Three digits, three draws a day, and one genuinely important decision: straight or Rambolito. Here is what that choice actually costs and buys you.
Swertres — 3D Lotto — asks you to pick three digits, each from 0 to 9. Each position is drawn independently and repeats are allowed, so 5-5-5 is a valid result and does come up.
Three positions with ten possibilities each gives 10 × 10 × 10 = 1,000 possible outcomes. Together with EZ2, Swertres is one of only two PCSO games drawn three times every day, which makes it by far the most frequently played game in the country.
Swertres is drawn every day at 2:00 PM, 5:00 PM, and 9:00 PM Philippine time — 21 draws a week.
This is the part worth understanding properly, because it is the only real strategic choice in the game.
Your three digits must match the drawn digits in exact order. If you play 1-2-3 and the draw is 3-2-1, you lose. Odds: 1 in 1,000. This carries the highest payout.
Rambolito covers every possible arrangement of your chosen digits, so order stops mattering. The prize is lower, because you are effectively buying several combinations at once. How much lower depends on how many arrangements exist, which depends on your digits:
| Play type | Example | Combinations covered | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight | 1-2-3, exact order | 1 | 1 in 1,000 |
| Rambolito 6 | 1-2-3 (all digits different) | 6 | 1 in 167 |
| Rambolito 3 | 1-1-2 (two digits the same) | 3 | 1 in 333 |
The naming is literal. Three different digits can be arranged six ways, so it is called Rambolito 6 and your odds improve sixfold. If two of your digits are identical there are only three distinct arrangements, so it is Rambolito 3 and your odds improve threefold — with a correspondingly higher payout than Rambolito 6.
Note that three identical digits (5-5-5) have only one possible arrangement, so Rambolito does not apply — that is a straight play by definition.
Neither option is "better". Straight is a low-probability, high-payout bet; Rambolito is a higher-probability, lower-payout bet. Over a very long run they are designed to work out similarly — the choice is about which shape of outcome you prefer.
Mark three digits on the play slip and indicate whether you want straight or Rambolito. A play costs ₱10 — the cheapest entry of any PCSO game alongside EZ2. Lucky Pick is available.
Because tickets are inexpensive and there are three draws a day, it is easy to spend more than intended without noticing. Setting a daily rather than a per-ticket budget is worth doing with this game in particular.
Swertres attracts more number-picking folklore than any other PCSO game, partly because its three-digit format invites pattern-hunting. It is worth being clear: every one of the 1,000 possible results is equally likely on every draw, and no past result changes what comes next.
Our statistics page shows genuine frequency data across our full history, and it is interesting to look at — but it is a record of the past, not a forecast. Anyone selling guaranteed Swertres combinations is selling something that mathematically cannot exist.
Sign the back of your ticket immediately, photograph both sides, and keep it flat and dry — lotto tickets are printed on thermal paper and fade badly in heat. Prizes above ₱10,000 are subject to a 20% withholding tax, and every winning ticket expires one year after the draw date.
Our step-by-step claiming guide covers where to go for each prize size, the documents you need, and the scams that follow every large jackpot.
Kuya Coco