Sevana

With drawings held every Saturday and Thursday, Sevana is one of the newest yet prolific lotteries in Sri Lanka. The first draw of this lottery was held on July 27, 2017. The player chooses 4 numbers and a letter based on their own preferences against which the prizes are determined. Currently, more than 60 draws have been conducted and thousands of prizes issued.

Lottery in Sri Lanka

Also known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, this is an island nation on the south of Asia. Its population is well over 21 million and per capita GDP is $4020. Its currency is the Sri Lanka rupee and it is a middle-income country. The role of lotteries in the country has been significant with most of the funds going into social causes such as supporting retired servicemen, building hospitals, supporting youth projects etc. In fact, the name of the body in charge of lottery in Sri Lanka was initially the Hospital Lotteries. Although this changed to the National Lotteries Board, the social causes have remained and some added. Sevana Lottery contributes to the Sevana Housing Fund. This fund was specifically established by law to assist in the rehabilitation of houses that were damaged by natural disasters such as floods and typhoons. The government actively supports the rehabilitation program and has brought in other donors into the fund so as to boost the amount and accomplish the cause. Therefore, in playing Sevana lottery, you are not just enjoying yourself and standing a chance of winning big but contributing to a noble cause as well.

Playing Sevana Lottery

Playing Sevana lottery is much easier and more or less the same as playing any other lottery. You first identify a dealer near you depending on which district or locality you are. All the way from Colombo to Trincomalee, dealers are available and you can walk in to play. You will be given a playslip once you inform the clerk that you want to play Sevana lottery. The playslip has panels which are essentially playing areas. Each panel constitutes a play and the more panels you mark, the more the plays you will be entered for. There are two main ways of playing Sevana lottery: manual picking and Quick Pick.

Manual Picking

This is the most common way of playing Sevana lottery. In manual picking, you choose your 4 numbers and the letter by marking the respective panel areas using a pen. The numbers you choose are totally up to you and they could be based on anything from previous winning numbers to forecasted winning numbers. In the event you make a mistake while marking, there is a void checkbox at the bottom of the panel, which you simply check and the whole panel area is voided. Do not erase as this will destroy the playslip. There is also another checkbox for advance draws. This is set aside for players who may want to participate in future draws in addition to the current one. By checking these boxes, you express the intention to participate in subsequent draws. The only aspect with future draws is that you cannot choose a different set of numbers for each of the upcoming draws. You have to work with your current selection which will be rolled over for each of the upcoming draws.

Quick Pick

This number selection system is done automatically at the dealer’s station through a computer terminal. Once you inform the clerk that you want to play Sevana lottery through Quick Pick, he will generate the numbers for you through the system. Apart from that, you can play Quick Pick on the playslip by ticking the box at the bottom of the play area. As a matter of fact, you can play Sevana lottery through Quick Pick and manual picking on the same playslip. None of these number picking systems guarantees you a win. This game like any other lottery game is totally a game of chance and there is no bias.

Ticketing

Once you hand over the playslip and the corresponding amount of money, you will be given the ticket. The cost per play is Rs 20 which means the total amount you should give the clerk is the number of plays times 20. The tickets come in two colors: purple and light green. The purple ticket is for Thursday plays while the other one is for Saturdays. The ticket has several features, some of which include:

• The National Lotteries Board logo on the upper right
• The name of the game in this case Sevana
• A pictorial representation of the Housing Fund project to which part of the lottery proceeds are channeled
• The numbers you have selected which you are to confirm whether they have been captured correctly
• The unique serial number of the ticket and the price of the ticket

Normally, the ticket doesn’t have your details, meaning any person picking it up can present it for payments. To safeguard against this, you are required to sign it at the back. You should also keep it safely to avoid defacing. Remember your ticket is the only document that proves your participation of the respective draw of Sevana lottery.