Lottery

Lotto

A Sim winning a lotto

Lotto is a lottery feature in The Sims 3: Into the Future. Sims can buy a lotto ticket from the grocery, and the drawings are held at 7 PM every day. Buying multiple tickets will increase the chance to win. By default, Sims have 20% chance to win, and each additional lotto ticket will increase the winning chance by +0.9%.

There are 8 prizes that Sims can win in the lotto. The higher the amount of the prize, the less the chance to win. The chances to win prizes of §1,000 and above are modified by the Sim's traits; the Lucky trait will increase the chance of winning, while the Unlucky trait will decrease them.

Sims who time travel to Oasis Landing can check the lotto records at the city hall. Checking the records will give the Sim an "Insider Tip" moodlet, which will greatly increase the chance to win grand prizes. Having the moodlet will also guarantee that the Sim will win the lotto draw, and will win at least §5,000.

Prize (§)	Weighted chance	Chance modifier
		Lucky trait	Unlucky trait	"Insider Tip" moodlet
50	30	0	0	-30
100	25	0	0	-25
500	15	0	0	-15
1,000	10	+5	-5	-10
5,000	7	+10	-10	+23
50,000	7	+12.5	-12.5	+33
100,000	5.95	+15	-15	+24.05
1,000,000	0.05	+10	-10	+19.95

Chance modifiers affect the weighted chance, and the weighted chances will only add up to 100 if no modifiers are applied. The total may be as low as 47.5 for an Unlucky Sim without an "Insider Tip" to as high as 172.5 for a Lucky Sim with one. This is significant because the total weighted chance is a factor in determining which prize a Sim will win.

Having the Advanced Technology skill will increase the amount of the prize. The multiplier, based on the Sim's skill level, is listed below:

Skill level	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Multiplier	x1.05	x1.1	x1.15	x1.25	x1.3	x1.4	x1.5	x1.75	x2	x3

This means that it's possible for a Sim to win up to §3,000,000 with a grand prize and level 10 of Advanced Technology skill.

Winning a lotto is necessary to earn The Renowned Philanthropist legacy statue. Once Sims win any of the lotto prizes, they must donate §50,000 at the city hall which takes 5 donations at minimum. After that, they will receive their legacy statue when they visit Oasis Landing. Earning The Renowned Philanthropist legacy statue enables Sims to give money to other Sims, which will boost their relationships. Sims will also get the "Honored Philanthropist" moodlet for +15, which will not expire while they're visiting Oasis Landing.

Notes

• Having the Lucky or Unlucky trait only affects which prize a Sim will win. It has no effect on whether or not the Sim will win.
• The "Insider Tip" moodlet allows Sims to win at least §5,000, by offsetting the weighted chance of winning between §50 and §1,000. Since the Lucky trait slightly increases the chance of winning §1,000, a Lucky Sim with the "Insider Tip" moodlet has a small chance of winning §1,000.
• The chance modifiers for Unlucky Sims are only relevant for those who also have the "Insider Tip" moodlet. Combined with the modifiers for the moodlet, they give Unlucky Sims a chance of winning a grand prize if they have the moodlet. Without the moodlet, the way weighting affects the game's calculation of the lotto prize makes it mathematically impossible for Unlucky Sims to win more than §100. For a discussion of this, please see the talk page.