UK Lotto – Online Lottery Review

UK National Lottery Review

UK Lotto is the most commonly played lottery in the UK. It is organized by Camelot Ltd. and governed by the UK National Lottery, and it is their most popular game. Recently, the UK Lotto started gaining traction globally, but the majority of players remain native to the island country.

The UK Lotto is popular for a reason – they offer impressive jackpots, the rules of the game are simple, and although the odds aren’t better than most lotteries, it’s a fun lottery to play. Ready to try playing the UK Lotto?

Before you start playing any lottery, it is essential to study all the rules, know the odds of winning, and any other details regarding the game. This way, you are able to understand what to expect and create a system by which your chances of winning could be better.

This is why we are giving you this in-depth UK Lotto review that will answer all of your questions and show where UK Lotto sits among the top lotteries in the world.

UK National Lottery Site

The UK National Lottery claims they make dreams come true. And when we take all their games into account, we can safely say this is true. In the case of the UK Lotto, Camelot Ltd. runs the game the same as they run many other lotteries in their portfolio, which ultimately speaks of their legitimacy. The UK National Lottery Commission governs all the lotteries in the country, and they even have an official lottery website through which lottery fans can officially buy tickets.

This is why there’s no reason to doubt the UK Lotto nor wonder if you’re going to get your big jackpot. With consistent playing, big wins are guaranteed.

UK Lotto History

There are written shreds of evidence that the earliest national lottery in England was organized centuries ago in 1694 and 1967 as a way to raise capital. These were financial experiments that did not last long. This is why 1994 is considered as the year when lottery playing officially began in England.

This is when the UK National Lottery was established and ran its first game. Later that year, the National Lottery UK gambling commission transferred the UK Lotto franchise to the Camelot Group to organize it on their behalf. The first draw of this lottery game under that group took place years ago, on November 19, 1994.

UK Lotto Transformation

In October 2002, the game was rebranded from The National Lottery UK to Lotto or the UK Lotto as it is known in other countries now. Since then, the gameplay has undergone a few considerable changes and transformations in its format. Some of these considerably affected the odds and the way the national lottery was played. Here are some of the most significant changes:

– In October 2013, the Millionaire Raffle was created

– Two years after, in 2015, the pool of numbers increased from 49 to 59, which lowered the chances of winning the jackpot, making the odds not so favourable

– The initial jackpot cap was £50 million, but in 2016 that got decreased to £22 million. This move discouraged many players but also increased the chances of winning as the second tier at this national lottery

– In 2018 the prize amount for each secondary tier became fixed

– The same year the Millionaire Raffle was eliminated so that the second-tier prizes could be set as fixed

– The jackpot cap was also eliminated in 2018 and was replaced by a maximum rollover number. That number was assigned to five rollovers, after which the jackpot is released to the lower-tier winners.

UK Lotto Donations

One of the reasons why we recommend the UK Lotto is the fact that a large sum of its revenue gets donated to many charities and organizations across the country. For instance, the latest national lottery reports as of 2020 state that in 2019 there were £7.2 billion in bets sales made while £1.5 billion was donated to good causes the same year on their behalf. That means, each week approx. £30,000,000 is raised for good causes, which sets a record in donations when compared to other lotteries across the world.

These are incredible numbers raised and donated on their behalf, and all these donations are given to various charities and community project, for the Wembley Stadium, Olympic medals, The Angel of The North, for renovating and restoring heritage sites, donations to the homeless, support for UK’s archaeology projects, wildlife preservation projects, and many more.

Since its first draw in 1994, the UK Lotto made 5,500 people millionaires. Also, reports say that about 30 million people in the UK, or about 70% of adults, play the UK National Lottery once per month at a minimum.

This is why the UK Lotto has been extremely popular across the country for most of its existence. All these charity works resulted in people buying about 15 to 45 million lottery bets for every draw. Nowadays, with the appearance of online lotteries, the UK Lotto has attracted attention from neighbouring countries too but also from lotto lovers all across the globe.

How To Play UK Lotto

The UK Lotto is straightforward to play. When a player purchases a bet, they have to select six numbers from a pool of numbers ranging from 1 to 59. In order to play for the jackpot, the player has to match all six numbers correctly.

However, apart from the jackpot, there are other, lower tiers of prizes that require slightly different gameplay. Namely, if six matching numbers were needed for the jackpot, the second tier requires five matching numbers and the bonus ball number.

However, what is different from most lotteries is that in the UK Lottery, you don’t choose a seventh number as the bonus ball number. Instead, that number falls within the six numbers that you select when you first buy your bet. If you manage to match five of the six initial numbers, and then your sixth number does not match the jackpot but matches the bonus ball number, you are awarded the second-tier prize.

The rest of the prize tiers are won in the same way. By matching a set amount of numbers from the six primary numbers.

UK Lotto’s Jackpot

In the most recent changes of the UK Lotto, the 22 million pounds cap was switched to a five draw cap. This means that regardless of the amount that the jackpot reaches, the fifth draw is when it has to be won by someone who matched all six numbers. However, if no one matches the six, the jackpot will roll down to the secondary prize tier. So, someone who has five numbers matched instead of six plus the bonus ball number will win the jackpot.

This is a great format that not all lotteries have, and it doubles the chances of winning the jackpot with each fifth draw.

The Odds of Winning the UK Lotto

The odds of winning any prize at the UK national lottery are 1 in 9.3. When you take into consideration that it only has six prize tiers, this isn’t such a bad deal. With that said, here are the odds for winning each prize tier and the numbers required to be matched for all of them.

– The chances to win the jackpot or the first tier prize are 1 in 45,057,474. When compared to the US Powerball, which has 1 in 292,201,338, and the other European lotteries like EuroMillions that has 1 in 1 in 139,838,160, and the EuroJackpot with 1 in 95,344,200 chances of winning, the UK Lotto is pretty favourable. On the other hand, the rollover cap of five draws significantly lowers the amount of the jackpot. This means that lotteries like Canada’s Lotto 6/49 could potentially offer bigger jackpots at even better odds of winning.

– For the second-tier prize, you are getting £1,000,000, and the odds of winning are 1 in 7,509,579. For this tier, you need to match five of the six with the additional bonus ball drawn.

– The third tier prize offers £1,750, which is a significant drop from the £1,000,000 reward for the second tier and can be won with odds of 1 in 144,415. To get it, the player has to match five of the six selected numbers.

– For the fourth prize, a player has to match four numbers correctly, and they will win £140. The chances of doing so are 1 in 2,180.

– The fifth tier prize awards its winners with £30, and the chances of winning are 1 in 96. The player has to match three numbers in order to win this tier.

– The last tier, the sixth, gets you a free play as a reward, and the chances of scoring such a prize are 1 in 10.

As you can see, the prizes below the second tier drop significantly, but the odds do increase, which makes this a fair game. Continual playing will get you some of the awards easily.

UK Lotto Drawing Time

The drawing for the UK Lotto occurs twice per week on Wednesday and on Saturday. The Wednesday draw takes place at 8 pm UTC, while the Saturday night draw is at 7:45 pm UTC. The drawings are regulated and broadcasted live from the Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire.

The Biggest UK Lotto Jackpots

The UK Lotto made more than 5,500 people millionaires to date. However, of those, some won sky-rocketing jackpots while others were affected by the rollover cap and won less. However, we are still talking about double-digit millions, so it is still extraordinary amounts. Here are some of the most notable wins overall:

– £66 million was won on January 9, 2016

– £35.1 million was won on April 6, 2016

– £32.5 million was won on February 13, 2016

Indeed these sums aren’t as high as those of other lotteries in the UK and worldwide, but they are still fantastic nonetheless. The reason why these numbers are all from 2016 is that later on, the rollover cap was applied. So now, it is improbable that the jackpot will ever reach these kinds of levels again. However, even with the cap on, getting to the upper £20-million range is still possible, or even the £30+ million range.

Playing in Syndicates

The most favourable thing about this lottery is that it can be played by syndicates. In fact, based on reports by the UK National Lottery, every fifth large prize is won by a syndicate. Playing in such groups massively increases your chances of winning at a very low cost, but of course, you have to balance that with the fact that all winnings have to be shared among all people in the group.

In order to play the UK Lotto as a syndicate, you have to download a ‘Syndicate Agreement’ from the National Lottery. This syndicate agreement has to be signed by the syndicate manager or the group leader. It serves as a contract between the leader and the group and ensures that he or she won’t take all the winnings for themselves.

Once this agreement is signed, the leader has an obligation to collect the payments from the other members, buy the tickets, and pick the numbers that were agreed upon at each drawing.

UK Lotto Payout Options

There is only one way to get your cash prize with the UK Lotto, and that is with a lump sum. There is no annuity option for the jackpot winnings.

UK Taxes

One of the most extraordinary things about winning a lottery of any kind in the UK is that you don’t have to pay any taxes to the amount, no matter how big the prize is. The country doesn’t consider lottery winnings as income. This is why players can get the exact amount of the prize that was initially advertised.

However, UK nationals will have to pay interest once they deposit their money in their bank account. This interest is paid on the amount of money they will be earning because of the deposit. They could also pay some interest should they decide to donate to others, including family members.

On the other hand, if playing from another country, you won’t have to pay any taxes and any interest on anything when you take the money and transfer them into your foreign bank account. However, depending on your country’s lottery laws and regulations, you still may be subject to taxation. In order to avoid any unpleasant surprises or even fines, we suggest contacting your officials to check your country’s lottery tax regulations. This is best done even before you win a prize.

Can You Play UK Lotto Online?

The UK Lotto can be played online through different licensed state lotteries as well as the official UK National Lottery site. If you are not a UK national or a resident but you want to play, when buying an online bet, you will pay the online lottery agency platform that carries this lotto. Their agents buy the bets on your behalf.

Customer Service at the UK National Lottery

The UK National Lottery has a customer service available for the UK Lotto. You can get in touch with their agents during regular UK business hours. You can contact them via telephone, email, and snail-mail. There is no live chat, but they do offer helpful instructions on how to send a specific email for complaints.

UK Lotto – Would we recommend it?

The UK Lotto, with its simple format of play, is a great game offering fairly decent odds of winning. The prizes are also solid, and the entire game is regulated by the UK National Lottery, which is a governmental body. Camelot Ltd. is the group that organizes this lottery, and they have many other lotteries in their portfolio.

All these facts attest that the lottery is legit to play, and no rip off is involved in the draws or the payouts. Additionally, they donate a lot of the revenue to social projects, charities, and other organizations. Therefore, we would definitely recommend the UK Lotto as an excellent lottery game to try your luck in.