How The Lotto Bonus Ball Works

Every Lotto draw offers an incredible multimillion-pound jackpot for anyone who can match all six main numbers drawn, but many players are unsure about the role that the Bonus Ball plays.

So what is the Bonus Ball, how does it work and why don’t you choose a Bonus number when you play the game? Find the answers to those questions and more on this page and see which Bonus Ball was picked as the winner in the most recent Lotto draw.

Key Facts About the Lotto Bonus Ball

• Matching five numbers plus the Bonus Ball wins you £1 million.
• It’s drawn from the 53 numbers remaining after the six main numbers have been drawn.
• You don’t pick a Bonus Ball number when you play, so you don’t get one on your ticket.
• The Bonus Ball is only relevant if you also match five main numbers.

Saturday's Bonus Ball Result

The Bonus Ball in Saturday's Lotto draw was 18. It’s the 17th time that the number has appeared as the Bonus Ball and the first time since Saturday 9th November 2024.

What is the Bonus Ball?

The Bonus Ball is an additional number which is drawn at the end of every Lotto game, after the six main numbers have been selected.

The six main balls are drawn first from a range of 1 to 59, and a Bonus Ball is then randomly selected from the remaining 53 numbers. As all of the numbers are drawn from the same pool it is impossible for the Bonus Ball to be the same as one of the six main numbers in the same draw.

Why don’t I need to choose a Bonus Ball when buying my ticket?

When you purchase an entry to Lotto you will get six numbers on your ticket. This is the same for all entries, whether you play online or in-store, for one draw or weeks in advance.

You win the Lotto jackpot if the six numbers on your ticket match the six main numbers selected in the draw. There is no prize for matching all six numbers and the Bonus Ball, so you do not need seven numbers on your ticket.

If you match the Bonus Ball, it will be with one of the six numbers you do pick, because it is drawn from the 53 numbers left in the machine after the main numbers have been drawn.

Other lotteries, such as EuroMillions, use a different system. The additional numbers in EuroMillions, known as Lucky Stars, are drawn from a different set of balls so it is possible for the same number to come out as both a main number and a Lucky Star. As a result you need to pick two Lucky Stars as well as your five other EuroMillions numbers.

So what is the Bonus Ball for?

The Bonus Ball exists to give players who have matched five of the six main numbers a chance to win an even better prize. The prize for matching five numbers without the Bonus Ball is £1,750, while the prize for matching five plus the Bonus Ball is £1 million. The difference between the two amounts can be even greater if a rolldown occurs in a Must Be Won draw.

The odds of matching five main numbers without the Bonus Ball are 1 in 144,415, while the chances of matching five main numbers plus the Bonus Ball are 1 in 7,509,579.

To sum up, both of Lotto’s top two prizes require you to match all six numbers on your ticket, but the Bonus Ball only comes into play for one of those. None of the other prize tiers, from the free Lucky Dip to the Match 5 prize of £1,750, require you to match the Bonus Ball.

Prize Category	Prize Value	Main Numbers Matched	Match Bonus Ball?	Total Numbers Matched
Match 6	Jackpot	6	No	6
Match 5 + Bonus Ball	£1 million	5	Yes	6
Match 5	£1,750	5	No	5
Match 4	£140	4	No	4
Match 3	£30	3	No	3
Match 2	Free Lucky Dip	2	No	2

Bonus Ball Questions and Answers

If there is still anything you need to know concerning the Bonus Ball, you’ll find the answers to the most common questions below. Go to the Lotto Q&A page for further information about the game.

Bonus Ball Statistics

Take a look at all the times each number has been selected in Lotto as the Bonus Ball, including the most common Bonus Ball numbers and the least common.

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