The short answer: yes
Free postal entries really do win. In an Odds Up draw, a valid postal ticket goes into the same pool as a paid ticket and has the same chance of being selected. This is not goodwill: a prize draw with paid and free entry routes must meet the free-draw conditions, including a genuine, visible free route and equal treatment in winner selection. If it did not, it would be run as an unlicensed lottery, which is also why a properly run prize draw is not gambling. This does not mean every paid competition must offer post: genuine competitions requiring sufficient skill can be different.
Why a draw offers a free route
A paid draw where the only way in is to pay would be treated as a lottery, and running a lottery without the right licence is unlawful. The free entry route is what keeps a paid prize draw within the rules for a free draw: it removes the requirement to pay, so the activity is a lawful free draw rather than gambling. A genuine prize competition relying on sufficient skill, knowledge or judgement can be different and does not automatically require a postal route. Odds Up offers free postal entry to its paid competitions, and UK competition law sets out the framework. See our postal checklist and the organiser's current rules before posting.
Same draw, same odds
A free postal entry is not placed in a separate, lesser pool. It goes into the same draw as every paid ticket and has the same chance of being picked. A platform that gave postal entries worse odds, or quietly ignored them, would be breaking the law.
How postal entries are treated in the draw
When your postal entry is received and processed, it is allocated a ticket in exactly the same way as a paid entry. When the draw runs, every ticket, paid or free, is treated identically. On a provably fair platform, you can even verify after the draw that the winning ticket was selected fairly from the full pool, which removes any doubt about whether free entries were really included.
Why some people doubt it
The scepticism is understandable. If a company makes money from paid tickets, why would it let people in for free? The answer is that a promoter using paid and free routes must provide a genuine, visible free route meeting the applicable conditions, and a serious platform builds it into its process rather than hiding it. The warning sign is not the existence of a free route, but a free route that is hard to find, loaded with awkward conditions or buried in the small print. A clear free entry option is a sign of a trustworthy platform. At Odds Up, the free entry instructions explain the address, required information, deadline and any question that applies.
How to enter by post
- Create a free account so your postal entry can be matched to your profile.
- Write a postcard or letter with your full name, registered email address, and the exact competition name.
- Post it to the address shown on the competition page, in good time to arrive before the deadline.
- Remember that postal entries count towards the same per-person maximum as paid tickets, and you can reach that maximum entirely by post using one postcard per entry.
Keep it simple and on time
Send your postal entry early so it arrives before the competition closes, and include exactly the details the platform asks for. A missing email address or competition name is the most common reason a free entry cannot be matched to an account.
Free entry on Odds Up
On Odds Up, every paid competition has a free postal entry route shown on the same page as the paid option, not hidden away. Free entries go into the same draw as paid tickets and carry the same odds, and because our draws are provably fair, anyone can verify the result. We also run genuinely free competitions alongside paid ones, so there is always a way to take part without paying.