Lottery rush as jackpot odds slashed
THE National Lottery is expecting a rush for tickets this week as a “mustwin” £24.7million jackpot means the odds of securing the top prize are six times better than usual.
After 10 consecutive draws without a jackpot ticket, the prize must be won this Wednesday, so if no one correctly predicts all six numbers it will be given – or shared out – to anyone who matches five numbers plus the bonus ball.
The “must-win” rule is triggered when the prize fund reaches £22million and sharply reduces the odds of taking home a life-changing prize from one in 45 million to one in 7.5 million. Last Saturday one player who matched five numbers and the bonus ball won just £89,000.
It comes as Lottery franchise holders Camelot face criticism that the addition of 10 extra balls into the draw 18 months ago has made the game “boring” because the smaller odds of winning lead to more rollovers.
At nine million to one, it is five times more likely to be struck by lightning twice in your lifetime than to win the National Lottery in a standard week.
Statistician Rob Mastrodomenico, 36, founder of Global Sports Statistics, said: “They’ve made it extremely difficult to win. It would need nearly every person in the UK to buy a ticket, and to have a unique combination, to guarantee that someone would win each week.”
He added that players have as good a chance of winning this week as they have ever had under the new rules.
Camelot do not publish ticket sales on a week-by-week basis but a spokesman confirmed they expected high demand over the coming days.
He said: “When the jackpot gets bigger, that drives sales. More and more people either buy extra lines, or occasional players might buy a ticket. And when it’s a must-be-won jackpot, we see sales increase. More and more people get excited.”
On Twitter, fans have vented their frustration at the rarity of jackpot wins. Only 11 times this year has a player matched all six numbers to take the jackpot – one every four draws. The last time anyone successfully matched all six numbers was Saturday, April 15.
The Camelot spokesman stressed the new system also includes the “Lotto Millionaire Raffle” which awards one £1million prize with every draw.
However, one Twitter user replied to a Lotto advert for the Millionaire Raffle by saying: “No one is interested in your boring raffle! It’s the National LOTTERY. How many Match 6 winners in the last year? Bring back 49 numbers!” Another added: “Name should be changed to either ‘the rollover lottery’ or ‘The raffle lottery’.”
The twice-weekly Lotto draws are no longer screened live on the BBC.
Wednesday’s draw will be streamed on Youtube and Facebook Live at 8.30pm. The results will also be available on the National Lottery website and will be broadcast on BBC One after the Ten O’clock News.