Swertres (3D Lotto): how to play, how Rambolito works, prizes and the odds

Swertres is the older name for PCSO's 3D Lotto, a three-digit game drawn three times a day with fixed prizes. You must be at least 18 years old to buy a ticket or claim a prize (Summit Express's PCSO lotto guide).

How to play

From GMA News' Swertres results page:

1. Select one number from 0 to 9 in each of three columns, for a three-digit combination, or mark Lucky Pick (LP).
2. Play it straight (exact order) or mark Rambolito (any order, below).
3. Each play is ₱10; PCSO returned the digit games to ₱10 from 15 July 2021 with prize structures unchanged (RMN).

A straight bet on 4-0-7 wins only if 4-0-7 is drawn in that order.

Draw times

Every day at 2:00 PM, 5:00 PM and 9:00 PM. Manila Bulletin reported in December 2024 that PCSO draws air on IBC 13 and D8TV and are livestreamed on PCSO's Facebook and YouTube pages. GMA News' results page for 8 November 2026 lists all three Swertres draws at ₱4,500.

Rambolito, explained

With Rambolito, the terminal takes your three digits and generates every ordering of them. You win if any ordering matches the draw. How many orderings there are depends on your digits:

Your digits	Example	Combinations generated	Prize per ₱10
Three different digits	123	6 (123, 132, 213, 231, 312, 321)	₱750
One pair and one other digit	122	3 (122, 212, 221)	₱1,500

GMA's results page notes that Lucky Pick works with Rambolito but will not give repeating digits. PCSO's Rambolito rules cover only the 6- and 3-combination cases (GMA); three identical digits (such as 777) have only one ordering, so they can only be played straight.

Prizes per ₱10

Bet	When it wins	Prize per ₱10
Straight	All three digits in exact order	₱4,500
Rambolito, 6 combinations	Your three different digits in any order	₱750
Rambolito, 3 combinations	Your pair-plus-one digits in any order	₱1,500

The ₱4,500 straight prize is from GMA News' results pages; the ₱750 and ₱1,500 Rambolito prizes are from Summit Express's PCSO guide (Philstar's 2024 report also gives ₱750 as the 3D minimum prize).

The odds (our arithmetic)

Three columns of ten digits give 10 × 10 × 10 = 1,000 possible results, 000 to 999.

Bet	Winning results out of 1,000	Chance per draw	Prize per ₱10	Average paid back per ₱10
Straight	1	1 in 1,000	₱4,500	₱4.50
Rambolito, three different digits	6	1 in 166.7	₱750	6 × ₱750 ÷ 1,000 = ₱4.50
Rambolito, one pair	3	1 in 333.3	₱1,500	3 × ₱1,500 ÷ 1,000 = ₱4.50

At these prizes every bet type returns the same 45% on average; Rambolito trades a bigger chance for a smaller prize. Against that, 2D Lotto returns about 41.6% (2D odds). For the 6-number games, see PCSO lotto odds of winning.

Of the 1,000 possible results, 720 have three different digits, 270 contain a pair and 10 are triples like 000 or 777 (our arithmetic). Triples do come up: GMA's results show 3-3-3 on 18 September 2026 (2PM) and 1-1-1 on 6 November 2026 (5PM).

Over time (our arithmetic): one ₱10 straight bet in each of 100 draws costs ₱1,000, and the chance of at least one hit is 1 − 0.999^100, about 9.5%. The same 100 draws on a six-way Rambolito give about a 45% chance of at least one ₱750 win, still against ₱1,000 spent. A number that "has not come out lately" is no more likely in the next draw: each draw is independent.

Claiming a 3D prize

Prizes up to ₱10,000 can be claimed at any lotto outlet; above that, at a PCSO branch or the Main Office (Summit Express; Philstar 2024). Step by step: how to claim a PCSO lotto prize.

Prizes above ₱10,000 are taxed at 20% (lotto tax).

Bet only through a lotto terminal

On 6 November 2026, Philstar reported a PCSO and NBI raid on a Caloocan lotto outlet that allegedly issued unauthorized betting slips and took bets paid by GCash instead of processing them through official lotto terminals; 3D Lotto ticket rolls were among the items seized. PCSO told bettors to wager only through authorized terminal networks and to report outlets that take payment through other apps. Three-digit "swertres" bets taken by text, chat or e-wallet are not PCSO tickets, and illegal numbers games carry jail terms for bettors as well as collectors (penalties; STL vs jueteng).

If betting is costing more than you planned, free help is at 02-8248-9568.

All PCSO games, prices and odds on one page: PCSO lotto guide.