Is your prize draw legal?

Paid-entry prize draws are regulated in many countries, so check the licensing rules where your players are. Before writing a single line of configuration, you need to answer this question honestly. The legal definition of a raffle — and whether yours is permitted — varies significantly by country, and in some cases by state or province. The platform you run on is neutral software. Compliance is entirely the operator's responsibility.

Here is a region-by-region overview to frame your research:

India. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 bans online money games — games where players pay or stake money in the hope of winning more. Paper lotteries remain a state matter under the Lotteries (Regulation) Act, 1998. If you're thinking about Indian audiences, check with a local lawyer before you do anything else.

United Kingdom. Lotteries and raffles are regulated under the Gambling Act 2005 and overseen by the Gambling Commission. Which rules apply depends on who runs the draw and why, and they change over time, so read the Commission's current guidance and check with a local lawyer.

UAE. Commercial gaming, including lotteries, is regulated at federal level by the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA). Unlicensed lotteries are prohibited. If you're operating from the UAE or targeting UAE residents, check with a local lawyer before launch.

USA. Raffle law in the United States is governed at the state level, and the variation is significant. Some states permit charitable raffles with a simple registration process; others require specific gaming licences. A few states prohibit commercial raffles entirely. Federal law prohibits running a lottery by mail. If your platform accepts tickets online across state lines, you're navigating multiple jurisdictions simultaneously — US-based operators should retain legal counsel before launch.

Nigeria. Since the Supreme Court's 2024 ruling, lottery regulation in Nigeria is largely a state-level matter, so requirements can differ from one state to the next. Check with a Nigerian lawyer before launch.

Important: You, the operator, are responsible for licensing in your own country, and nothing here is legal advice. Laws change, interpretations vary, and local legal counsel is essential before you accept a single paid ticket. Never market a prize draw platform to minors. Sign-up asks for a date of birth and checks it against the minimum age set under Settings › Sign-up & compliance; it's at least 18 while auctions, prize draws, mystery boxes or games are on; raise it if your local rules require. The RaffKing platform provides the technology — compliance is entirely the operator's responsibility.

Choosing your platform model

Once you've confirmed your legal standing, you need to decide which prize draw model fits your business. There are two common structures, each with different dynamics:

Ticket-based draw. A fixed number of tickets are offered at a fixed price, and the draw runs at the draw time you set — automatically, by the scheduled job. This model creates natural scarcity: buyers can see how many tickets are left, which accelerates purchases as the draw fills up. It's the most common model for prize draws and charity campaigns. In RaffKing every prize draw has a start time, a draw time and a ticket limit, and you choose between Pick numbers (the default, where buyers choose their numbers and prizes go to tickets that match the drawn numbers) and Raffle.

Recurring draw. The draw happens on a regular rhythm — every Friday at 8pm, for example — regardless of how many tickets have sold. This supports recurring engagement because buyers know exactly when to expect the draw. In RaffKing each prize draw has one start time and one draw time, so a weekly rhythm means a new prize draw for each week. The trade-off is unpredictability: a low-ticket-sale week still reaches its draw time. RaffKing has an auto-extend setting that moves a draw back when too few tickets have sold, but it's off while Verified draws are on, which is the default for a new store: the UK's DCMS code for prize draws asks operators not to move a draw's end because of low sales. Plan each week's ticket count and prizes so the draw can run whatever sells.

Setting up RaffKing

RaffKing needs PHP 8.2 or higher (with the mysqli, json, curl, openssl and sodium extensions), a MySQL or MariaDB database, and either Apache or LiteSpeed with mod_rewrite (it ships its own .htaccess file) or nginx (using the included nginx.conf.example). Most VPS providers and many shared hosting plans meet this requirement. The installation follows the same pattern as any PHP web application: upload the files, create a database, run the installer wizard, set your admin credentials.

Once inside the admin panel, your first task is creating your initial prize draw. Open Lottery › All Lotteries and choose New Lottery. The setup has five key parts:

Basic details: Name, description, picture and category, then the prizes — coins or an item. Write these as if you're marketing the prize draw — a compelling prize description drives ticket sales more than any other single factor.

Ticket configuration: Choose Pick numbers or Raffle, then set the ticket price (in coins, which buyers spend from their wallet) and the total ticket count. For your first prize draw, start conservative — 100 to 500 tickets priced at a level that makes the prize-to-ticket-cost ratio obviously attractive to buyers, while the total ticket revenue still covers the prize and your costs.

Draw schedule: Set the start time and the draw time, and the scheduled job runs the draw at the draw time. On a new store, Verified draws are on (Plugins › Lottery): each draw is committed to a secret seed when it's made, and anyone can check its result on the draw's Verify page. With them on, manual draws are off. Before a draw closes you can also cancel it with full refunds, or convert it to an ordinary draw that's publicly marked "Not verified". If you switch Verified draws off, you can choose a manual draw instead and pick the winners under Lottery › Winners.

Winner notification: Check the winner email before going live. It's the “lottery_winner” template under Notifications › Templates, and you can edit its wording; it carries the winner's name, the prize draw name, the prize and a link to the results. Winners who don't hear from you immediately lose confidence in the platform.

Visibility: a new prize draw shows on the storefront once saved, and tickets go on sale at its start time. To keep it out of sight while you set up, hide it from the All Lotteries list, then show it when you're ready. This lets you configure everything and test without tickets going live prematurely.

Payment gateway setup

RaffKing comes with 10 ready-to-use payment gateways — Stripe, PayPal, Razorpay, PayU, Authorize.net, Checkout.com, Mollie, GoCardless, Cashfree and Instamojo — plus a manual gateway builder for methods like bank transfer or a UPI QR code, where buyers submit a transaction ID for you to review. Other gateways are available as add-ons. Building even a single gateway integration from scratch can cost $500–$2,000 in developer time. Here is the recommended gateway selection by region:

Stripe is the global default. It covers most of the developed world, has excellent developer documentation and a robust test mode. Enable Stripe first and test it thoroughly before enabling any other gateway. Go to Settings › Payment Gateways, choose Stripe, and enter your publishable key and secret key from your Stripe Dashboard. RaffKing uses Stripe Checkout and confirms each payment with Stripe when the buyer returns. If your Stripe settings show a Webhook section, add that endpoint in Stripe too, so a buyer who pays and never comes back is still credited.

Razorpay + UPI for India. Razorpay is the dominant payment infrastructure provider in India and handles UPI, net banking, and domestic debit and credit cards through a single API. UPI is the payment method a large proportion of Indian buyers prefer over card entry — but remember the 2025 ban on online money games above, and confirm with your lawyer what, if anything, you may run for Indian customers.

Flutterwave for sub-Saharan Africa, available as a paid add-on. Flutterwave supports local bank transfers, mobile money (M-Pesa, MTN MoMo, Airtel Money), and cards across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, and other markets. For an African audience, Flutterwave coverage dramatically increases payment completion rates versus relying on international cards alone.

KYC and compliance features

RaffKing does not include KYC (Know Your Customer) verification. In regulated markets, KYC is often not optional — it's the mechanism that proves you know who your participants are, which is a common requirement in gaming regulation. If your market requires it, plan for it before launch.

What RaffKing does include out of the box is an age check at sign-up and fraud prevention tools such as VPN/proxy blocking and single-device-per-account limits. Sign-up asks for a date of birth and checks it against the minimum age set under Settings › Sign-up & compliance; it's at least 18 while auctions, prize draws, mystery boxes or games are on; raise it if your local rules require.

Even if your jurisdiction doesn't formally require KYC, verifying the winners of high-value prizes is good practice. It prevents fraudulent winner claims and protects you in any dispute.

Your first draw: a 9-item checklist

Before you open ticket sales for your first real draw, work through this checklist in a staging or test environment:

Growing ticket sales

Once your platform is live, the platform itself is not the growth engine — your marketing systems are. Here are the mechanisms that work consistently for prize draw platforms:

Referral system. RaffKing includes a multi-level referral system: referrers earn a fixed coin bonus when someone they brought in signs up and when that person buys coins, with a separate amount for each tier. This turns your existing buyers into a distribution network. Set the bonus at a level that's meaningful enough to motivate sharing. Display each buyer's referral stats in their account dashboard so they can track their earnings.

Email list building. Capture email addresses before the first ticket purchase — a "notify me when tickets go live" form costs you nothing and builds an audience you can market the next draw to directly. Even if your first prize draw has 200 buyers, that's 200 people who've already shown interest and are worth remarketing to for your next event.

Social proof through winner announcements. Publicly announcing winners — with their permission — is one of the most effective trust signals for prospective buyers who are considering participating for the first time. A winner announcement post with a photo of the prize and the winner's first name creates concrete evidence that real people win. Skepticism about online prize draws is high; visible, verifiable winner announcements address it directly.

Scarcity indicators. Display the remaining ticket count prominently on the prize draw listing page. "Only 47 tickets left" creates genuine urgency in a way that countdown timers alone do not. When buyers can see the pool shrinking in real time, purchase decisions accelerate. RaffKing shows this count on the prize draw page and can update it live as tickets sell.

RaffKing — self-hosted prize draw platform Publicly verifiable ticket draws (manual draws if you turn verification off), a live ticket feed, multi-level referrals and 10 ready-to-use payment gateways. One-time licence.
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Common questions

Is it legal to run an online prize draw?

It depends on where you and your players are. Raffles and lotteries are regulated in most countries, often with licences, rules on who may run them and how proceeds are used. Paid-entry prize draws are regulated in many countries, so check the licensing rules where your players are. The operator is responsible for compliance, so check with a local lawyer before launch.

What does RaffKing need to run?

PHP 8.2 or newer with the mysqli, json, curl, openssl and sodium extensions, a MySQL or MariaDB database, and Apache or LiteSpeed with mod_rewrite, or nginx using the included config.

How does RaffKing pick a winner?

On a new store, every draw is a verified draw: its result comes from a secret seed committed when the draw is made and public randomness published after it closes, and anyone can recalculate it on the draw's Verify page. Every ticket sold is listed in the admin.

Does RaffKing verify players' identity?

Sign-up asks for a date of birth and checks it against the minimum age set under Settings › Sign-up & compliance; it's at least 18 while auctions, prize draws, mystery boxes or games are on; raise it if your local rules require. Identity checks (KYC) aren't included.

Conclusion

Launching a prize draw platform is technically accessible — the hard parts are legal clarity and operational preparation, not the technology. Get the legal foundation right for your jurisdiction first, choose your draw model based on your revenue goals, and run through the pre-launch checklist rigorously before your first public ticket sale. With a platform like RaffKing handling the technical infrastructure, the path from decision to first draw is measured in days, not months.