PORTABLE Download Lotto Draw Machine
Glenda Cavicchia
The first draw took place on 19 November 1994 with a television programme presented by Noel Edmonds. The first numbers drawn were 30, 3, 5, 44, 14 and 22, the bonus was 10, and seven jackpot winners shared a prize of 5,874,778.[10]
Originally, the draw machines for Lotto and Lotto Extra were the Criterion model, manufactured by Beitel Lottery Products, which was acquired by Smartplay International Inc. in 1997, but on 25 October 2003, Camelot replaced them with Smartplay's Magnum I model. These machines were called Topaz, Sapphire, Amethyst, Opal, Garnet & Moonstone, while the older Criterion machines from 1994 were called Merlin, Arthur, Lancelot & Guinevere, with the addition of Vyvyan & Galahad in 2000. On 21 November 2009, Camelot replaced its older Lotto draw machines again. The new machines have the same names of those used on earlier machines, except Vyvyan & Galahad. On 9 May 2010, new machines for the Thunderball game were introduced, replacing Smartplay's older Halogen I model that had been in use since 1999, following the major rule changes on Thunderball. The current Lotto machines are the Smartplay Magnum II model, and the current Thunderball and Set For Life machines are the Smartplay Halogen II model.[12][13] The Thunderball & Set for Life machines are all named Excalibur, named after King Arthur's sword.
Players buy tickets with their choice of six different numbers between 1 and 59; there is provision for random numbers to be generated automatically for those who do not wish to choose, known as a 'Lucky Dip'. The entry fee to the Lotto draw was set at 1 per board from its introduction, and increased to 2 in October 2013.
The draw is conducted twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays, except that, between 1994 and 2009, a draw on Christmas Day was moved to Christmas Eve; since 2010, draws are held on Christmas Day if that was a Wednesday or Saturday. Saturday draws started on 19 November 1994, under the name 'National Lottery'; the first Wednesday draw was on 5 February 1997. All of the draws are shown live on their YouTube channel at 20:00 on Wednesdays, and at 19:45 on Saturdays.
Lotto was originally called The National Lottery, but was renamed Lotto in an update on 18 May 2002 after ticket sales decreased. Lotto is by far the most popular draw, with around 15 to 45 million tickets sold each draw. The most winners for a single jackpot was 133 in January 1995, each player winning 122,510.[18]
In the draw, six numbered balls are drawn without replacement from a set of 59 balls numbered from 1 to 59 (formerly 1 to 49 until October 2015). A further Bonus Ball is also drawn, which affects only players who match five numbers.
There are six prize tiers,[19] which are awarded to players who match at least two of the six drawn numbers, with prizes increasing for matching more of the drawn numbers. The players who match all six drawn numbers win equal shares of the jackpot; the chance of doing so is 1 in 45,057,474. Similarly, if four or five balls are matched, the relevant prize is divided equally between all who match that many balls.
In the same year on 1 June 2002, Camelot had introduced another special one-off jackpot only draw to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II. Whilst the estimated jackpot for the main Lotto draw that evening was 6,600,000, the jackpot for the Lotto Golden Jubilee Draw was 10,000,000.[23]
Again on 6 November 2004, to celebrate The National Lottery's 10th Anniversary, Camelot once again introduced another special one-off jackpot only draw, known as the Lotto 10th Anniversary Draw. The jackpot for this bonus draw, like with the Lotto Golden Jubilee Draw was 10,000,000.
These bonus draws were included in the main Lotto game and gave players another chance at winning the jackpot on their Lotto ticket, using the same six numbers entered into the main draw. The rules were the same as Lotto Extra where players must match all six numbers to win the jackpot..mw-parser-output div.crossreferencepadding-left:0.mw-parser-output .hatnotefont-style:italic.mw-parser-output div.hatnotepadding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em.mw-parser-output .hatnote ifont-style:normal.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnotemargin-top:-0.5em(see below)
The arrival of the "New Lotto" meant bigger jackpots with an estimated average of 1.1 million extra for Saturday's draw and 400,000 on Wednesday. Players matching three numbers receive an extra 15, up from 10 before and an extra 40 for matching 4 numbers. Those matching five numbers receive 500 less, and 50,000 less when matching five numbers + the bonus ball, compared to the former system.[27]
As part of the refresh, a new Lotto Raffle was introduced, with at least 50 winners of 20,000 per draw.[28] The announcement and launch of the refreshed Lotto game caused controversy due to the price increase (dubbed as a "tax on the poor").[29][30] The new game launched with a 10,000,000 jackpot and 1,000 Lotto Raffle winners of 20,000.[31]
From 10 October 2015, Camelot announced further changes to the Lotto game which increased the pool of numbers from 49 to 59. Rollovers are no longer limited in number, instead the size of the jackpot is capped; the cap is reached after about 14 rollovers. When the jackpot gets to 50 million, if no-one matches all six main numbers the jackpot will rollover to the following draw. In the event nobody matches all six numbers on that draw the jackpot "rolls down" and is combined with the prize fund for the next prize category where there is at least one winner.
Since the rule changes in October 2015 there is also a "match 2" prize of a free lucky dip ticket for another draw, with odds of doing so at 1 in 10. This created much criticism as the breakdown of prizes announced by Camelot includes the value of these prizes (2 each winner) within the draw's prize fund even though each match 2 prize winner does not see any monetary value unless their ticket matches three main numbers or more in the following draw. Included with each Lotto ticket is the Millionaire Lotto Raffle where 20 players win 20,000 each and one player wins 1 million per draw.
In January 2016, the Lotto jackpot reached the 50 million cap and rolled over once more to reach a record-breaking 66 million. This was won by two ticket holders who received 33 million each.[32] In August of that year, the jackpot cap was lowered to 22 million. If nobody won the jackpot when it reached 22 million or more, it would roll to the next draw one final time. Then, the jackpot must be won: if no-one matched all six main numbers, the jackpot prize was to be shared by the players with the most winning numbers.
From October 2015 until October 2018, the total prize fund was 47.50% of draw sales in a normal week, including the raffle. The three-ball prize winners, with odds of 96 to 1,[33] received 25 each; the two-ball prize winners received a free 2 entry. 17.82% of the sales are divided as shown in the table and split equally with the number of winners for each selection. In October 2018 the Lotto Raffle was discontinued.
Lotto Event Draws.All prize levels have a fixed prize amount. Due to this payout structure on occasion there will be a larger allocated prize fund than required to pay out all winners. This additional prize money is then placed into a reserve fund which is used when additional winners have winning matches. Once this surplus amount reaches a specified value a special event "must be won" draw is offered usually with a jackpot of 15-20million.(rolling down if no match 6 winner). On Saturday 24 August 2019, Camelot also run a "double prize" event. All cash prizes were doubled although this has not been repeated since.
Lotto Hotpicks uses the main Lotto draw for its numbers but is a different game. The player chooses both the numbers and the number of draw balls they want to try to match, up to a maximum of five. However, if the player does not match all the numbers chosen, they are not a winner. The National Lottery describes Hotpicks as "five games in one", because the player has a choice of five ways of playing the game, each offering different odds and payouts.
The first Thunderball draw was held on 12 June 1999 and the draw was originally only held on Saturdays, however, from 23 October 2002, the draw was held on Wednesdays too. From 2006 to 2008, only the Saturday draw was televised, while on Wednesday the draw took place prior to the live TV show and the winning results were announced during the show.
The rules of Thunderball changed substantially on 9 May 2010. Before this date, Thunderball matches were drawn from numbers 1 to 34; there was no prize for matching the Thunderball number alone, and the top prize (for matching five main numbers and the Thunderball) was half the current jackpot at 250,000. After this date, the Friday draw was introduced in addition to the Wednesday and Saturday draws. Following the change of rules, while the chance of winning anything on Thunderball more than doubled, the chance of winning the top prizes more than halved. The Tuesday draw was added on 30 January 2018.
On 18 March 2019, the first Set For Life draw took place. The game offers a top prize of 10,000 per month for thirty years (3,600,000). Each line costs 1.50, and draws take place every Monday and Thursday at 20:00. Players choose five main numbers from 1 to 47, and one "Life Ball" from 1 to 10.[36]
On Saturday 7 February 2004 the lottery operator Camelot launched a pan-European lottery: EuroMillions. The first draw took place on Friday 13 February 2004 in Paris. The UK, France and Spain were involved initially. Lotteries from Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland joined the draw on 8 October 2004. The draws are currently made in Paris and shown recorded in the UK on the official website twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays, approximately three hours after the draw has taken place. The entry fee to the EuroMillions draw is 2.50 per board. The odds of winning the jackpot are 139,838,160 to 1.
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