UK National Lottery Tickets

The National Lottery was launched in the UK in 1994 amid much fanfare and remains incredibly popular among players today under its rebranded name of Lotto. A number of changes have been made since it was first established but the game still gives ticket holders the opportunity to win fabulous prizes, with the jackpots having the capacity to climb beyond £55 million.

To take part, UK Lotto players select six numbers from the range 1 to 59 consisting of either the player’s own number selection or one generated at random. When the draw takes place a total of seven numbers are drawn from the same ball pool. The first six numbers are used as the main numbers and any player(s) matching all six numbers wins the jackpot. In the event that two or more players correctly match the six main balls, the jackpot is shared equally between each winning ticket holder. The seventh number drawn is a Bonus Ball number and is used to determine the value of the second-tier prize, which is won by matching five main numbers plus the Bonus Ball.

In total there are six winning tiers and prizes can be won by matching two or more main numbers. The odds of winning the jackpot stand at 1 in more than 45 million, but the odds of winning any prize are about 1 in 9.3. The biggest Lotto jackpot ever given away was worth £66 million and was split between two participants on 9th January 2016.

Lotto ticket sales also help to raise money for a wide variety of good causes including charities, health, education, the environment, sports, arts and heritage projects. The UK Lotto has helped to generate more than £34 billion for such good causes since it first launched in 1994, so anyone who plays the game can be proud that they are helping some very worthy projects while putting themselves in the running to become the next jackpot winner.

The main UK Lotto game has six prize levels, including the jackpot itself. The table below illustrates the number of matching balls required to win at each level as well as the odds of winning:

For more information regarding Lotto, including the latest results, visit National Lottery.