What is 4 D lottery and how it is played in Singapore?

4 D or commonly known as 4 Digits is a lottery played in Singapore, Malaysia and Germany. You have to choose any number from 0000 to 9999.  After that 23 winning numbers are drawn each time. If one of the numbers matches the one that the player has bought, a prize is won. A draw is conducted to select these winning numbers.  4-Digits is a fixed-odds game.

Singapore Pools is the sole provider of gambling games in Singapore. 4-D and lottery 6/49 are two of the most popular games offered by them. A similar 4-D game with its prize structure fully revealed can be found in Taiwan also. Magnum 4D is the first legalized 4D Operator licensed by the Malaysian Government to operate 4D. Soon thereafter, other lottery operators followed suit, as this is a very popular game in Singapore and Malaysia. The recently launched Daily Derby 4D Blue and Green and 5D jackpots of WTL-M is also growing popular now.

4-Digits is somewhat similar to “Pick 4” in the United States, Canada 5-Digits “Pick 5”, and Jackpot in Germany and Malaysia.

The 4-D game is believed to have originated in Kedah in 1951, based on evidence during a gambling trial in a Singapore court in 1956. It is said that a schoolboy decided to raffle his bicycle for 100 $1 tickets, each bearing two digits. The winner would be the one whose ticket number matched the last two digits of the first prize ticket in a Malaysian Turf Club sweepstake. This led to the 2-D lottery, which in turn gave rise to 3-D and later, 4-D, betting games which were wildly popular in Singapore and Malaysia from the 1950s

The Singapore Turf Club was the first to introduce the 4-D draw in Singapore in May 1966, offering a S$2,000 first prize for a $1 ticket. It stopped offering it in May 2004 when its sister company Singapore Pools took over all the draws.

Singapore Pools launched computerised betting for 4-D on 31 May 1986, and it got off to an auspicious start when the winning number for the first prize in the inaugural draw turned out to be 8838. The number “8” sounds like fa in Chinese or “prosper” in Mandarin and is traditionally a favourite among punters. Punters welcomed the new 4-D product and the company’s turnover that year increased 215%, to over S$283 million.

How to play 4 D Lottery in Singapore?

• All you need is to visit Singapore Pools lottery retail outlet stores and but the ticket for $1.
• Or place the bets online or with your mobile.
• So select a four-digit number from 0000 to 9999.
• Draws take place every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 6.30pm.
• 23 sets of winning 4D numbers across five prize categories are drawn each draw.
• If you have placed bets on any of the 23 winning 4D numbers, you win a prize.

Playing 4D at retail outlet

• Purchase lotto ticket and mark your Bet Type.
• Use another bet slip for a different bet type.
• If you are selecting Ordinary Entry or 4D Roll, you need not mark anything.
• Mark the draw days you are placing your bets for.
• Mark ‘6 DRAWS’ if you wish to place bets for six consecutive draws, including the current draw.
• If you are selecting 4D Roll, you can only place bets for one current draw.
• Mark the digits you wish to place bet on and your Big and/or Small bet amounts.
• For Ordinary Entry, mark four digits. Bet cost is the bet amounts marked.
• For 4D Roll, mark three digits in addition to ‘R’. Bet cost is the bet amounts marked multiplied by 10.
• For System Entry, mark four digits. Bet cost is the bet amounts marked multiplied by the number of combinations for your selection.
• For iBet, mark four digits. Bet cost is the bet amounts marked.
• Each bet slip allows you to mark up to four boards of numbers – all of the same bet type.
• Mark ‘SG SWEEP’ if you would also like to place a Singapore Sweep bet ending with the same last four digits. Only for 4D Ordinary bets.
• Mark ‘VOID’ to cancel the board. Use another board to place your bets.
• You will receive a ticket after placing your bet at the outlet.
• Check that the ticket reflects your bet accurately. Please safeguard your ticket. We only accept valid tickets as proof of winning.

Playing 4 D with mobile

When you place bets with phone you need to call Lottery Betting Line at 6212 0039 to place Self Pick bets for Ordinary, 4D Roll and System Entry for draws conducted on Wednesday, Saturday or Sunday.

Place up to four boards per transaction, and up to 12 boards per call. You can choose both Self Pick and Quick Pick bets. You will hear a series of voice prompts that will help you enter your lottery selections using the number pad on the phone. Listen carefully to the playback before confirming your bets.

Playing 4 D online on your PC

• Place Self Pick bets for Ordinary, 4D Roll, System Entry and iBet for draws conducted on Wednesday, Saturday or Sunday. The minimum stake is $1.
• At the lottery homepage, select 4D from the left navigation.
• Select your Bet Type from the dropdown list.
• You can choose between Ordinary, System Entry, iBet and 4D Roll.
• You can only enter boards of the same bet type on one page.
• Select the draw days you are placing your bets for.
• You can choose to place bets for a single draw, two non-consecutive draws, all three Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday draws or six consecutive draws (including the current draw).
• For 4D Roll, you can only place bets for a single draw.
• Enter the numbers you wish to place bets on, and enter your Big and/or Small stake.
• You can choose to use the icon on the left of each board to generate random numbers.
• For Ordinary, System Entry and iBet, enter four digits.
• For 4D Roll, enter three digits and one ‘R’.
• Repeat steps to add boards of the same bet type.
• You can add a maximum of 10 boards each time.
• You can clear the selection entered into the boards by selecting the cross .
• You can also select Clear All at the bottom right corner to remove all selections.
• Select ADD TO BET SLIP to line up bets in your bet slip.
• Bets have not been placed at this point.
• Check that your bet slip reflects your bets accurately before selecting PLACE BET.
• Select DECLINE if you wish to review your bets again or select ACCEPT to confirm your bet placement.
• Go to Transaction History to track your bets.

The bet types in 4 D lottery

• If you place a Big bet, you win a prize if your 4D number appears in any of the five prize categories.
•  If you place a Small bet, you win a prize only if your 4D number appears in the top three prize categories.
• You can choose to place a Big or Small bet, or both, among these bet types: Ordinary Entry where you select four digits in a specific order. You win a prize if your combination matches any of the winning numbers in the same order.
• In 4 D roll select three digits of your choice and one rolling digit in a specific order. The rolling digit, designated by ‘R’, represents any number from 0 to 9. The minimum bet amount here is $10
• In system entry iBet Sselect four digits and place bets on all its possible combinations. For System Entry, each 4D number combination costs a minimum of $1. For iBet, all 4D number combinations cost a minimum of $1 in total. Your prize money is proportionately divided by the number of combinations.
• If you do not have any numbers in mind, you may consider the Quick Pick option. Here the system will generate a random set of numbers for you.

If you have placed bets on any of the 23 winning 4D numbers, you win a prize. Your prize amount depends on the winning category, your bet amount and bet type.

The prize amount for every $1 bet for Ordinary Entry, System Entry or 4D Roll for every $1 bet is $2000 as first prize on Big bet and $3000 on small bet. Prize amounts for iBet for every $1 bet the first prize varies on digits selected and ranges from $83- $500.

The lottery draw takes place every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 6.30 PM. You can watch live draws at Singapore Pools office at 210 Middle Road or at watch the ‘live’ transmissions of the draws at these locations:

• Singapore Pools Ang Mo Kio N2 Branch 202 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3, #01-1662/1664, Singapore 560202
• Singapore Pools Woodlands N8 Branch 883 Woodlands St 82, #01-472, Singapore 730883
• Singapore Pools Hougang N1 Branch 106 Hougang Ave 1, #01-1209/1211, Singapore 530106
• Singapore Pools New Upper Changi Branch 26 New Upp Changi Rd, #01-666/668, Singapore 462026
• Singapore Pools King George’s Ave Branch 803 King George’s Ave, #01-200/202, Singapore 200803
• Singapore Pools Holland Drive Branch 46 Holland Dr, #01-371/373, Singapore 270046

 

 

An independent external auditor and five draw officials are involved in the draw process. Before the draw, a specially designed computer is run to randomlyselect the draw machine and the set of draw balls to be used. A backup machine is also chosen.

The selected draw balls, numbered 0 to 9, are weighed to ensure that their individual weights are within an acceptable margin of error. This is to ensure that each ball has practically the same chance of being drawn.

The selected machines, secured under lock and numbered seal in a storage room, is transferred to the draw hall, along with the balls.

The balls are loaded into the draw machine in front of the audience. A member of the audience is then invited to press the start switch on the control panel, launching the draw. The balls in the draw machine, made up of four transparent cylinders, spin until a ball is sucked into a groove found in each cylinder.

The drawing process, starting from the consolation prizes, is repeated until all 23 sets of winning numbers are drawn.