Sweepstakes With the Best Odds of Winning

How to Pick the Sweepstakes With the Best Chances

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You don't have enough time in your day to enter all of the giveaways running at any one time, so it makes sense to pick and choose the best sweepstakes to add to your daily entry list. But how can you guesstimate the odds so you know which are more likely to be in your favor?

It's usually not possible to know your exact odds of winning when you enter a giveaway. However, you can make an intelligent guess about which types of giveaways have the best odds.

There are three main factors that make you more likely to win a giveaway:

  • It has fewer other entries to compete against.
  • There are ways for you to get more entries that other people might not use.
  • More prizes are being given away.

Here's why each of these factors are so important.

The Best Sweepstakes Have Fewer Competing Entries

Some sweepstakes have an astonishingly low number of entries. When you have a 1 in 50 chance of winning as opposed to a 1 in 50,000, your odds are obviously much better, so it makes sense to concentrate your time on giveaways with fewer entries. But how can you tell which sweepstakes have a lower-than-average number of entries?

While it's not usually possible to know exactly how many entries a sponsor has received, there are some indications that a giveaway has less competition. For example, sweepstakes that are void in Florida automatically rule out the around 21.5 million residents of that state, according to the 2019 population estimate.

The more states that are prohibited, the higher the chances for the people who are able to enter. Local sweepstakes that are only open to your specific area are likely to have the best odds of winning.

Similarly, sweepstakes that are only open to women rule out roughly 53% of your competition, since slightly more men than women tend to enter sweepstakes.

And don't forget to put a premium on sweepstakes open only to people in your age range, whether that be sweepstakes for kids, for people above the age of majority, or even tighter restrictions.

In general, some signs that you're more likely to win sweepstakes because they have fewer entrants include:

  • Entry is restricted on the basis of the entrants' state of residence, age, gender, etc.
  • The giveaway is annoying to enter — it has a long survey, for example, or requires multi-page registration. Not everyone will bother jumping through hoops to enter.
  • Some element of skill is required to enter. Fewer people even attempt to enter video, writing, photography, or poetry contests. (See 5 Reasons to Enter Contests)
  • The prizes are attractive only to a certain subset of people. For example, a gift certificate to a local restaurant or a high-tech gadget that only engineers will understand or want won't attract as many entrants as, say, cash.

You Have Better Odds When You Can Enter More Often

If you're looking for the best sweepstakes odds, consider focusing on giveaways where you can get more entries than other people. For example, most people don't really enter daily sweepstakes every single day. If you are diligent about entering daily, you'll have better than average odds.

Some ways that you can frequently get more entries into giveaways include:

  • Entering the maximum number of times specified in the rules.
  • Referring friends for extra entries, when available.
  • Keeping your eyes open for other chances to get extra entries that the sponsor may offer. For example, signing up for a newsletter, entering by mail, or following the sponsor on social media might give you extra entries.

For the last suggestion, read the rules to see what options you have. Some giveaways offer extra entries for watching an advertisement, liking a Facebook page, leaving a comment on a blog post, and much more.

Sweepstakes Odds Rise When There Are More Prizes to Win

You're most likely to win sweepstakes that are giving away a lot of prizes. It's obvious when you think about it — sweepstakes that are giving away 100 prizes give you 100 times the odds of winning compared to the exact same giveaway that is offering just one prize.

Now, many of these prizes might not have very high ARVs. You won't find a lot of sponsors giving away 1,000 million-dollar prizes. Instead, look for gift cards, movie tickets, and the like. Remember, even if the prizes have a lower value, the motivation that comes with winning makes them worth entering. Little prizes that arrive frequently keep you energized to enter every day.

Sweepstakes with Especially Poor Odds

If you consider the three factors that give a giveaway better odds of winning, you'll realize that some sweepstakes are very difficult to win.

That doesn't mean that they aren't worth entering. If the prize is good enough it might be worth the long shot — the HGTV Dream Home Giveaway is a good example!, but it's generally a better bet to focus your efforts elsewhere.

Some sweepstakes you might not want to spend too much time entering include:

By comparing these three aspects of each giveaway, you can decide which sweepstakes you can actually win and focus your energy on winning more prizes.