CAMELOT GIVES YOU A NEW KICK IN THE BALLS
Fury over lottery bosses’ jackpot shock
CAMELOT has dealt a new blow to lottery players by insisting punters now prefer to win SMALLER cash prizes.
And no-one is bothered about the sky-high odds of landing a jackpot, claim bosses.
LOTTERY players are fuming after Camelot bosses said punters don’t care about the long odds of winning the jackpot.
Clueless Lotto chiefs have lengthened the odds of winning the jackpot and raised the price of a EuroMillions ticket.
And Brits are outraged after the firm insisted the new 140millionto-one chances of winning big are not an issue – because people prefer to land smaller prizes.
The price is going up from £2 to £2.50 in September and the chance of scooping a jackpot has rocketed from one in 117m to a staggering one in 140m because the number of lucky stars to pick from will increase from 11 to 12.
Livid punters have labelled the huge odds as “madness” and vowed never to play again.
But in its “rationale for agreeing changes to EuroMillions” the National Lottery Commission, which regulates the game, said Camelot claimed punters preferred winning smaller prizes. The commission said: “Camelot’s research indicated that the majority of players are more interested in prizes than the odds of the game.
“The Commission’s own research supports this.”
It was one of a raft of reasons given for the commission agreeing to the new EuroMillions rules.
But livid players last night rubbished the claims and said the only reason they played was for a chance to land the jackpot, adding that odds are a massive part of the game for them.
Electrical engineer and gambler Steven Mclean said: “This is just wrong – I’m furious and I’m sure other players will be too.
“People absolutely care about the odds. How many of them have been polled on how important the chances of winning the jackpot are to them, I wonder?
“I think it’s a disgrace that it was cited as one of the reasons to go ahead with the changes.
“I find it laughable that customers apparently don’t care about the odds of winning.
“I very much doubt that’s the case as originally the jackpot odds were one in 76m, then one in 117m and now one in 140m.”
A Camelot spokesman said: “The Gambling Commission has come to the same conclusion as Camelot.
“The Commission goes on to state that: ‘We were satisfied that permitting the changes to EuroMillions would be consistent with our statutory duty to protect interests of players.’”