Lottery players have a quite a few games that they can choose to take part in, but unless you have already played all of the games that are available you may find yourself wondering which one would suit you best. To help you make this decision, here is our ‘at a glance’ summary of each of the lotteries games that you can play right here…
The UK’s first and most popular lottery game. Pick 6 numbers from the range 1 to 49 and match three or more to win a cash prize. Draws take place every Wednesday and Saturday, and if the jackpot isn’t won in one draw it rolls over to the next one.
One of the biggest lottery games in the world played every Tuesday and Friday in nine European countries. The minimum jackpot here is worth €15 million, but it can be much higher thanks to a rollover feature. To win the jackpot, pick 5 numbers from the range 1 to 50, 2 ‘Lucky Star’ numbers from the range 1 to 11, and match them all.
The Health Lottery is drawn once a week and has just three prize tiers. The top prize is £100,000 and players have to match all five main balls to win this amount. For matching four balls there is a prize of £500 and for three a prize of £50. In addition the Health Lottery offers Magic Monday, the chance to use your ticket for discounts and free gifts from various retailers.
With draws every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, Thunderball has a top prize of £500,000 – a prize that remains constant no matter how many people win. To play, select 5 numbers from the range 1 to 39 and 1 Thunderball from the range 1 to 14. If you match all six of your selections, the jackpot is yours.
Choose 6 numbers from the range 1 to 49 and if you match all of your selections you can win a jackpot that is guaranteed to be worth at least €2 million. The odds of winning the jackpot are impressive when compared to other lotteries and there are two draws every week which take place on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Lotto Plus 5 was first drawn on Sunday 13th February 2011 and with this new game from the National Lottery comes five extra chances of winning with your chosen numbers for each draw that you choose to participate in! The largest jackpot on offer in Lotto Plus 5 currently is £250,000 with the smallest being £2.50 for matching 3 numbers.
Hot Picks is played every Wednesday and Saturday and requires that you choose five numbers from 1 to 49. Match all five numbers and the jackpot is £130,000. Prizes are static for Hot Picks so the jackpot can be won by multiple players and each would take the £130,000 cash prize.
Other Lotteries
These are the main games you can play in the UK at present. But there are many, many other great lotteries in the World, like Italy's Superenalotto which regularly has jackpots larger than even Euromillions or the American Powerball Game. Then there are a number of smaller lotteries in the UK. You can read all about these other lotteries here.
