The UAE announces the launch of its first regulated lottery

Imago

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced the launch of its first regulated national lottery which will be regulated by the region's gambling commission, the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA). In order to play, you will have to be a resident of the UAE and be 18 or over.

Regulated gambling has been in the line-up for the UAE since the announcement of the $2bn Wynn Resorts project back in July 2022, scheduled to open in 2027.

The Game LLC will be operating the UAE lottery, called Lucky Days, and the debut lottery draw will take place on 14 December. The grand prize will be AED 100m (£21.5m) with seven smaller prizes ranging from AED 1m to AED 100 also being available. UAE Lottery tickets are currently available to buy and UAE residents can purchase a lottery ticket for AED 50.

As well as a national lottery, it is said that there will also be a range of lottery-related products available to play too. These products will be instant play games such as scratchcards, that will vary in prize amounts of: AED 50,000, AED 100,000, AED 300,000 and AED 1m. Scratchcards will cost between AED 5 - AED 50 to purchase.

How the Lucky Days UAE Lottery works

Days: Pick six numbers from 1 to 31 which relate to your lucky days.

Months: Pick one number from 1 to 12 which reflects  your lucky month.

You will be able to watch the lottery at 8:30pm local time, on Saturday 14 December, via the UAE Lottery YouTube channel. Draws will then be held every other Saturday. If you miss the results, you can catch up by visiting the official lottery website, however winners will be notified through their account, regardless.

Players who match all seven numbers – are in line for the AED 100m top prize. If there is more than one winning ticket, the grand prize will be split equally.