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. Each Lotto game is comprised of two draws from separate draw pools, and these numbers are entered into both of them. It's possible to win prizes in both draws on the same night.

On the night, a total of seven numbers are drawn from the same ball pool (Round 1), and then again from a separate draw pool (Round 2). The first six numbers are used as the main numbers and any player(s) matching all six numbers wins the jackpot – the jackpot is shared across both rounds of drawings, so if two players win it on Round 1 and one player wins on Round 2, the jackpot will be shared in three equal portions.

The seventh number drawn is a Bonus Ball number, which is used only to determine second-tier winners. To win this substantial prize, you must match five main numbers plus the Bonus Ball.

In total there are six prize tiers, which can be won by matching two or more main numbers. The odds of winning the jackpot are approximately 1 in 22.5 million, but the odds of winning any prize are about 1 in 9.3 for each Round. The biggest Lotto jackpot ever given away was worth £66 million and was split between two participants on 9th January 2016. The Lotto jackpot is only allowed to roll-up for five draws. If this happens, the 6th draw becomes a Must-Be-Won draw, where the jackpot pool is distributed between the lower prize tiers if there are no winners.

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.