The National Lottery returns this week with an estimated jackpot of £5.3million after no winners claimed Saturday's top prize.
The next biggest prize of £1 million, for matching five numbers and the bonus ball, was claimed by four lucky winners on Saturday, while 83 players pocketed £1,750 after matching five of the six numbers.
And the EuroMillions returns on Wednesday with a £14m jackpot after one lucky ticket holder in France scooped up last week's bank busting £137million.
But before that, Set For Life returns with a stunning top prize of £10,000 a month for the next 30 years – equivalent to £3.6million.
Please gamble responsibly. And when the fun stops, stop.
Read our National Lottery live blog below for the latest updates…
- Joseph Gamp
Some Lottery winners haven’t told ANYONE about their money
The man who looks after lottery winners says he has advised some people who have never told a single soul, and that he will “never know” himself how it feels to win big.
Andy Carter, senior winners’ adviser at The National Lottery, has seen “all sorts” of reactions in his 15 years dealing with lucky ticketholders.
“I’ve seen people be sick with excitement, I’ve seen people resign their job on the spot, I’ve seen people jumping up and down, I’ve known husbands who haven’t told wives and wives who haven’t told husbands, I’ve been to homes where there’s literally a party going on already,” he told the PA news agency.
- Joseph Gamp
How to play Set For Life
To play Set For Life, you are required to pick five numbers from 1 to 47 and one Life Ball from 1 to 10.
Draws are held on Monday and Thursday evenings.
You can buy Set For Life tickets online every day from 6am until 11pm. But remember, to play on a draw day, you’ll need to buy your ticket before 7.30pm.
- Joseph Gamp
What young National Lottery winners did next
TO win a lottery jackpot is most people’s dream – but for those under the age of 25 who’ve scooped millions before they know how to handle money, it can often become a nightmare.
As their lives dramatically change overnight, many have said that with great wealth comes a whole host of unimaginable problems too.
As well as undergoing a radical physical transformation, Callie Rogers has been on a personal roller coaster since winning £1.8m aged 16 in 2003.
She splashed the cash on parties, plastic surgery and drugs, and in 2018, she said she thought she was going to die following an assault by two women on a night out.
Jane Park, from Edinburgh, won £1m in 2013 at the age of 17, after buying her first ever lottery ticket.
The teenager quit her £8-an-hour admin job and splashed out on cars, holidays, clothes and plastic surgery.
- Joseph Gamp
Over £1.8 billion raised for National Lottery Projects
From total ticket sales of £8,373.9 million in the year ending 31 March 2021:
- £1,887.5 million was raised for National Lottery projects
- £4,854.7 million was paid to players in prizes
- £1,004.8 million went to the Government in Lottery Duty
- £275.9 million was earned by retailers in commission
What happens if no one claims a prize?
If no UK players come forward within 180 days then the prize money, plus all the interest it has generated while it is held in trust, goes to National Lottery-funded projects across the UK.
The National Lottery have said: “Our players change the lives of individuals as well as communities by raising, on average, over £33 million for National Lottery-funded projects every week.”
How many raised by the Lottery is spent
In the year ending 31 March 2021, the funds were shared as follows:
- Health, education, environment and charitable causes – 40%
- Sport – 20%
- Arts – 20%
- Heritage – 20%
‘Most boring’ winners
Gareth and his wife Catherine joked they were the most “boring multimillionaires” when they won £40.6million the EuroMillions in 2012.
She said she wanted a new carpet for the six-bedroom home he had just built and have her hair done twice a year.
But he eventually splashed out on a huge hospitality box at Old Trafford and another at Wembley.
They also bought a holiday villa in Tenerife. She gave up her job and he wound down his building company.
While it seemed to be going well for the pair, they ended up splitting up and Gareth started dating a woman named Donna Desporte, who he seduced by telling her to “Google him” in a bar in Tenerife.
They had a nine-month fling – which ended with him ignoring and avoiding her, according to Donna.
List: National Lottery stats
Stats from the National Lottery
- Six Millionaires are made every week
- The luckiest postcode is Birmingham with 119 millionaires
- The luckiest profession is building
- There are 6 million winners a week
- £56 billion paid out in prizes
- Over £34 million goes to National Lottery Projects every week
- Most Millionaires celebrate with a cup of tea
What’s the world’s luckiest number?
The six luckiest numbers globally are: 6, 7, 33, 38, 40, and 49.
These numbers come from data collected from draws that happened in Spain, Canada, Germany, Poland, the UK, Greece, and South Africa.
The data is an aggregation – so it will be different for different draws depending on where you play.
- Milica Cosic
'Most boring' winners
Gareth and his wife Catherine joked they were the most “boring multimillionaires” when they won £40.6million the EuroMillions in 2012.
She said she wanted a new carpet for the six-bedroom home he had just built and have her hair done twice a year.
But he eventually splashed out on a huge hospitality box at Old Trafford and another at Wembley.
They also bought a holiday villa in Tenerife. She gave up her job and he wound down his building company.
While it seemed to be going well for the pair, they ended up splitting up and Gareth started dating a woman named Donna Desporte, who he seduced by telling her to “Google him” in a bar in Tenerife.
They had a nine-month fling – which ended with him ignoring and avoiding her, according to Donna.
- Milica Cosic
Unexpected fortunes
An Australian man unknowingly won the lottery a month ago and has finally come forward to claim his £2.4million prize.
The ticket holder collected his winnings on Thursday after striking lucky in the Set for Life jackpot that was drawn on October 9.
He will now be paid £11,000 a month for the next 20 years.
Because his entry was unregistered, Lotto officials weren’t able to find or contact the man about his winnings and had to wait until he came forward.
The lucky winner said he had his entry ticket tucked inside his wallet the entire time.
- Milica Cosic
Bad luck lotto winners
Dave and Angie Dawes couldn’t believe their luck when they won £101million in 2011.
And the generous couple decided to share their wealth by giving their friends £1million each.
“We’ve drawn up a list of 15 to 20 people that we’re going to make millionaires,” former Premier Foods supervisor Dave told The Guardian at the time.
“Anyone who has helped us through our lives.”
But despite their generosity, Lady Luck soon turned on the couple.
In 2017, the couple’s son, Michael, sued them for more cash after he blew through gifts of £1.6million in two years.
The Navy veteran tried to argue that he was led to believe that he would be given cash from the couple on an ongoing basis.
But a judge ultimately dismissed the case after hearing of Michael’s “astonishing” level of expenditure, which included a £1,000 weekly grocery bill.
- Milica Cosic
Explained: How does the National Lottery work?
The National Lottery raises money to go to many ‘good causes’ and have helped give out numerous grants to those that need it most.
On their website they state: “We retain around just 1% of revenue in profit, while around 95% of total revenue goes back to winners and society. More so, we run one of the most cost-efficient major lotteries in Europe, with around 4% of total revenue spent on operating costs.
“To date, National Lottery players have helped to raise over £43 billion for Good Causes, with more than 635,000 individual awards made across the UK – the equivalent of more than 225 lottery grants in every UK postcode district.”
- Milica Cosic
Explained: Where does National Lottery money go?
Around £30 million is raised every week by National Lottery players for good causes – so even if you don’t win some of the country’s most vulnerable do.
Here are some of the organisations they work with:
- Arts Council England
- Sport England
- BFI
- UK Sport
- Arts Council Of Wales
- Sport Wales
- Arts Council Of Northern Ireland
The 6 luckiest numbers
Ever wondered what numbers you *should* be playing?
Well, 6, 7, 33, 38, 40, and 49 are known as the six luckiest numbers globally.
These numbers come from data collected from draws that happened in Spain, Canada, Germany, Poland, the UK, Greece, and South Africa.
- Milica Cosic
Life-changing Lotto win
An ex- Championship footballer who was forced to retire due to injury has bagged himself a life-changing £1million on the National Lottery.
Terry Kennedy, who played for Sheffield United and Harrogate Town, has gone viral on social media after a video was posted of him being informed of his sensational win.
After celebrating his 28th birthday on Monday, footage emerged of Kennedy anxiously clutching his lucky ticket and speaking to what appears to be a member of the lottery to confirm his winnings.
Upon being told he had indeed scooped the cash, his co-workers erupted in celebration, with the former professional footballer staring at the ceiling in disbelief.
- Milica Cosic
Where is the best place to win the lottery?
If you want to be in with a better chance of winning the jackpot, you may consider a trip over the English Channel.
The French lottery – or Loto as it is known over there – has the statistically shortest odds of winning big.
Here are some of the easiest to win lotteries in the world
- FranceLoto – odds 1:5.99
- Swedish Lottery – odds 1:7
- Oz Lotto – odds 1:8
- Polish Mini Lotto – odds 1:8.5
- UK National Lottery – odds 1:9.3
- Spanish Lotto – odds 1:10
- Austria Lotto – odds 1:12
- Irish Lotto – odds 1:13
- Mega Millions Lottery – odds 1:24
- Powerball Lotto – odds 1:24.87
- Milica Cosic
Twice the luck
A couple won two lottery prizes in two weeks, just months after tragically losing their son to Covid.
Susan Slater and her husband won more than £30,000 on the People’s Postcode Lottery twice in July of this year.
They now want to use the cash to remember their son Steve, who died with coronavirus.
Susan, 74, said she couldn’t believe it when she found out that she had won again: “When I got the phone call for this, I’d told quite a few people that I’d won £1,000 and I thought ‘this is a wind-up, someone is winding me up!’
“Nowhere in my imagination did I think I was going to be lucky enough to win £30,000.”
- Milica Cosic
What is Set For Life?
The Set For Life draw runs on Mondays and Thursdays and one lucky Brit could win £10,000 every month for the next 30 years.
Players have to pick five numbers from 1-47 plus one Life Ball number from 1-10 or go with a Lucky Dip to get a randomly generated number.
You can buy Set For Life tickets online every day from 6am until 11pm. But remember, to play on a draw day, you’ll need to buy your ticket before 7.30pm.
The winning numbers go out at 8pm and can be found on the National Lottery website or their YouTube channel.
- Milica Cosic
What draw is on tonight?
There is no draw on Sunday's.
On Monday, the National Lottery returns with the Set For Life draw.
- Milica Cosic
Adults only
It is illegal for any retailer to sell these goods to anyone under the age of 18 – and will apply to favourite games like Lotto and the EuroMillions.
Online sales of lottery tickets and scratchcards have already been banned – this came into force in April this year.
The new age restriction, which was exclusively revealed by The Sun, aims to make sure the lottery is not a “gateway to problem gambling”, minister for sport, tourism and heritage Nigel Huddleston previously said.
Gambling is illegal for under-18s, but until now anyone 16 or over has been able to play National Lottery games.
- Milica Cosic
Home sweet home
A National Lottery winning dinner lady still lives in her council house, shops in Primark and drives a Kia despite bagging £1.8million.
Trish Emson, 51, explained money or her millionaire status did not change her or her partner Graham Norton, also 51, who still works as a decorator.
The down-to-earth pair have even managed to keep their teenage son Benjamin, 17, in check – and don’t even give him pocket money.
The modest mum, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, said: “Being rich doesn’t make you posh or a better person.
“I don’t like showing off and bragging about money and I can’t be posh anyway.
“To look at me you wouldn’t think I was a millionaire, but if I have to dress up I feel fake, I prefer my jeans,” she told The Mirror.
- Milica Cosic
Top scratchcard to get
According to Oddschecker, the best scratchcard to snap up is £500 Loaded with odds of just 1 in 3.15.
For just a fiver you could be in the running for £500.
In second place, with the same odds, is Full of £500s which also has a top prize of £500.
Cashword Multiplier follows close behind, which sees punters scratch off letters to reveal symbols to create full words.
- Milica Cosic
No draw tonight
There is a draw happening six nights a week, apart from Sundays.
Here is a timetable for all UK lottery games including Lotto, EuroMillions and Set For Life and what day they happen on.
Tonight is the turn of the main Lotto and the Thunderball.
- Milica Cosic
Odds revealed for scratchcards
Thankfully, experts have crunched the numbers to reveal the odds of bagging a win – and the answer might surprise you.
According to Oddschecker, the best scratchcard to snap up is £500 Loaded with odds of just 1 in 3.15.
For just a fiver you could be in the running for £500.
In second place, with the same odds, is Full of £500s which also has a top prize of £500.
Cashword Multiplier follows close behind, which sees punters scratch off letters to reveal symbols to create full words.
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