There’s a lot that is said about the international lotteries with many big names like the US Powerball, UK Lotto, and EuroMillions attracting a lot of people to take a plunge.
The UK Lotto, which is a state-franchised national lottery in the UK, conducts the draw every Wednesday and Saturday evening. A lot of people play it using the various online platforms like Lottoland. These platforms provide both convenience and safety. Lottoland is the world leader when it comes to offering online platforms for international lotteries. The Wednesday draw for the UK Lotto is always scheduled for 8.30pm, while the one that happens on Saturday is also at the same time. The sale of the tickets stops an hour earlier.
Eligibility Requirements to Play
The latest eligibility requirements to play are:
- One should be a minimum of 16 years of age.
- Tickets can be bought online through the various platforms that offer this lottery or can also be bought in person. For that, a person needs to go to the approved premises.
- This online ticket can be purchased only if you have a UK bank account for making payments.
- If you are a member of a syndicate, then the ticket purchaser for your syndicate should be aged 16 or more.
- These lottery tickets are not transferable and thus commercial syndicates are not allowed.
Price Breakup of National Lottery Games
All prizes in all six games that are run by the National Lottery are tax-free and are paid as a lump sum. As it is a state-franchised lottery, 25% of the money goes for causes that are meant for the larger good of the society. Another chunk of 12% is taken by the UK government as lottery duty. It is only 53% of the total money that goes to the prize fund. The retailers get 4% as their commission, while the operator Camelot gets 5%. Out of this 5%, 4% is used for covering the operational costs and 1% is their profit.
How to Play Lotto?
All those who are interested in playing the Wednesday draw need to choose six different numbers between 1 and 59. In case you want to go only by luck, then there is an option of ‘Lucky Dip’ where the random numbers are picked automatically. The entry fee is 2 pounds, which comes roughly to INR 177.
Earlier, there used to be only Saturday draws, but from 5 February 1997, Wednesday draws have also started. All draws happen at 8.30 pm and can be seen live on their official website. It is one of the most popular draws of National Lottery Games with nearly 15 to 45 million tickets getting sold for each draw. When the draw happens, six numbered balls are drawn from a set of balls, which are numbered from 1 to 59. The balls once drawn out are not replaced. A Bonus Ball is also drawn, but then, it affects only those players whose five numbers are matched.
Any player whose two numbers get matched is eligible for some amount of prize money. The jackpot, however, goes to a person who matches all the six drawn numbers. The odds of hitting the jackpot are 1 in 45,057,474. In case there is no one who got all the six numbers matched, then the jackpot amount gets rolled over to the next Lotto draw and this can happen for four consecutive draws. In case the quadruple rollover happens, the jackpot amount is huge. Even after four rollovers, if all the six numbers don’t match, then the jackpot is shared between the tickets that match in five numbers along with the bonus ball.
Other than watching the result live on official websites, they are also updated on BBC One at 10:35 pm. You can also see them at the various apps and online platforms.
With the launch of Lottoland in India in early 2019, Indians too will be able to participate in a lot of international lotteries and win big amounts.
