Operator review

BOTB review: is it legit?

Everything you need to know about Best of the Best — how the skill-based format works, whether it counts as gambling, and the alternatives with published odds.

Updated 20 September 2026 · refreshed hourly from live data

BOTB

Skill-based formatRanked #29 of 77 UK operators for value

Not scored on Value Ratio — BOTB has no fixed ticket allocation to score against. 41 live competitions tracked right now.

41live competitions
£0.05typical entry price
55%average sell-through
1 in 100shortest odds available

Our verdict on BOTB

BOTB is a UK prize competition operator trading at botb.com. Across the 5 of their competitions we've been able to rate, their average Value Ratio is 2.51about 8% better than the UK market median of 2.73. That puts them #29 of 77 ranked UK operators.

In-depth review: BOTB Review 2026: Is Best of the Best Legit & Worth It?

BOTB at a glance

BOTB (Best of the Best) runs weekly dream-car competitions where you guess the closest price to win. Unlike traditional UK prize draws with fixed ticket counts and pre-calculable odds, BOTB uses a skill-based closest-guess format, which classifies it as a competition rather than a lottery under the Gambling Act 2005. BOTB is one of the UK's most well-known and longest-running competition brands, with a strong track record of verified winners.

Websitebotb.com
Live competitions41
Typical ticket price£0.05
Typical ticket pool43,749 tickets
Cheapest live entry£0.01£1,250 Cash
Biggest live prize£50,000Just Dropped! Win This Top Gear Spec, 3.0L BMW M3 Touring For 22p
Average sell-through55% of tickets sold by close
Prize categoriesOther (16), Tech (11), Cash (8), Toys (2), Vehicles (2), Instant Wins (1)
Draws logged all-time1,049 since April 2026

Live BOTB competitions

These are all 41 BOTB draws we're currently tracking. None of them carry a prize value we can verify yet, so we can't score them on Value Ratio — the full list is below.

Is BOTB gambling?

No — BOTB is not classified as gambling under UK law. The Gambling Act 2005 distinguishes between a lottery (purely chance-based) and a prize competition (requires an element of skill). BOTB's core mechanic — guessing the closest price of a car — introduces a genuine skill element, which means it operates as a legal prize competition, not a lottery or a form of gambling.

BOTB also offers a Lucky Dip option for those who prefer not to make a skill-based guess. This entry route is also legal because BOTB provides a free postal entry method, satisfying the alternative requirement under the Act.

How do BOTB odds work?

Unlike traditional UK prize draw sites — where you buy numbered tickets from a fixed pool and your odds are simply 1 in [total tickets] — BOTB's odds depend on how many people enter that specific week's competition with a guess close to yours. There is no fixed ticket cap.

This means you cannot calculate your exact BOTB odds in advance the way you can with traditional draws. Your chance of winning depends on both how many total entrants there are and how unique your price guess is. Historically, BOTB competitions attract thousands of entries per week, which puts the real-world odds in the same ballpark as large traditional prize draws — but without the transparency of a published ticket count.

If knowing your exact odds before you enter matters to you, traditional UK draw sites (tracked across Competition Showroom) publish their total ticket counts — so you can calculate precise win probability with our odds calculator.

BOTB draw format and winners

BOTB draw results are announced weekly, typically on a Tuesday, via their live social media streams. The winner is the entrant whose price guess is closest to the target car's true value. BOTB has been operating since 1999 and has a long and well-documented history of genuine verified winners, making it one of the most established and trusted names in the UK competition space.

Is BOTB legit?

Yes — BOTB operates as a legal UK prize competition. Under the Gambling Act 2005 an operator must include either a genuine element of skill or a free postal entry route on equivalent terms to avoid being classified as an illegal lottery. BOTB trades publicly at botb.com, publishes its terms, and we can reliably surface their live competition data — which is the prerequisite for inclusion in our directory.

Inclusion here is not an endorsement, and we don't verify winners independently. Before entering any UK prize competition, check the operator's own terms for three things: the free postal entry route, the draw method (usually a live stream or a verified random number generator), and how they handle a draw that doesn't sell out. Our FAQ covers the common legitimacy questions, and the methodology page explains how we produce every number on this page.

How to get the best value from BOTB

  • Compare the ratio, not the prize. A £100,000 car on a huge ticket allocation can be worse value than a £2,000 watch on a small one. The Value Ratio column above does that maths for you.
  • Watch the draws closing soonest. Sell-through is fixed by the time a draw closes, so the current odds on a draw ending shortly are close to the final odds. Their next to close is £1,500 Cash.
  • Use the free entry route if value is your only motive. Every legal UK operator must offer one. It's slower, but the odds are identical.
  • Set a budget first. See our responsible play guide.

Alternatives to BOTB

These UK operators price closest to BOTB, so they're the most direct comparison if you're shopping around:

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BOTB FAQ

Is BOTB legit?

Yes. BOTB is a UK prize competition operator that trades publicly, publishes its terms and conditions, and operates within the Gambling Act 2005 — which requires either a skill element or a free postal entry route. We track their live competitions directly from their site, and currently have 41 of them in our index. Inclusion in our directory means we can verify their live data; it is not an endorsement, so read their terms before entering.

Is BOTB a scam?

No. A scam takes your money and runs no draw; BOTB runs published competitions with stated ticket allocations, names winners, and is bound by the Gambling Act 2005 and consumer law like every other UK operator. The real question with a legal operator is not whether the draw happens but whether the ticket is fairly priced, and that is what our Value Ratio measures — theirs averages 2.51. If a specific draw looks wrong to you, check its ticket count and prize value on this page before entering.

What do BOTB reviews say?

We don't aggregate Trustpilot or social media reviews, because entrant reviews of prize competitions track whether the reviewer won, not whether the tickets were fairly priced. This page is a different kind of review: we measure BOTB on the numbers they publish — ticket prices, ticket allocations, real odds and Value Ratio (currently 2.51 on average across 5 rated draws) — and compare them against every other UK operator we track. For customer-service experiences, Trustpilot is the better source; for whether the ticket is worth buying, the table on this page is.

How much are BOTB tickets?

A typical BOTB ticket costs £0.05, and their cheapest live entry right now is £0.01. Ticket prices vary considerably by draw, and a cheap ticket does not automatically mean good value — a low price on a very large ticket pool can be worse value than a higher price on a small one.

Does BOTB offer a free entry route?

UK prize competitions must offer either a genuine skill element or a free entry route on equivalent terms to be legal under the Gambling Act 2005. BOTB operates within that framework, and the free entry method — normally a postal entry — is set out in their terms and conditions. The odds on a free entry are identical to a paid ticket.

What kind of prizes does BOTB give away?

Right now BOTB is running 41 live competitions, mostly in other, tech, cash, toys. Their biggest category is other, with 16 live draws. You can see every current prize, with the odds and Value Ratio on each, in the table on this page.

Which BOTB competition is the best value right now?

The best-value BOTB draw live right now has a Value Ratio of 2.40 — it's the top row of the table on this page, which is sorted best-value-first and refreshed hourly. Bear in mind that the best-value draw changes as new competitions launch and others close.

Compare BOTB against the whole UK market.

Sort 1,886 live draws from 129 operators by value, odds, price or closing time.

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