National Lottery Blog

Late Lottery Winner

Tue, 6 Jan 2009 09:18:33 GMT

I recently read about Donald Peters, a 79 year old man who bought two lottery tickets for ten weeks and then sadly died just a couple of hours later. The only reason why this made the news was because his wife happened to check his numbers a few weeks after his death and discovered that one of the tickets had won a prize worth $10 million.

Errors and Glitches

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:01:10 GMT

Errors and glitches aren’t things that we like to associate with lottery games, but they can and do occur from time to time. For example, a computer glitch prevented an estimated 800,000 tickets from being purchased for the Lotto draw on Saturday 27 December, 2008.

Lottery Advice

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 10:10:31 GMT

Last week I identified six types of lottery player, and stated that regardless of the game you play, you would fit neatly into one of the categories I outlined. In this week’s Lotto Blog entry, I offer lottery advice for each type of player – think of it as my Christmas gift for 2008!

Lottery Players

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:33:37 GMT

Lottery players come in many different shapes and sizes and from a wide variety of backgrounds, but it seems to me that there are just a handful of categories that we can all fit into. Here are my suggested categories – which one do you belong to?

everyone wins

Tue, 9 Dec 2008 11:02:10 GMT

Everyone who plays National Lottery games such as the Lotto or EuroMillions benefits in a number of ways regardless of whether or not they happen to win a cash prize. This week I thought it would be a good idea to remind ourselves of the various ways in which everyone wins.

Christmas 2008

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 10:08:59 GMT

Okay, it’s official – the countdown to Christmas 2008 has now started and we have just a few Lotto draws left before Santa once again shuns the front door in favour of the chimney. That means it’s as good a time as any to think about this year’s options when it comes to buying gifts for the lottery player in your life...

Lotteries and Recession

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:21:57 GMT

With the UK and many other countries in the grip of what most commentators agree will be a fierce recession, lottery games offer a glimmer of hope to players and authorised retailers alike. That’s because lotteries tend to be just as popular in a struggling economy as they are in a booming one, and there are some very good reasons for that kind of perennial popularity...

Unclaimed Lottery Prizes

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:10:09 GMT

As regular readers of my lottery blog will know, I sometimes like to challenge the conventions of the National Lottery organisers and propose a different way of doing things. This week is one of those times, and my proposal on this occasion concerns the way that unclaimed lottery prizes are dealt with.

Luck Streams

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:13:02 GMT

Ever since the media went crazy about the credit crunch and predicted a future of gloom and doom, I have been thinking about National Lottery games in a whole new way. It seems to me that people enjoy playing lotteries because they are an effective way to set up ‘luck streams’ that can, if fate deems it right to do so, enrich our lives like nothing else, regardless of the current economic difficulties.

Lotto Thinking

Tue, 4 Nov 2008 10:20:21 GMT

I recently read that the National Lottery has invested £10 million in a new advertising campaign that is designed to celebrate and encourage the ‘Lotto way of thinking’. For those of you who haven’t seen any of the TV commercials, Lotto thinking can best be described as optimism, thinking big and looking on the bright side of life.

Lottery Research

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:53:06 GMT

Lottery research is, according to my own definition, any research that is conducted on behalf of national lottery organisers. I suppose that sometime such research might be genuinely interesting and useful, but I have a sneaking suspicion that in many cases it is simply a way for lotteries to get themselves more column inches in newspapers.

Investing Your Lottery Fortune

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 10:16:52 GMT

If you are lucky enough to win a lottery fortune, you will undoubtedly want to invest a large portion of it in your future. But where should you put your money if you want it to be safe and secure? In the current economic climate, where even large banks are struggling to stay in business, this is a subject well worth serious consideration.

Six Pink Balls

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 10:26:37 GMT

Six pink balls. That might sound like the punch line to a particularly rude joke, but it is in fact an observation about the UK Lottery results for Saturday 11 October, 2008. All six winning numbers were in the twenties: 20, 21, 23, 24, 27, and 28, and that meant that, for the first time in British lottery history, they were all the same colour.

Superdraw Value

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 10:40:54 GMT

The words on the lips of most lottery player for the past few weeks have been ‘EuroMillions Superdraw’. First we were talking about our chances of winning £100 million or more, and then after the draw had taken place we were talking about those who were lucky enough to receive a £7 million slice of the jackpot.

Online Lottery Advantages

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:35:57 GMT

There are a number of advantages to playing online lottery games, and this week I thought it would be a good idea to highlight the main ones. If you have previously considered the idea of playing online scratchcards or buying your tickets online then these advantages should encourage you to take the plunge and discover for yourself how easy it is.

International Lottery

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:24:23 GMT

I read in a newspaper recently that we could be just four years away from the launch of a new international lottery – something I previously talked about in my World Lottery post back in February 2007.

Syndicate Solution

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 10:31:21 GMT

Credit crunch. Stock market crash. Economic downturn. Rising inflation. We are hearing all of these phrases with increasing regularity, and if you have not yet started playing the Lotto as part of a syndicate then I believe there is no better time to start doing so than right now.

Jackpot Dreams

Tue, 9 Sep 2008 09:44:56 GMT

All lottery players have their jackpot dreams – fantasies about what they would do with their many millions should they happen to match all of the right numbers at the right time. My own jackpot dreams have evolved over the years, as the size of National Lottery jackpots has grown...

Exuberant Winners

Tue, 2 Sep 2008 10:04:45 GMT

Sometimes I think that Lotto winners are just a tad too exuberant. I’m not talking about those who have won several million pounds or euros by landing a jackpot – exuberance in those circumstances is understandable – but when the prize is more modest some people seem to get a bit too carried away.

New Football Pools

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:23:04 GMT

Before the UK National Lottery was launched in November 1994, the only way to win £1,000,000 or more was by playing the football pools. The pools declined in popularity once the lottery captured the imagination of the public, but now the New Football Pools are back to try and reclaim the ground they lost.

Supersize My Powerball

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:16:24 GMT

The Powerball lottery currently played twice a week in 29 American states as well as the District of Columbia and U.S. Virgin Islands, will be expanded in January 2009.

London 2012

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 10:17:15 GMT

The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games are well underway as I write this lottery blog entry, and I am getting more caught up in the event than I thought I would. So much so that I can’t wait for London 2012 to bring the action to the UK.

Lottery Betting

Tue, 5 Aug 2008 13:55:57 GMT

Lottery betting allows you to bet on numbers being drawn in a lottery game without demanding that you play the lottery itself. The advantage of lottery betting is that it allows you to win when just one of your numbers is picked.

EuroMillions System

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:56:40 GMT

There is nothing magical about lottery systems, but they can help you to play smart instead of randomly, and playing smart has advantages. This clever EuroMillions system guarantees that you will always get both Lucky Star numbers correct.

Winning Fantasy

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:28:32 GMT

A National Lottery winning fantasy is something that most players have. In the majority of cases the fantasy might include taking long, exotic holidays, saying good bye to the nine-to-five grind and enjoying the kind of freedom that only financial independence can bring.

Shared Jackpots

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 06:20:31 GMT

I have spoken before about the importance of avoiding commonly picked numbers when playing the lottery, but the Lotto draw of Wednesday 25 June, 2008, illustrated precisely why you should heed that advice.

Scratchcard Instalments

Tue, 8 Jul 2008 10:26:35 GMT

Scratchcard fans might have noticed that there seems to be a growing trend in favour of dividing top scratchcard prizes into a series of smaller weekly, monthly or annual instalments.

Free Lottery tickets

Tue, 1 Jul 2008 10:26:18 GMT

Free lottery tickets don’t have to be a fantasy if you define the word free as “without additional personal cost”. We can all increase the number of lottery tickets we play each week if we shave a little off our other regular expenses. Let me explain...

Arizona Lottery System

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:00:13 GMT

I recently read about an Arizona Lottery winner who, having become frustrated by the fact that his regular set of numbers always seemed to be one away from the actual winning numbers, decided to adopt a new system. What he did was take his regular numbers and write out a new line of numbers that were one away from the originals.

Scratchcard Collections

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:51:28 GMT

Scratchcard collections aren’t as common as stamp collections, but they do exist, and anyone who plays these games on a regular basis should think twice before they throw their losing tickets away.

Random Numbers

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:35:39 GMT

I watched Derren Brown’s Trick or Treat television show a couple of days ago and I found it particularly interesting because it focused on superstition.

Free Instant Win

Tue, 3 Jun 2008 10:17:01 GMT

Instant wins games are very popular with lottery players, and in today’s technologically advanced world we can play both traditional scratchcards and also their online equivalents. I have also discovered a way to play the latter for free. Bear with me and I’ll let you into my secret.

Improving the Odds

Tue, 27 May 2008 10:38:48 GMT

Improving the odds of winning a lottery game always involves buying more than one ticket, but there is more than one way of doing this, and simply throwing more money at the lottery isn’t the best approach. There is a slightly more methodical way of proceeding that, in my opinion, is well worth some serious consideration.

Money Matters

Tue, 20 May 2008 10:31:50 GMT

I recently read about a Missouri lottery player who won $800,000 by playing the Powerball game and spent an extra $1 to activate the Power Play option. This was a good move, because the Power Play number came up in addition to her other numbers, so her $200,000 was multiplied four times. But what she said after the win stunned me.

EuroMillions or Lotto?

Tue, 13 May 2008 10:32:19 GMT

Lots of National Lottery players participate in both the UK Lotto and EuroMillions games, but if we had to choose between the two, which would be the best option? It sounds like a simple enough question, but comparing any two lottery games that are played according to different rules is a lot more challenging than you might think.

Education

Tue, 6 May 2008 10:52:10 GMT

Education is one of the main things that lotteries all over the world help to deliver thanks to the money raised from ticket sales.

Green Card Lottery

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:47:52 GMT

The Green Card Lottery is a lottery where the prize is a coveted “green card” visa which gives the holder the right to live and work in the United States of America. But in my opinion, all lotteries give players the chance to live and work abroad, because in many cases the only thing stopping us from setting up home in another country is money.

State Lottery Games

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:32:23 GMT

State lottery games are played in almost all of the states in America, and I wonder if an argument could be made for similar games in other countries, including the UK.

UK International Lottery

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 10:20:28 GMT

UK International Lottery is the name of a fictitious lottery used to scam unsuspecting people by email. I talked about a Coca Cola scam a few weeks ago, and the UK International Lottery swindle operates in a similar way, but this time it’s the reputation of the UK Lotto that suffers.

Sweepstakes

Tue, 8 Apr 2008 10:35:33 GMT

Sweepstakes have been on the minds of thousands of British people for the last couple of weeks, and that’s because of the Grand National race which was run over the weekend. My own sweepstakes entry for the Grand National didn’t win me any prizes, but it did make me think about these simple lottery games.

Unclaimed Prizes

Tue, 1 Apr 2008 10:45:55 GMT

Recent news that a British EuroMillions player has missed out on a second tier prize worth almost £7 million makes me question the mentality of some people.

Lottery Headquarters

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:04:42 GMT

Lottery headquarters are like HM Customs and Excise offices – nobody worries about where they are located until the need arises.

Coca Cola Lottery

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:31:02 GMT

The Coca Cola Lottery is not a brand new game from one of the leading manufacturers of carbonated soft drinks, but an email scam that informs recipients that they have won a £2.5 million prize.

Software

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:31:19 GMT

Software is not something that many people associate with lottery games, but it actually plays an important role in both the issuing of tickets and – for some players – the way they select their numbers.

UK Lottery Numbers

Tue, 4 Mar 2008 10:45:10 GMT

UK lottery numbers are something that always crop up in conversation with Lotto players. Whether we’re talking about how many numbers we play, how we pick them or the best way to check the winning numbers after the draw has taken place, all British lottery players find the subject fascinating.

EuroMillions on TV

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 10:25:33 GMT

The EuroMillions lottery was launched on 13 February, 2004, but until a couple of weeks ago it has never been possible to regularly watch draws on UK terrestrial television

Research

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 10:15:36 GMT

Lottery research was once a quite interesting thing, and gave us a good insight into what lottery jackpot winners chose to do with their cash and where those winners came from in terms of their background.

Are Critics Right?

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:21:06 GMT

Lottery critics aren’t very difficult to find, as I discovered only a couple of days ago when I was buying my own tickets for the EuroMillions and Lotto games. I was standing in line and heard a woman say to her husband, 'I can’t believe you’re doing this again. You never win more than the minimum prize, so what’s the point?'

Birthday Celebrations

Tue, 5 Feb 2008 10:36:23 GMT

EuroMillions celebrated its fourth birthday with a special Superdraw on Friday 8th February, and the jackpot of €130 million (that’s around £95 million for UK readers) was some €30 million more than the first EuroMillions Superdraw that was held last year to celebrate its third birthday.

Thunderball Stuck

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 10:01:09 GMT

Watching the Thunderball get stuck on Saturday night was something that we are fortunate we don’t have to do on a regular basis, but the fact that it happened brought confusion to many players. For those who didn’t see the draw on BBC television the numbers drawn were 11, 16, 30, 32 and 33. Then it was time to draw the Thunderball, and the number 2 ball got stuck midway down the exit chute.

Fourth Triple Rollover

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:28:35 GMT

Triple rollovers are things that UK Lotto players dream of. My previous blog entry made it very clear just how much I like lottery rollovers, and when I penned that piece I was thinking about the double rollover jackpot of Wednesday. Now I’m looking forward to an even more sumptuous triple rollover on Saturday, and as anyone who knows me would be happy to confirm, I’m beside myself with anticipation.

Rollover Riches

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:14:41 GMT

Rollovers never fail to renew my enthusiasm for lottery games the world over. Whether it's Lotto, EuroMillions or even lottery games that I don't play personally, such as Powerball and Mega Millions, rollovers always capture my attention. And the bigger they are, the better!

Free Lottery Games

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 08:32:22 GMT

Free lottery games are, as you might have guessed, those which cost the player nothing to enter. As a naturally sceptical person, I have spent many years being extremely wary of such notions, as the idea of “money for nothing” has always struck me as being somewhat illogical. However, my research into lottery games of all types over the last few years has led me to change my position, because there really are several genuine lotteries that you can enter without spending a penny on tickets.

Dream Number Value

Tue, 8 Jan 2008 10:37:40 GMT

Dream Number may be popular with some lottery players, but I personally avoid playing it as a matter of course simply because the prizes it offers are so unfavourable. For those of you who haven’t really looked into the Dream Number rules, it’s a fixed prize game which requires the player to match anything from 1 to 7 digits in the correct order to win a prize. To win the jackpot, all 7 digits must be matched in order, and the chances of you achieving this are just 1 in 10,000,000. If you overcome these odds, your prize is... wait for it... £500,000.