number of tickets, so the odds can never get worse than the figure shown on its page. The number sold so far is shown against each one.
Are the prizes actually funded?
Every prize is paid for before its competition opens. Closing dates are fixed once published and are never extended, and a competition is never drawn for less than the prize advertised.