UK National Lottery
The UK National Lottery, or Lotto, uses what’s known as a 6/49 matrix - which means that when playing the Lotto, you need to select 6 numbers from a pool of numbers from 1 to 49 – if you match all 6 numbers drawn then you will be a jackpot winner.
The jackpot “rolls over” each time the jackpot is not won and is added onto the following draw’s jackpot, increasing in size until somebody wins it. The UK Lotto produces jackpots that can reach huge figures and has reached £42 million in the past.
How to win
Aside from the jackpot itself, there are 4 other ways in which you can win on the UK Lotto - with prizes to be won if you match either 5 main numbers plus the bonus number (an extra 7th number picked after the oringinal 6), 5 main numbers, 4 main numbers or even just 3 main numbers. The cost of playing the UK Lotto is just £1 per 6 number selection. A player must be 16 years of age or over to be eligible to purchase a ticket for any of the UK National Lottery games including the UK Lotto. If playing online you must be based in the UK.
Checking Results
The draws are shown live on television on Saturdays at 7.30pm GMT on BBC1 and on Wednesdays from 10.35pm also on BBC1. You can check results online at the National Lotto website, local or national newspapers or at the shops that sell lottery tickets.
Who Dares Wins
The chances of you winning a prize in the National Lotto are not that bad - 1 in 54.
The chances of winning a Lotto UK jackpot and matching all 6 main numbers are 1 in 13.98 million.
Matching 5 main numbers plus the bonus number, the odds are 1 in 2.33 million.
Matching 5 main numbers is 1 in 456 and for a prize on the fourth tier the odds are reduce right down to just 1 in 55,492.
To match 4 of the main numbers the odds are 1 in 1.033
Who are the Winners?
The UK Lottery has raised over £22 billion towards good causes such as health, education, environmental causes and charities. Lottery proceeds also go towards sports, the arts and heritage causes.
Good Luck!