National Lottery News and Articles

Lotto Prize Expires

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:07:18 GMT

A UK Lotto prize won on Saturday 17 May, 2008, has gone unclaimed for more than 180 days, and has therefore expired as far as the rightful owner is concerned. The ticket, which was bought in Warrington, matched five main numbers and the bonus ball to win a prize of £397,462.

How to Predict the Future

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:15:38 GMT

Lottery players all over the globe would like to know how to predict the future. Just imagine being able to watch the draw taking place and then saying ‘I told you so!’ Or being able to dream about a particular set of UK Lotto numbers coming up and then finding that they really did. If you want to know how these things are possible, read on...

Pennsylvania Powerball

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:05:57 GMT

A couple of Pennsylvania Powerball players matched all five main numbers and the red Powerball on Wednesday 29 October, 2008 to scoop a jackpot worth $58.6 million. Thomas Shearer and his wife Myrna have opted to take the prize as a cash lump sum, so they will take home $30.2 million ($22.65 million after taxes).

Think Lotto, Anything is possible, Lottery Campaign

Wed, 5 Nov 2008 10:19:56 GMT

A new 'Think Lotto' National Lottery TV campaign costing £10 million has been launched, but the aim isn’t to promote a particular scratchcard or draw. Instead, the 60 second advertisement promotes ‘The Lotto Way of Thinking’ and at the same time celebrates the ‘anything is possible' attitude that many Lotto players tend to share.

Tamworth Jackpot

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 10:05:14 GMT

A couple of horse racing enthusiasts from Tamworth in Staffordshire won more than £1 million by matching all six numbers in the Lotto draw on Saturday 18 October, 2008. Colin and Tina Halford were one of four jackpot winners, each of which scooped £1,134,695, but they didn’t find out about their win for another week.

Lottery Glossary

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:16:18 GMT

Lottery games are full of jargon that can confuse new players, so here’s a handy lottery glossary that provides easy to understand definitions of commonly used terms. By the time you’re read through this glossary you’ll be able to speak fluent Lotto with ease!

Lancaster Lotto Syndicate

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:08:45 GMT

A Lancaster Lotto syndicate is celebrating after matching five main numbers and the bonus ball to win £66,502 in the Lotto draw of Saturday 18 October, 2008. The lottery syndicate comprises 33 members, all of whom work in the Stores Department at Lancaster City Council.

Jackpot Nightmares

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:31:48 GMT

Most people who win a lottery jackpot describe the experience as a dream come true, but for a minority the dream becomes a nightmare. In this article we provide some tips on how you can avoid such jackpot nightmares and live happily ever after if and when your UK Lotto numbers come up.

Norfolk Lotto

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:44:50 GMT

A Norfolk Lotto player won £76,756 on Wednesday 08 October, 2008, despite his usual habit of only ever playing on Saturdays. George Beales, who lives in Diss, strayed from his personal UK Lotto tradition to buy himself a ticket for the midweek draw, and is now thanking his lucky stars that he did!

Same Colour Balls, All Pink, Lottery.co.uk

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 09:39:34 GMT

For the first time ever all six main numbers in the Lotto draw were the same colour. Viewers watched in suprise as the National Lottery draw took place on Saturday 11th October, 2008 as one after another pink ball dropped through the hatch of the Topaz lottery machine.

Lottery versus Bingo

Wed, 8 Oct 2008 10:19:39 GMT

National Lottery and bingo games have a great deal in common. Both involve numbers. Both rely entirely on the luck of the draw. And both offer cash prizes to those who win. But which game is best for players? We decided to take a look and find out...

Essex Syndicate Wins EuroMillions

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 10:02:23 GMT

An all-female syndicate of lottery players from Essex won a £7,055,142 share of the £102 million EuroMillions Superdraw jackpot on Friday 26 September, 2008. The nine members of the syndicate all work as carers at an Upminster residential care home, and each one is now £778,000 richer.

Student Scoops Superdraw

Wed, 1 Oct 2008 11:36:17 GMT

An 18 year old British student was one of 15 players to win £7 million in the EuroMillions Superdraw 2008 on Friday 26 September. Ianthe Fullagar, who lives in Ravenglass, Cumbria, celebrated with a meal of beans on toast, ice cream and plenty of cider!

Bishop Auckland Lotto

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 09:58:30 GMT

A couple from Bishop Auckland are celebrating a UK Lotto jackpot win worth £4,493,783 after matching all six numbers on Saturday 20 September, 2008. Gary and Ann Henry, who have been running a snack bar in a local industrial estate for the past eleven years, are now planning to hand their business over to two of their six adult children.

Superdraw Rolldow

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:21:03 GMT

Nobody matched the ive main numbers and two lucky stars in the Euromillions Superdraw on Friday 26th September, 2008. That meant that the massive jackpot of £102,804,000 rolled down to the next prize level.

Law of Attraction

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:27:31 GMT

The Law of Attraction is not a law in any scientific sense, but a theory that is being popularised in a number of books. The theory states that human beings can learn to attract better conditions into their lives just by expecting better things to happen. So can we learn to attract a UK Lotto win?

Thrills on Demand

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:27:06 GMT

Thrills and excitement are part and parcel of the life of anyone who plays lottery games. But now you don’t have to wait for the next lottery draw to experience the thrill of a potential win – you can enjoy thrills on demand with free online slots.

EuroMillions Superdraw 2008

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:21:53 GMT

A EuroMillions Superdraw with a guaranteed jackpot of around £100 million takes place this Friday 26 September. If a single player wins this jackpot they will automatically beat the record set by Ireland’s Delores McNamara, who won an very impressive £77 million in July 2005.

Overall Odds

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:19:09 GMT

Overall odds are the odds that reflect your chances of winning a National Lottery prize overall. Most people are aware of their chances of winning a jackpot, and quite a few are aware of the odds of winning the smallest prize, but unfortunately the overall odds tend to be ignored.

Bingo Lotto

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:56:55 GMT

A lottery syndicate of bingo players were celebrating after six particularly lucky numbers enabled it to win a £737,319 share of the jackpot on Saturday 6 September, 2008. The Quakers Yard Syndicate has 28 members, so each member will take home £26,332 – enough to make life a little brighter as the nights draw in.

Lottery Warnings

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:02:22 GMT

Lottery warnings are stories of UK Lotto winners that should serve as warnings to all of us. Not everyone who wins a jackpot lives happily ever after, and by taking note of the mistakes made by those who don’t, we can increase our chances of avoiding those mistakes should we be lucky enough to win ourselves.

Winner Cleans Up

Mon, 8 Sep 2008 10:03:24 GMT

A man from Nottingham who owns his own cleaning company has won a £1,925,567 share of the UK Lotto jackpot on Saturday 30 August, 2008. Alan Rowley, who is 65 years old, discovered his win early on Sunday morning as he checked his emails.

Iberian Joy

Sat, 6 Sep 2008 09:12:00 GMT

Lady Luck seems to have been resident on the Iberian Peninsula on Friday night, 5th September. One Spanish and one Portuguese ticket holder are celebrating a huge Euromillions win after their numbers came up following six consecutive rollovers in the pan european draw. Each lucky player will receive €59,674,853, which is around £48,247,119. That should be enough to keep the credit crunch at bay!

The Secret Millionaire

Wed, 3 Sep 2008 13:32:08 GMT

More than £32 billion has been paid out to winners since the National Lottery was first launched in the UK in November 1994. That’s a lot of money, and it means that there could well be a “secret millionaire” living in your area.

EuroMillions Record Breaker?

Mon, 1 Sep 2008 10:01:30 GMT

A EuroMillions record breaker could be in the making as the jackpot soars. After six rollovers, the jackpot for the coming draw on Friday 5 September, 2008, will be worth around £92,000,000 (€114,000,000).

Scratchcard Tips

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:52:32 GMT

If you play lottery scratchcards then you have probably wondered if there is anything you can do to get maximum value for money. Our informal survey of scratchcard winners has identified several scratchcard tips that you might find useful...

Five Share A Jackpot

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 07:48:23 GMT

It sounds like a hitherto unknown Enid Blyton novel, but Five Share A Jackpot is actually a summary of what happened in the Lotto draw on Saturday 22 August, 2008. After two draws without a top prize winner, five people matched all six main numbers to take an equal share of the £13,582,850 jackpot.

Winning Lottery Numbers

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:41:48 GMT

Winning lottery numbers are something that most players think about at some point over the weekend, but surprisingly few people actually have a routine for checking the winning lottery numbers. As a result, many prizes go unclaimed for weeks, and some are never claimed because lottery tickets valid for 180 days expire after that time and all money due goes to Good Causes instead.

Lotto Jackpot for Mum

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:05:07 GMT

A mother of two has landed a UK Lotto jackpot worth £2,561,513 after matching the numbers 4, 26, 28, 32, 44 and 46 on Wednesday 30 July, 2008. Tracey Foster, who is 40 and lives in Essex, is self-employed and has no current plans to stop working.

Lucky Quick Picks

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:57:16 GMT

In overseas lotteries, Quick Picks are randomly generated lines of numbers that are the equivalent of our own Lucky Dip entries. But the Lucky Quick Pick ideas presented in this article are something altogether different.

New Terminals Rolled Out

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 09:23:51 GMT

New lottery terminals are currently being rolled out across the UK following a pilot programme that 98% of lottery retailers reported as being satisfying. The new terminals feature cutting edge technology that will allow media content to be streamed onto digital screens, as well as increasing the speed at which tickets are issued.

White Feathers Win

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 14:00:57 GMT

White feathers helped a woman from Dewsbury to win a £1,218,618 share of the Lotto jackpot on Saturday 19 July, 2008. The feathers – viewed by some as a good omen – were seen by Susan Crossland around the anniversary of her late father’s death, and she took this to mean that he was sending her a gift.

Lottery Scam Arrests

Sun, 3 Aug 2008 09:17:40 GMT

Police in in the south of Spain have arrested 28 people involved in lottery scams. The swoop, which took place in Almeria, caught the fraudsters who send out emails telling people they have won the lottery according to the Times.

Destined to Win?

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:53:54 GMT

Are some people destined to win the lottery whilst others are destined to be disappointed year after year? The belief in destiny – the notion that our lives are mapped out in advance – is widespread, but it’s not one that we recommend.

Healthy Habit

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:16:40 GMT

Playing the lottery is quite a healthy habit when you compare it with many of the other things that people spend their money on. Here are five reasons to feel good about your lottery participation:

Norwich Market Moolah

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:21:48 GMT

A Norwich market stallholder matched five main Lotto numbers and the bonus ball on Saturday 7 June, 2008 to win £103,399. Ramon Swinger, who is 48, was settling down in front on the TV with his partner Pat when he discovered the win.

Happy with their lottery win

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:18:20 GMT

The wonderful thing about the National Lottery is the fantastic stories its winners generate. Have you had a dream that you'd win the lottery? And did you then buy a ticket with those dream numbers? Maybe you have a lotto ticket sitting there and you've not checked to see if it's a winner. Would you spend your winnings on a new car, or medical treatment? Read on to see some quirky ways the lottery can be won, and spent!

Daily Lottery Games

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:46:57 GMT

Daily lottery games are offered all over the world, and our own Daily Play game here in the UK gives us a 1 in 888,030 chance of winning £30,000 by matching all 7 correct numbers from the range 1 to 27. We can even win a free Lucky Dip ticket as a consolation prize if we fail to match any numbers.

Leighton Buzzard Bonus

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:45:35 GMT

Lottery success visited a couple in Leighton Buzzard on Wednesday 2 July, 2008. Chris Hissey and his wife Karen matched five main numbers plus the bonus ball in the Lotto game to win £103,554, but they didn’t discover this until two weeks later.

Hotpicks Match Five

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 09:04:28 GMT

It may have launched six years ago in June 2002, but Saturday 19th July, 2008, saw Hotpicks History being made when three people matched five numbers for the first time ever. Each player wins £130,000 for their efforts.

Subscription Pros and Cons

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:33:10 GMT

Playing lottery games by subscription has both advantages and disadvantages, depending on your point of view. In this article we outline the main subscription pros and cons so that you can decide whether playing by subscription is something you could benefit from.

Fortune Cookie

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:22:19 GMT

Numbers found in a fortune cookie helped an engineer from Romford, Essex, win a six-figure share of the £2,355,880 Lotto jackpot for Wednesday 25 June, 2008. Daniel Williams, from Harold Wood, was one of ten players who matched all six main lottery numbers and won £235,588 in the process.

Lotto Quadruplet

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 08:41:29 GMT

For the first time ever in the history of the UK National Lottery the main Lotto draw has produced a quad or "Lotto Quadruplet", that is to say four sequential numbers. The draw on Saturday 12th July saw the numbers 27, 28, 29 and 30 drop out of the Topaz machine.

Guaranteed Gains

Wed, 9 Jul 2008 11:29:48 GMT

Guaranteed gains aren’t something that lottery players can experience personally, but good causes will always benefit from lotteries. Almost all lottery games assign a proportion of profits to good causes, and these can make participating in the lottery a perfectly productive thing to do even if you don’t win.

Thunderball Success

Mon, 7 Jul 2008 10:11:41 GMT

Thunderball success on 28 June, 2008 has made one family in Wales £250,000 richer. Gareth Beynon, who is 43 years old, matched all five main numbers and the Thunderball itself to give himself and his family a massive financial boost.

Syndicate Disputes

Wed, 2 Jul 2008 10:59:17 GMT

Syndicate disputes are fortunately quite rare, but when they arise they can cause a lot of stress and unease and potentially break up the lottery syndicate altogether. This article reveals several ways to resolve syndicate disputes and explains how many can be avoided in the first place.

Weekly Grand Scratchcard

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:55:16 GMT

A Weekly Grand scratchcard player has won the top prize of £1,000 a week for a whole year, which gives her an extra £52,000 to spend over the next twelve months.

Spanish Euro Triple

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 09:35:33 GMT

One ticket holder in Spain bagged the entire EuroMillions lottery triple rollover jackpot of €58,278,337 (approximately £46,162,270) on the evening of Friday 27th June. With Spain winning the final of Euro 2008 against Germany 1-0 and Rafael Nadal flying high at Wimbledon, it is obviously a good time to be Spanish.

Scratchcard snub to Linford Christie

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:40:19 GMT

What do these people have in common; Sebastian Coe, Steve Redgrave, Kelly Holmes, Jonathan Edwards, Duncan Goodhew, Sally Gunnell? Apart from being Olympic Gold medal winners, they are now gracing the fronts of six new National Lottery Olympic Champions Scratchcards as Britain’s top Olympians.

How to win the Lottery?

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:44:17 GMT

How to win the lottery is a question that all lottery players ask themselves from time to time, and there are a number of answers. One is to join a syndicate, which will improve your chances. Another is to buy more tickets, which will do the same. But some people believe that winning is all a matter of attitude.

Carlisle Lottery Luck

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:16:07 GMT

A builder from Carlisle played a Lucky Dip ticket for the Lotto draw on Saturday 14 June and ended up winning a quarter share of the £12,154,268 jackpot. Anthony Nutbrown, who has four children and six grandchildren, is now £3,038,567 richer, and looking forward to a holiday with his partner Patricia.

Lottery Lucky Dips

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:36:53 GMT

Lottery players who choose to buy Lucky Dip tickets instead of selecting their own numbers could have several advantages over their number-choosing counterparts. This article reveals exactly how Lucky Dip buyers can benefit in ways that people who choose their own numbers can’t.

New Lottery Terminal Unveiled

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:45:42 GMT

The next generation lottery terminal has been unveiled and we can expect to see them in lottery retailers all over the UK from August 2009. This comes after a pilot scheme resulted in 98% of participating retailers reporting that they were satisfied with the installation process.

Number Frequency

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:49:15 GMT

Number frequency is a term that refers to how often a particular lottery number has been drawn, usually covering all draws that have taken place since the game was launched. Although keeping track of number frequency isn’t something that affects the odds of any particular set of numbers being picked in the future, it can be something that makes participating in lotteries more engaging.

Chef Hits Lottery Jackpot

Mon, 9 Jun 2008 10:20:55 GMT

A chef from Blackpole in Worcestershire has won a lottery jackpot worth over £2.6 million when his Lucky Dip ticket matched all six numbers on Saturday 31 May. The winning numbers were 15, 20, 22, 34, 37 and 39, and collectively they have changed Herbert Plant’s life forever.

Lotto Dreams

Wed, 4 Jun 2008 11:44:16 GMT

Lotto games and dreams have long been associated, but this article is not about the kind of dreams we have when we go to sleep at night. Instead, it’s about the daydreams that lottery games help to fuel, and about why lottery dreams can actually be good for us even if we aren’t lucky enough to win.

Toyota Lotto Syndicate

Mon, 2 Jun 2008 11:29:11 GMT

A Lotto syndicate of Toyota workers in Burnaston, Derbyshire matched five main numbers and the bonus ball to win £82,379. The syndicate plays five lines consisting of numbers the members picked at random and one Lucky Dip entry. It was the Lucky Dip line that lived up to its name on Saturday 3 May, 2008.

No Plans for Lottery Millions

Thu, 29 May 2008 15:33:10 GMT

Two couples have recently won lots of money on the lottery, in the UK and in Canada. But the winners are down to earth people who are happy with their lives and don't have any immediate plans to spend, spend, spend.

Budget Boosters

Wed, 28 May 2008 11:17:51 GMT

Would you like to play more lottery lines per year without increasing your overall expenditure? If your answer to this question is yes, here are a number of ways to boost your lottery budget by making very tiny changes in other areas of life that you probably won’t even notice....

Darlington Jackpot

Tue, 27 May 2008 12:32:16 GMT

A lottery player from Darlington has won a jackpot worth more than £2.7 million. Mark Weir, who is 45, matched all six winning numbers of 2, 23, 38, 41, 47 and 49 in the Lotto draw on Wednesday 21 May, 20008.

Playing Multiple Lines

Wed, 21 May 2008 11:19:04 GMT

Playing multiple lines in a lottery is a great way of increasing your chances of winning, and the more lines you play, the more chances you have of winning. Even if you compare playing 1 line twice a week for a year with playing 104 lines in a single draw once a year, the latter option would give you a better chance even though the overall cost of tickets would be the same.

Lotto Wedding

Mon, 19 May 2008 10:23:43 GMT

A Lotto win of £1,477,059 will help a couple who have just had their wedding to enjoy marital life free of financial strain. Martin and Hannah Adamson, who got married on Sunday 4 May near Plymouth, matched all six main numbers in the draw on Saturday 10 May to win a third share of the £4,431,177 jackpot.

Lucky Numbers?

Wed, 14 May 2008 11:19:44 GMT

Lucky numbers are interesting because, although there is no scientific evidence that there is any such thing, even some of the most rational and logical people will consider one or more numbers to be of greater significance than others. Why is this, and what makes luck numbers so appealing?

Legal Lottery Syndicate

Mon, 12 May 2008 10:24:07 GMT

A lottery syndicate of barrister clerks has won £82,379 by matching five main numbers and the bonus ball in the Lotto draw of Saturday 3 May. The London syndicate has fourteen members, so each one will be receiving around £5,884.

Lotto Software

Wed, 7 May 2008 10:21:25 GMT

Lotto software plays an important role in UK Lotto games and also in the way that many players choose their numbers. Although most people never think of the software at work behind the scenes, this article explains why it is so vital in the smooth-running of modern lotteries.

Serious Cash Scratchcard

Mon, 5 May 2008 10:23:54 GMT

A Serious Cash scratchcard has delivered a top prize of £80,000 to a nurse from Wolstanton in Staffordshire. Sandra Locke, who is 49 and works at a general practitioner’s surgery in Stoke, scratched the card bought by her partner Mike, and screamed with delight when it turned out to be a big winner.

Lotto 649

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:33:38 GMT

Lotto 649 is a phrase commonly used to refer to any lottery which requires a player to select six main numbers from the range 1 to 49. Popular 649 (sometimes written as 6/49) lotto games include the UK National Lottery, the Lotto 649 game in Canada and the Loto game in France.

Double Rollover

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:05:19 GMT

A double rollover Lotto draw will be held on Wednesday 30 April because no ticket matched all six main numbers on Saturday. The jackpot is estimated to be worth around £12,000,000.

UK misses Triple Rollover

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:14:38 GMT

One EuroMillions winner scooped €58,367,681 (around £46.3 million) on Friday 18 April by matching the five main numbers and both Lucky Stars. The main numbers were 3, 6, 7, 27 and 50, and the Lucky Stars were 5 and 9.

Scratch Lottery Tickets

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:35:18 GMT

Scratch lottery tickets are very popular in the UK, but where are the luckiest places to buy them? Recently published statistics reveal the top ten locations in the UK for 2008, and the London suburbs of Uxbridge and Southall took the number one slot for the second year in a row.

Bonus Ball Boost

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:25:39 GMT

The bonus ball made the difference between a win of £1,046 and £92,168 for a couple who matched five main numbers in the UK Lotto draw on Saturday 22 March.

Lotto Strategies

Wed, 9 Apr 2008 11:36:28 GMT

Lotto strategies are ideas that can help lottery enthusiasts play their favourite lottery games a little more rationally and methodically. Whilst no lotto strategy can guarantee a win (unless you count the idea of buying every possible combination of numbers), there are a few ideas you can implement to improve your chances.

Eastbourne Jackpot

Mon, 7 Apr 2008 09:57:55 GMT

A couple from Eastbourne in East Sussex are celebrating after matching all six main numbers in the Lotto draw of Saturday 29 March to win £2,367,330.

Unclaimed Millions

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:01:30 GMT

A UK EuroMillions player has missed out on a prize worth almost £7 million by failing to claim within the 180 day lottery deadline.

Millionaire Lifestyle

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:09:20 GMT

Research into the true cost of living a “millionaire lifestyle” has discovered that the average person would need around £5.8 million to finance the millionaire life of their dreams.

Online Lottery Luck

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:55:25 GMT

Playing the Lottery online for the very first time proved to be lucky for a player who won a £2,855,067 jackpot on 12 March.

Lottery Betting

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:38:18 GMT

Lottery betting is something that many bookmakers offer. Visit your friendly neighbourhood bookie and he will no doubt be delighted to let you bet on the numbers that you think will appear in the next lottery drawing. However, comparing the odds you are given at face value could be a bit of a mistake.

Erith Lucky Dip

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:09:16 GMT

A Lucky Dip Lotto ticket bought by a couple in Erith, Bexley, scooped almost £3 million in the draw held on Wednesday 27 February, 2008.

Lottery Luck

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:47:22 GMT

Lotteries are games of chance and therefore cannot be influenced by the player in any physical sense of the word. That said, some people believe that they can increase the amount of luck they have by changing the way they think..

Syndicate Success

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:34:41 GMT

A syndicate of workers at a Wakefield factory won a £3,681,300 slice of a Lotto jackpot after a relative of the syndicate leader dreamed he would win.

Guaranteed Winning System

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 09:16:19 GMT

Winning systems for lotteries are advertised all over the internet, and in almost all cases they are poorly thought out approaches that only make money for the people selling them. We recently came across a chap who said that he had a 'guaranteed winning system' that couldn’t fail, and would we like to hear about it?

4th Birthday Superdraw

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:08:50 GMT

The £95million jackpot rolled-down and was shared amongst 16 match-5 plus one star ticket holders, with each winning around £6,462,181. There were six winners from the UK. Check your tickets!

Triple Rollover Success

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:22:43 GMT

Saturday’s triple lottery rollover jackpot of £18,992,109 was won in its entirety by one ticket purchased at the last minute by Steve and Ida Smith. The Smiths, who live in Hemel Hempstead, play the lottery on a regular basis, but the ticket that made them multi-millionaires was an additional one that Steve almost didn’t buy.

Spending Money

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 10:52:15 GMT

Spending money isn’t normally considered a problem for lottery winners, but it can be if they can’t think of anything to spend it on. Many winners of lottery jackpots enjoy the short-term thrill of buying a new home and a car or two, and maybe even giving up work, but then they hit a brick wall when it comes to deciding what to do with the rest – especially if they have won several million rather than “just” one or two. For those who are in this challenging predicament – and to inspire those who hope to be jackpot winners in the future – here are a few suggestions on how to spend some cash in what we consider to be quite original ways...

The Lost Ticket

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 11:23:47 GMT

A lottery ticket worth £700,000 was lost for two hours, and the owner didn’t even realise it! In fact drama teacher Siobhan O’Brien from Fermanagh in Northern Ireland didn’t know that the ticket in her purse was a winning one for two weeks after the draw had taken place on Wednesday 9 January. The £2.5 million jackpot for that game had been won by four tickets, and hers was one of them, making it worth £649,657.

Triple Rollover Revisited

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:20:57 GMT

Saturday’s triple rollover draw was won by one lucky player, and in doing so they scooped a whopping £18,992,109. Details of the winner aren’t yet known, but if they are aware of their success at this point then we can assume they are beside themselves with excitement. Sixteen players came close to the jackpot by matching five numbers and the bonus ball, and won £143,051 each.

Weird Science

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 09:16:51 GMT

The odds of any given set of numbers being drawn in a fair and legal lottery game (such as Lotto or EuroMillions) are identical, but there are millions of players who base their entries on pseudo-mathematical ideas. None of the ideas that follow hold any water when examined from a purely scientific or statistical point of view, but knowing about them will certainly enable you to hold your own if they ever crop up in conversation over dinner…

New Year, new bank balance

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:10:46 GMT

Winning a lottery jackpot must be a wonderful experience, but winning over the Christmas and New Year means that the lucky person starts a new year with a hefty bank balance instead of debt.

Bachelor Wins EuroMillions

Mon, 7 Jan 2008 11:42:16 GMT

A EuroMillions lottery win made Christmas 2007 one to remember for a bachelor living in Warrenpoint, Count Down. John McGivern, who has six sisters living nearby, matched five main numbers and one Lucky Star number to win £373,854 in the EuroMillions draw that was held on Friday 21 December.

Picking Personal Numbers

Wed, 2 Jan 2008 13:17:48 GMT

Many lottery jackpot winners attribute their success to the fact that they picked numbers that were personally meaningful to them. Since all lines of six numbers have an equal chance of being selected at random (a 1 in 13,983,816 chance, to be precise) this theory isn’t scientifically valid, but you certainly won’t lessen your odds of winning by picking personal numbers, so here are some ideas if you’d like to try this approach...

Christmas Scratchcard Win

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 12:37:50 GMT

A £100,000 Christmas Scratchcard win made Christmas 2007 something extra special for a Basingstoke couple. Councillor Elizabeth Lovelock and her husband Robert won the top prize in the festive scratchcard game, but because they had made previous plans to go Christmas shopping in Berlin, they couldn’t claim that prize until they returned from the trip. To keep the scratchcard safe in the meantime, they decided to take it to Berlin with them!

The Secret to Winning?

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:32:03 GMT

Winning the lottery is, as we all know, a matter of pure chance. The odds of one set of numbers being drawn are exactly the same as the odds of any other set of numbers being drawn. From a purely mathematical perspective it can therefore be said that the lottery is a totally random event which cannot be influenced by anyone.

Not the People's Giveaway

Mon, 3 Dec 2007 12:40:08 GMT

Billed as the ‘People’s £50million Lottery Giveaway’ when it was launched on 13 November 2007, this fantastic amount of money was to be given away to one of four worthy causes as voted for by Britain’s lottery players. Now the whole idea is in danger of becoming another TV phone-in farce.

Rich for Christmas

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 12:05:50 GMT

A Lotto prize worth £909,414 has been won by a couple from Colchester after they matched all six numbers to take a one-third share of the £2,728,242 jackpot for Wednesday 14 November.