Lotto Set for Big Changes from October
Last Updated: Thursday 24th September 2020, 14:23
Lotto will be changing from October as the National Lottery bids to make more winners, increase the amount raised for good causes and generate as much excitement as possible. It has been announced that there will be several tweaks taking effect from autumn, although the way the game is played and the price of tickets will remain the same.
There will be 59 numbers to choose from rather than 49, while the introduction of a Millionaire Raffle will guarantee a £1 million prize in every draw. This new element means there will be better odds of becoming a millionaire than on the current game, despite the choice of numbers going up.
A new prize structure will also see players matching two main numbers receive a free Lotto Lucky Dip, thereby boosting the chances of winning a prize. There will no longer be a maximum number of rollovers, making it likely that there will be some huge jackpots on offer. Under the current system, there is a limit of four rollovers before the prize money rolls down to the next winning tier if the jackpot is not won. From October, the jackpot can continue to roll over until it reaches or goes past a pre-agreed amount.
The prize tiers in Lotto Hotpicks will also shift, giving players the chance to win £350,000 for correctly matching five main numbers. Full details of all the changes will be released in time, and National Lottery organisers are confident they will freshen up the game and make it even more exciting.
View the upcoming changes to Lotto
The last time there were changes to the game was in 2013, when the price of a ticket was increased to £2 to raise funds for National Lottery Good Causes projects and boost prize money, making the average jackpot bigger and allowing for the introduction of the Lotto Raffle. The UK Lotto game was launched in 1994 and has so far raised over £33 billion for good causes. More details will be published on National-Lottery.com as they are made available.
