Lotteries in Australia - Soccer Pools

The Australian Soccer Pools (usually branded as The Pools or Soccer Pools) is a national lotto-type game, administered by SA Lotteries. Rather than being drawn at random, winning numbers are selected based on the results of association football matches, either in Australia (typically state leagues) or the northern hemisphere depending on the time of year. Six winning numbers are selected from 38, but only one supplementary number. Draws close on Saturday afternoon where Australian games are used, or Saturday evening in the case of Northern Hemisphere match weeks. It was previously branded as 6 From 38 Pools in New South Wales, but the state now uses the national The Pools brand.

Matches are drawn from a match list and numbered, currently 1-60. Those numbered 1-38 are the ones generally used, with the remainder being reserve matches, which replace any matches from the first 38 which are postponed or otherwise voided. Once all game results are known, games are ranked in this order, from highest to lowest:

• Drawn games, with higher scoring draws ranking higher (e.g. a 3-3 result will rank higher than 2-2), and scoreless draws (0-0) ranking lowest;
• Away team wins, with scores with a smaller goal difference ranking higher (e.g. a 2-3 result will rank higher than 1-3), followed by total goals scored (e.g. 2-3 will rank higher than 1-2); and
• Home team wins, with scores with a smaller goal difference again ranking higher, followed by total goals scored.

Once the games have been ranked, the numbers of the six highest-ranked games become the winning numbers, with the seventh becoming the supplementary. In the case of any ties (i.e. two games with the same score), the higher game number is ranked higher (i.e. game 38 highest, 1 lowest).

Where reserve matches are required, they are used in order starting from 39, and substitute voided matches starting from lowest to highest. Where less than 38 matches in total are played, state rules vary as to whether the remaining winning numbers are drawn from a barrel, or whether to cancel the draw entirely and re-enter all entries into the next Pools draw.

The Pools offers the same five divisions as Saturday Lotto; the odds of winning Division One with a single game are 1 in 2,760,681. The Pools usually has a minimum first division prize of $75,000, but jackpots often.