What we know today as “La primitiva” is the oldest lottery game in Spain. Since its creation in 1763, its development was very similar to the current system, offering the choice of four numbers out of a total of 90, for that reason it was known as the “Lottery by numbers”.
This lottery was definitively called La Primitiva, as a result of the creation of a new lottery that was marketed through tickets that had printed a number with which they participated in the draws. we know it today as the National Lottery.
In 1862, the government decided to suppress the former Primitiva draws to give a greater emphasis to the lottery by numbers, since it was having a great acceptance; and it would not be until more than a century after, in 1985, when the Primitiva lottery came back to life with the help of Loterías y Apuestas del Estado (LAE), the body responsible for lotteries in Spain.
Variations in the regulations to date
- La Primitiva went from a weekly draw to two draws (Thursday and Saturday, since May 1990).
- The initial price was 25 Ptas. (Approximately € 0.15) and has been increasing little by little, up to its current price.
- In 1991 the extra ball “reimbursement” was created.
- In 2012 was added one more chance to play in the draw of the Primitiva with an optional draw associated with the same ticket of the Primitiva, the “Joker.
How to play the Primitiva
To play the Primitiva you only have to choose six numbers of a column composed of a total of 49 (numbered from 1 to 49).
There are several ways to place a bet: Single, multiple and reduced bets.
- Single bet: Use as many game columns as you want with a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 8 columns. Playing online you can bet as many columns as the player wishes.
- Multiple bet: In this case only the first column of the ticket will be used, and you can choose from 7 numbers to 11. The more numbers are marked, the greater the number of bets in which you participate.
- Reduced bet: This bet is provided by the system itself, and is usually used exclusively in the physical ticket.
A single bet cost at Lottohoy is only 2.00 Euro.
How does the Primitiva draw works?
The draw is held using two drums. In one of the drums are contained the 49 numbered balls from which the 6 numbers will be extracted for the winning combination, plus a seventh ball that will be called “the complementary”.
This complementary number is not selected on the ticket, and as its name indicates it serves to complement those bets that match five of the six numbers of the winning combination. Prize to the second category of five numbers plus the complementary.
The Refund ball is extracted from the second drum. This refund number serves to reward exclusively those players who hit this number, receiving as a prize the amount of the single bet.
When is La Primitiva played?
The Primitiva is carried out twice a week, on Thursdays and Saturdays. The draw takes place at 9:40 p.m. Spanish time, in a public ceremony in the Loterías y Apuestas del Estado (LAE) draw room in Madrid.
The regulations of the Primitiva foresee the possibility of altering the place, the date and time of the celebration of a draw or a modification of dates.
How much does a Primitiva ticket cost?
At LottoHoy you can play the Primitiva from a starting price of €1.5 per column.
Although officially, only residents in Spain can access this game, nowadays and through online platforms, you can access the purchase of tickets and participate in the draws from any country.
How to buy La Primitiva online?
Purchase and participation in the Primitiva raffles through our platform is very simple, easy and convenient.
When you access the game page, you can place the bet or bets you want using the columns (also called lines) that are displayed. Initially, five columns will appear, but they can be expanded as many times as desired simply by clicking on the “More lines” box.
In each column, six numbers will be chosen to configure your play. This combination can be done manually or by allowing the system itself to choose a random combination for the player. This random selection is made by placing the cursor on the column and an upper box indicating “quick selection” appears.
Once the number of columns (bets) has been determined and the player is ready to play, a green “continue” box appears.
Once in the cart, a new screen that shows a range of payment methods appears: from credit cards and systems known as Skrill or Neteller, to a wide variety of national payment methods, including through cryptocurrencies.
Prizes of the Primitiva
Fifty-five percent of each draw collection goes to the payment of prizes, 10% is destined for the payment of the reimbursement, and of the 35% remaining the amount corresponding to the fixed payment of 8 € will be separated for each fifth category winner, and the rest is divided between the four main categories plus the special category.
- A special category for those hitting the complete winning combination (six numbers + the refund). This category takes approximately 6.18% of the revenue plus the amount of the accumulated pot if any. A minimum of two million euros is guaranteed.
- First category, for the winners of the main combination of the six numbers. To this category 12.04% of the collection is destined which that will be distributed among all successful users of this category.
- Second category, for fiver matching numbers plus the complementary one. In this category the winners are distributed 1.80% of the collection.
- Third category, for the winners of five numbers, they share 3.91%.
- Fourth category, for the winners of four numbers,they share 6.32%.
- Fifth category, for the winners of three numbers, have a fixed prize, of € 8 each and that comes to mean approximately 14.12% of the collection.
- The Reimbursement, for the winners of the number considered as a refund, a fund was created with 10% of the collection of each draw to make the fixed payment equivalent to the amount of a simple bet.
The amount of the prizes obtained is entered directly into the registered users’ accounts.
