What is a prize draw in Greece? Definition, rules and examples
A prize draw in Greece is a promotion that picks its winners by chance, and a 2014 decision of Greece's gaming commission allows such a draw only through a random number generator. On TikTok Shop, a separate and stricter test applies, because its gambling policy for sellers prohibits games of chance, including raffles, spins and sweepstakes. This page sets out what the texts read for it say about the method, where platform rules bite, and where the texts stop short of a ruling on any particular contest.
Rechecked on 22 October 2026.
What a prize draw is under Greek rules
A prize draw selects winners by chance rather than by judgement. The texts read for this page treat the chance step as the defining feature, and the 2014 decision turns the method of that step into the rule. A draw that picks a winner by any other method falls outside the decision as the texts describe it, though they do not say what follows for a contest that does so.
A draw is not the same as a judged contest. In a judged contest a panel or a count decides the place, and no chance step exists. A promotion that mixes the two, with judges shortlisting entries and a draw picking the winner, needs its own terms, because the texts read here do not describe that mix.
A reader should start by asking whether chance chooses the winner at all. If the answer is yes, the next question is which method the Greek decision requires, and the answer is a random number generator. If the answer is no, the decision on draws is not the rule that applies, and the contest's own terms must say what does.
- A prize draw picks its winners by chance rather than by judgement.
- The 2014 gaming decision speaks to method, as far as the texts read here go.
- A judged contest decides the place with a panel or a count, not chance.
- A mixed promotion needs its own terms for each stage.
- The first question is whether chance chooses the winner at all.
The random number generator rule and its limits
The 2014 decision is the one Greek rule the texts read for this page name for draws. It says a draw can be conducted only with a random number generator, which makes the generator the method and not an optional tool. A contest that runs its draw by hand, or by any other means, falls outside the decision as the texts describe it.
The texts do not show how a generator must be set up, audited or reported. The decision is cited here for the method alone. A reader who needs those details has to read the decision itself, since no summary on this page can stand in for it, and should check its date against the contest's own dates.
A rule about method does not settle who may run a draw, what prize is offered, or whether an entrant must meet an age or residence limit. Those questions belong to the contest's own terms and to any platform rules that apply, and the texts read here say nothing more on them.
- The 2014 decision names the random number generator as the only permitted method.
- A draw run by hand falls outside the decision as the texts describe it.
- The texts read here give no audit or reporting step for the generator.
- The decision itself has to be read, since summaries cannot replace it.
- A method rule does not settle who may run a draw.
TikTok Shop's gambling policy and what it bars
TikTok Shop's gambling policy for sellers prohibits games of chance, including raffles, spins and sweepstakes. The policy is a platform rule, not a Greek law, and it applies on the platform whether or not a Greek decision would allow a given draw. A seller who runs a prize draw there therefore faces a stricter test than the 2014 method rule alone.
The same policy also covers a contest that charges for a chance to win, whatever the promotion is called. Renaming the promotion does not take it outside the platform's rule, and the texts read here give no reason to think otherwise.
A seller who runs a live giveaway also meets the permission rule. In TikTok Shop's LIVE giveaway contests the permission is withdrawn when even one order is not delivered, so delivery has to be settled before the contest starts, not after it. Checking delivery is the seller's job, and an entrant can ask about it before taking part.
- TikTok Shop's gambling policy for sellers prohibits games of chance.
- The platform policy lists raffles, spins and sweepstakes as prohibited.
- A platform rule is not a Greek law, and the texts do not say otherwise.
- A LIVE giveaway contest can lose its permission after one undelivered order.
- Check that every winner's delivery is settled before the contest starts.
Who sets the rules for a Greek draw
The Greek rule on method comes from a decision of the gaming commission, and the texts read for this page name no other Greek body for draws. The platform rule comes from TikTok Shop, and the organiser's own terms come from whoever runs the promotion. Three sources of rules can apply at once, and each one answers a different question.
The organiser's own terms are where the details belong. They should state who runs the draw, when entries close, how the winner is picked and what prize is offered. The texts read here do not show what a Greek organiser must publish, so the terms are the only place a reader can check those details.
A reader who sees a conflict between a platform rule and a Greek decision should not assume that one wins automatically. The platform can refuse or withdraw a giveaway under its own policy even where the Greek method rule is met, and the texts read here do not say what a Greek authority would do in that case.
- The gaming commission decision sets the method for a Greek draw.
- The texts read for this page name no other Greek body for draws.
- A platform policy applies on the platform whatever the Greek rule says.
- The organiser's terms state who runs the draw and when entries close.
- No summary replaces the terms of the contest itself.
A live giveaway shows the platform rule in practice
A seller running a LIVE giveaway on TikTok Shop is the example these texts give of a platform rule applied to a prize. The permission is the sanction, and it is withdrawn on a delivery failure rather than on any finding about the draw. Delivery therefore becomes a condition of running the giveaway at all.
The example also shows why the sources read for this page need dates. The platform pages and the 2014 decision are different ages, and a reader should check the date of each source before relying on it for a contest run now. A rule that was accurate when a page was written can differ from the terms in force now.
A draw run outside any platform, under the Greek method rule alone, is the other case a reader can meet. The texts read for this page give no example of it, so this page does not describe one. Where a reader has such a case, the 2014 decision and the organiser's terms are the two documents to read together.
- A LIVE giveaway contest loses permission if an order goes undelivered.
- The sanction in that example follows a delivery failure, not a finding about the draw.
- Delivery becomes a condition of running the giveaway at all.
- The platform pages and the 2014 decision are different ages.
- No example of a stand-alone Greek draw appears in the texts read.
Rules that apply
Greece's gaming commission is the only Greek body the texts read for this page name for draws, and its 2014 decision governs the method rather than who may run a draw. Platform rules sit alongside it. TikTok Shop's gambling policy for sellers prohibits games of chance, and in its LIVE giveaway contests the seller's permission is withdrawn if even one order is not delivered. A promotion held on that platform therefore has to pass the platform's terms as well as the Greek method rule, and the texts do not show how the two interact in a specific case. Organisers keep the details, such as the closing date and the prize, in their own terms.
What we decline
This page cannot say whether a particular draw in Greece is lawful, because the texts read for it name a method rule and a platform policy, but no Greek penalty and no Greek ruling on a specific contest. It does not predict who wins, does not say how a generator should be audited, and does not describe a route around a platform's ban on games of chance. It gives no method for affecting which entrant a draw selects. Organisers decide their prize rules and their winners, and TikTok Shop decides how its own policy is enforced.
Questions and answers
In Greece, a prize draw is a promotion that picks its winner by chance, and a 2014 gaming commission decision allows a draw only through a random number generator. That definition comes from the texts read for this page, not from a full statute. A draw is not a public vote, and it is not a judged contest, because neither a count nor a panel decides the place. Read the definition as the starting point for the rules, not as the whole of them.
The gaming commission is the Greek body the texts name for draws, and its 2014 decision sets the method: a random number generator and no other. The texts do not say how the commission enforces that decision, what penalties follow a breach, or whether a given promotion is lawful. A platform rule is a different matter, because it binds sellers on that platform whatever the commission has said. A reader with a specific draw should read the decision and the terms of that draw together.
The texts read here name no Greek list of statements that an organiser must publish about a draw. The 2014 decision governs method, so an organiser running a draw in Greece has to use a random number generator, and a reader can ask for that to be stated in the terms. Platform terms add their own requirements, such as delivery for a LIVE giveaway contest. An organiser who states the generator, the closing date and the winner rule gives an entrant the details needed to check the draw.
An entrant should check how the winner is chosen, which is the method rule, and then the platform's terms if the draw runs there. A giveaway on TikTok Shop sits under that platform's gambling policy, which prohibits games of chance. Check also the closing date and how the prize is delivered, because the platform's LIVE giveaway rules tie permission to delivery. A reader who cannot find a stated winner method should treat that gap as the first question to put to the organiser.
Yes. A LIVE giveaway run online by a seller on TikTok Shop is the example these texts give of a platform rule applied to a prize. In that contest, the seller's permission is withdrawn if a single order goes undelivered, so delivery to each winner is part of running the giveaway at all. The texts give no example of a Greek draw run under the 2014 method rule alone, so this page does not describe one. For that case, read the decision and the organiser's terms together.
Treating a platform giveaway as a Greek draw is the first mistake, because the platform's policy and the 2014 method rule are different tests. A second mistake is running a draw by a method other than a random number generator and assuming the method is a detail. A third is assuming a LIVE giveaway contest keeps its permission while orders remain undelivered. A fourth is relying on a summary in place of the decision and the terms.