National Lottery Faces Massive Changes
Huge changes to National Lottery rules from today. There are more changes coming – including a new draw.
The National Lottery rules have been changed from today. This means your next draw will be different – with more changes planned for the coming months. Camelot is to launch a new game from the start of 2019. This includes thousands of pounds being handed out every month for the next 25 years.
Camelot UK Lotteries Ltd has announced new, bigger fixed-cash prizes in the main game including a £1million prize if you match five balls and the bonus number. The number of roll-overs has also been slashed to five. The jackpot will be won or shared out more often. This is half the number allowed previously.
There are also going to be more special EuroMillions draws. However, only one UK millionaire to be picked in each draw instead of two. The move comes after an in-depth review of the draws.
Big Changes, More Winners
Camelot CEO Nigel Railton said,
“It was clear from the review that we needed to create a more appealing and balanced range of games.
“In particular, we needed to make our draw games stand out from each other…
“To give people the ability to play their way – with prizes, chances to win and prices to suit different tastes.
“The portfolio updates we are announcing today will complement the other initiatives we are bringing in across retail and digital, as well as our ongoing work to make The National Lottery brand more relevant and visible – and will ensure that The National Lottery as a whole continues to deliver for both players and Good Causes alike.”
Under the refreshed draw games portfolio, there will be: a huge, rolling jackpot game (EuroMillions); a core millionaire-maker game (Lotto); a £1 value game with a top prize of £500,000 (Thunderball); and, subject to regulatory approval, a brand new annuity game, which is expected to launch in the spring of 2019 and which is expected to have a top prize of thousands of pounds every month for at least 25 years.
The changes follow the launch of a new EuroMillions HotPicks game and the addition of an extra Thunderball draw day in January this year. Both of which performed ahead of expectations and boosted returns to Good Causes.
What are the changes and how do they affect you?
The strategic review also highlighted how, over time, Lotto had become too similar to EuroMillions, so a clear differentiation between the games was needed for The National Lottery’s long-term health.
Camelot has listened to what players, non-players and retailers have said that they want to see from Lotto in the future – a prize fund that’s more fairly shared, jackpots that will be won more frequently and bigger cash prizes at the other levels. As a result, from November, new bigger, fixed cash prizes in the main game will replace the raffle; the Lotto jackpot will be won or shared more often; and new ‘Rolldowns’ will see the jackpot shared across all of the winning cash prize tiers if no one matches all 6 main numbers in a must-be-won draw.
The prize payout on Lotto will increase slightly and the prize money from the raffle – which currently comprises 1 x £1 million prize and 20 x £20,000 prizes in every draw – will now go into the main Lotto draw, resulting in bigger, fixed* cash prizes (apart from the jackpot):
In addition, once the Lotto jackpot rolls over five times, there will be a must-be-won draw on the sixth consecutive draw. This compares to around 10 rolls currently before it must be won. Millions of more players will benefit if no one matches all 6 main numbers. In a must-be-won draw, the jackpot will no longer go to a single prize tier (e.g. Match 5+Bonus). Instead, there will be a ‘Rolldown’. This will see the jackpot shared across all of the winning cash prize tiers (Match 5+Bonus, Match 5, Match 4 and Match 3). This boosts each individual prize amount in sthe process. For example, the usual 100,000 Match 3 winners in a typical draw could see their prizes boosted from £30 to around £100 in a Rolldown situation. The thousands of Match 4 winners could each scoop around £500 (up from a fixed prize of £140).
Camelot’s retail partners are also set to benefit from the changes. In line with the company’s ongoing £20 million investment in retail, National Lottery retailers across the UK will receive sales commission when a player claims a Match 2 free Lotto Lucky Dip prize in their store. Therefore, resulting in an average annual commission boost of around £5 million.
From 2019, Camelot will run more of these special draws – and they will be bigger and better. For example, instead of 10 guaranteed UK millionaires created in a special draw, 30 guaranteed UK millionaires might be created. Camelot will guarantee one UK millionaire in every draw instead of two. This change will come into effect early in the New Year. The prizes on the main game will remain exactly the same.
