National Lottery

About National Lottery

Established in 1994, the National Lottery has been run by the Camelot Group since then and has given away over £71bn in tax-free prizes over more than a quarter of a century. With its familiar adverts, ticket sales terminals and cross-fingered logo, it’s become part of the national scenery.

What’s more, the lottery creates around seven new millionaires a week, with nine million weekly winners. Since launch, over 5,550 people have become overnight millionaires.

Set up your account and play online, buy paper tickets or use the Barclays Pingit app to buy lucky dip tickets for the EuroMillions and main draw.

Good causes

Players give around £30m on average to the lottery’s good causes on a weekly basis, while hundreds of new projects receive support every week. The charitable work helps boost local communities, environmental efforts, creative talent, sporting teams and youth schemes and projects for the elderly and more. Each postcode area of the UK has some 200 projects.

Games galore

As you’d expect, the available games have developed considerably over the years. The main and most popular draw of the National Lottery rebranded as Lotto in 2002, follows the traditional format of choosing five numbers between 1 and 59. A bonus ball affects those who match five numbers. From October 2013, the ticket price was increased to £2.

Then there’s the international blockbuster EuroMillions, with its whopping jackpots, alongside scratchcards and Instant Win games such as Monopoly Gold and Love Island Cash Buster.

Meanwhile, Thunderball involves choosing five numbers between 1 and 39, plus a Thunderball number between 1 and 14, with entry costing £1 a board. Additionally, the Lotto and EuroMillions HotPicks give each week an extra thrill and offers wins anytime, anywhere.

Finally, Set for Life has an amazing monthly prize of £10,000 for 30 years. How would you spend it?

Summing up

Playing the National Lottery is a safe way to have a flutter, and it’s all strictly and thoroughly regulated by the UK’s Gambling Commission. Equally, the National Lottery takes responsible play seriously, aiming to encourage many people to play a little, rather than to have fewer, more prolific players.

With many ways to play these days, the lotto has come a long way since 1994. Have a flutter and see for yourself.