51-658: The Millennium Commission , a United Kingdom public body, was set up to celebrate the turn of the millennium. It used funding raised through the UK National Lottery to assist communities in marking the close of the second millennium and celebrating the start of the third. The body was wound up in 2006. Set up in 1993 by the National Lottery etc. Act 1993 , the Commission was an independent non-departmental public body . Commissioners were appointed by
102-561: A Monday Lotto draw that enters your ticket into their two draws each Monday, another one-off bonus jackpot-only draw for Lotto, known as the Lotto Monday Spoiler Draw was once again introduced by Camelot. The jackpot for this bonus draw was £5,000,000. These bonus draws were included in the main Lotto game and gave players another chance at winning the jackpot on their Lotto ticket, using the same six numbers entered into
153-425: A chance to appear on the next episode. The six qualifying contestants retain their numbers from the first round. The host asks a series of toss-up questions on the buzzer, each of which can be answered with the number of a contestant still in play at the time. If a contestant responds correctly with an opponent's number, that opponent is eliminated; a contestant who responds correctly with his/her own number remains in
204-531: A numerical answer, and the contestant who keys it in first in the fastest time advances to the next round. Anyone who enters an incorrect answer is eliminated from the game. As before, the round ends when six contestants have qualified to advance, and all others are eliminated. The last digit from each of the six advancing players' numbers are displayed at the end of the show. Any home viewers who can form their own telephone number from these digits (in any order as always mentioned by Simon & Phillip) may call in for
255-553: Is a fixed amount per winner, similar to the Thunderball, and Set For Life draws. For the changes to be made possible, the Lotto Millionaire raffle was discontinued. The ticket price of £2 and number pool (1–59) remain the same. Rollovers are limited to five. If nobody matches all six main numbers after the fifth rollover, the jackpot is shared between every prize winner including match 2 winners from October 2020. This
306-404: Is also drawn, which affects only players who match five numbers. There are six prize tiers, which are awarded to players who match at least two of the six drawn numbers, with prizes increasing for matching more of the drawn numbers. The players who match all six drawn numbers win equal shares of the jackpot ; the chance of doing so is 1 in 45,057,474. Similarly, if four or five balls are matched,
357-416: Is called a "Jackpot Rolldown". Every cash prize therefore increases substantially.(estimated amounts shown in brackets). Expected jackpots: £3.8m minimum on Saturday and £2.0m minimum on Wednesday. Lotto Event Draws. All prize levels have a fixed prize amount. Due to this payout structure on occasion there will be a larger allocated prize fund than required to pay out all winners. This additional prize money
408-587: Is combined with the prize fund for the next prize category where there is at least one winner. Since the rule changes in October 2015 there is also a "match 2" prize of a free lucky dip ticket for another draw, with odds of doing so at 1 in 10. This created much criticism as the breakdown of prizes announced by Camelot includes the value of these prizes (£2 each winner) within the draw's prize fund even though each match 2 prize winner does not see any monetary value unless their ticket matches three main numbers or more in
459-467: Is conducted twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays, except that, between 1994 and 2009, a draw on Christmas Day was moved to Christmas Eve; since 2010, draws are held on Christmas Day if that was a Wednesday or Saturday. Saturday draws started on 19 November 1994, under the name 'National Lottery'; the first Wednesday draw was on 5 February 1997. All of the draws are shown live on their YouTube channel at 20:00 on Wednesdays, and at 19:45 on Saturdays. Lotto
510-544: Is one of the most popular forms of gambling in the United Kingdom . Originally, the draw machines for Lotto and Lotto Extra were the Criterion model, manufactured by Beitel Lottery Products, which was acquired by Smartplay International Inc. in 1997, but on 25 October 2003, Camelot replaced them with Smartplay's Magnum I model. These machines were called Topaz, Sapphire, Amethyst, Opal, Garnet & Moonstone, while
561-422: Is then placed into a reserve fund which is used when additional winners have winning matches. Once this surplus amount reaches a specified value a special event "must be won" draw is offered with a jackpot of £15 million. (rolling down if no match 6 winner). On Saturday 24 August 2019, Camelot also run a "double prize" event. All cash prizes were doubled although this has not been repeated since. Lotto Hotpicks uses
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#1732801208868612-541: The National Lottery Community Fund , a fund constituted to support public spending). 12% goes to the UK government as lottery duty, 4% to retailers as commission, and a total of 5% to the operator, with 4% to cover operating costs and 1% as profit. Since 22 April 2021, players must be 18 years of age to purchase lottery tickets and scratchcards (online and in-store). Previously, the minimum age
663-629: The Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister ; the Chair of the Commission was, for most of its life, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport , and for most of its life a second government minister was also a Commissioner. During Tessa Jowell 's tenure as Chair the second Minister was Richard Caborn , as Minister for Sport, who preceded Jowell in the department by one day, and who left
714-554: The Science Museum, London after being donated by Camelot in 2022. On 16 March 2018, Camelot advised more than 10 million players with online accounts to change their passwords because of a "low-level" cyber attack that affected 150 customer accounts. They claim that no money was taken from customers. Camelot claimed the hackers used a method called credential stuffing and said the attack appeared to have begun on 7 March. In February 2024, Allwyn Entertainment Ltd (part of
765-490: The Lotto Hotpicks draw is £1.00 per board. The Thunderball jackpot draw requires players to pick five main numbers from 1 to 39 and one 'Thunderball' number from 1 to 14 for an entry fee of £1 per line. Prizes are won by matching the Thunderball number or at least three main numbers alone. The more numbers matched, the bigger the prize won. The top prize, now £500,000, is won by matching all five main numbers as well as
816-408: The Lotto game which increased the pool of numbers from 49 to 59. Rollovers are no longer limited in number, instead the size of the jackpot is capped; the cap is reached after about 14 rollovers. When the jackpot gets to £50 million, if no-one matches all six main numbers the jackpot will rollover to the following draw. In the event nobody matches all six numbers on that draw the jackpot "rolls down" and
867-486: The National Lottery brand: As of March 2019 , the current games include: Players buy tickets with their choice of six different numbers between 1 and 59; there is provision for random numbers to be generated automatically for those who do not wish to choose, known as a 'Lucky Dip'. The entry fee to the Lotto draw was set at £1 per board from its introduction, and increased to £2 in October 2013. The draw
918-472: The National Lottery since its inception) on 1 February 2024. Prizes are paid as a lump sum (with the exception of the Set For Life which is paid over a set period) and are tax-free. Of all money spent on National Lottery games, around 53% goes to the prize fund and 25% to "good causes" as set out by Parliament (though some of this is considered by some to be a form of " stealth tax " levied to support
969-446: The Thunderball. The lowest prize is £3 for matching the Thunderball alone. Draws take place four times a week – Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays – and are shown live on the official website and on their YouTube channel at 20:00 on Tuesday & Fridays, and at 20:15 on Wednesdays & Saturdays. The first Thunderball draw was held on 12 June 1999 and the draw was originally only held on Saturdays, however, from 23 October 2002,
1020-591: The Wednesday Lotto draw), but with no pit stops, each correct answer awarded £200 with a bonus of £1,000 for getting all 20, for a potential maximum of £5,000. Afterwards, they were then also given the right to start the midweek lottery draws. The prize for giving only one correct answer was a stay at a bed-and-breakfast near the Gravelly Hill Interchange , popularly referred to as "Spaghetti Junction." During Simon Mayo's tenure as host,
1071-445: The bonus ball, compared to the former system. As part of the refresh, a new Lotto Raffle was introduced, with at least 50 winners of £20,000 per draw. The announcement and launch of the refreshed Lotto game caused controversy due to the price increase (dubbed as a "tax on the poor"). The new game launched with a £10,000,000 jackpot and 1,000 Lotto Raffle winners of £20,000. From 10 October 2015, Camelot announced further changes to
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#17328012088681122-473: The bonus was 10, and seven jackpot winners shared a prize of £5,874,778. Tickets became available on the Isle of Man on 2 December 1999 at the request of Tynwald . A second lottery draw, Thunderball, was introduced by Camelot on 12 June 1999, which took place during the first episode of Winning Lines . The first main numbers drawn on Thunderball were 32, 8, 26, 31 and 28, and the first Thunderball number drawn
1173-433: The champion 15 seconds to study the answers, after which the questions begin and the clock starts to run. The champion must respond by giving both an answer and its number. The correct answer is then removed from the board, regardless of whether the contestant gave it or not. No penalties were given for incorrect answers. Twice during the round, the champion may take a "pit stop" by pressing a handheld button. Doing so freezes
1224-458: The clock for 15 seconds, during which the champion may look over the answers again, however, he/she may not respond to the current question until the pit stop has ended. The champion wins a trip whose destination depends on the number of correct answers given, as shown in the table below. During Schofield's first series as host, the champion then played the Wonderwall again (on the same day as
1275-525: The department contemporaneously (when Gordon Brown became Prime Minister). The Commission was wound up in December 2006 and its role was transferred to the Big Lottery Fund . The Commission invested over £2 billion in buildings, environmental projects, celebrations and community schemes. Funded projects include: There were initially nine commissioners – two ministers, one appointed by
1326-522: The draw on 8 October 2004. The draws are currently made in Paris and shown recorded in the UK on the official website twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays, approximately three hours after the draw has taken place. The entry fee to the EuroMillions draw is £2.50 per board. The odds of winning the jackpot are 139,838,160 to 1. Winning Lines Winning Lines is a National Lottery game show that
1377-471: The draw was held on Wednesdays too. From 2006 to 2008, only the Saturday draw was televised, while on Wednesday the draw took place prior to the live TV show and the winning results were announced during the show. The rules of Thunderball changed substantially on 9 May 2010. Before this date, Thunderball matches were drawn from numbers 1 to 34; there was no prize for matching the Thunderball number alone, and
1428-586: The first Set For Life draw took place. The game offers a top prize of £10,000 per month for thirty years (£3,600,000). Each line costs £1.50, and draws take place every Monday and Thursday at 20:00. Players choose five main numbers from 1 to 47, and one "Life Ball" from 1 to 10. On Saturday 7 February 2004 the lottery operator Camelot launched a pan-European lottery: EuroMillions. The first draw took place on Friday 13 February 2004 in Paris. The UK, France and Spain were involved initially. Lotteries from Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland joined
1479-515: The following draw. Included with each Lotto ticket is the Millionaire Lotto Raffle where 20 players win £20,000 each and one player wins £1 million per draw. In January 2016, the Lotto jackpot reached the £50 million cap and rolled over once more to reach a record-breaking £66 million. This was won by two ticket holders who received £33 million each. In August of that year, the jackpot cap was lowered to £22 million. If nobody won
1530-416: The fourth series onwards all draws in the show were started by Schofield. During the third series in 2001, the winner of each edition of Saturday's show had to return on Wednesday to play the Wonderwall again for a chance to win some spending money to take on their holidays. Each correct answer was worth £200, with twenty correct answers earning them a bonus £1,000, to make a total of £5,000. The only sting of
1581-609: The game. An incorrect response eliminates the contestant who gave it, regardless of the number. If no one buzzes in on a question, the contestant with the correct number is eliminated. The last remaining contestant advances to the Wonderwall round for a chance to win a trip, whilst the last contestant eliminated from the game wins a holiday in the Countryside. The champion faces a set of three projection screens on which 49 answers are displayed, numbered 1 to 49, and has three minutes to answer as many questions as possible. The host gives
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1632-445: The jackpot when it reached £22 million or more, it would roll to the next draw one final time. Then, the jackpot must be won: if no-one matched all six main numbers, the jackpot prize was to be shared by the players with the most winning numbers. From October 2015 until October 2018, the total prize fund was 47.50% of draw sales in a normal week, including the raffle. The three-ball prize winners, with odds of 96 to 1, received £25 each;
1683-689: The main Lotto draw for its numbers but is a different game. The player chooses both the numbers and the number of draw balls they want to try to match, up to a maximum of five. However, if the player does not match all the numbers chosen, they are not a winner. The National Lottery describes Hotpicks as "five games in one", because the player has a choice of five ways of playing the game, each offering different odds and payouts. Prior to 2015 (49 numbers) Prizes were 1 number = £5, 2 Numbers = £40, 3 Numbers = £450, 4 Numbers £7,000, 5 Numbers = £130,000. At launch, Match 1 & Match 5 were not available. These 2 options were added on 26 October 2005. The entry fee to
1734-561: The main Lotto draw that evening was £6,600,000, the jackpot for the Lotto Golden Jubilee Draw was £10,000,000. Again on 6 November 2004, to celebrate The National Lottery's 10th anniversary, Camelot once again introduced another special one-off jackpot-only draw, known as the Lotto 10th Anniversary Draw. The jackpot for this bonus draw, like with the Lotto Golden Jubilee Draw, was £10,000,000. Once again on 29 April 2006, in response to Camelot's rival Chariot introducing
1785-719: The main draw. The rules were the same as Lotto Extra where players must match all six numbers to win the jackpot.( see below ) Camelot announced that the ticket price was to double to £2 from 3 October 2013, with prizes restructured. The announcement was followed by news that large bonuses were to be set aside for management pay, which drew criticism. The arrival of the "New Lotto" meant bigger jackpots with an estimated average of £1.1 million extra for Saturday's draw and £400,000 on Wednesday. Players matching three numbers receive an extra £15, up from £10 before and an extra £40 for matching 4 numbers. Those matching five numbers receive £500 less, and £50,000 less when matching five numbers +
1836-548: The major rule changes on Thunderball. The current Lotto machines are the Smartplay Magnum II model, and the current Thunderball and Set For Life machines are the Smartplay Halogen II model. The Thunderball & Set for Life machines are all named Excalibur, named after King Arthur's sword. One of the National Lottery's original Beitel Criterion Lottery machines, Guinevere is currently on display at
1887-633: The multinational KKCG company) took over all operations of the National Lottery, replacing the Camelot Group . As of 22 April 2021 , the eligibility requirements include: From introduction in November 1994 until April 2021, lottery tickets could be purchased by people at least 16 years old. Scratchcards , from introduction in March 1995 to April 2021, could also be purchased by people at least 16 years old. Several games operate under
1938-476: The older Criterion machines from 1994 were called Merlin, Arthur, Lancelot & Guinevere, with the addition of Vyvyan & Galahad in 2000. On 21 November 2009, Camelot replaced its older Lotto draw machines again. The new machines have the same names of those used on earlier machines, except Vyvyan & Galahad. On 9 May 2010, new machines for the Thunderball game were introduced, replacing Smartplay's older Halogen I model that had been in use since 1999, following
1989-524: The opposition, and six independents. The number of commissioners was reduced to five as the work of the commission decreased. The final members were: National Lottery (United Kingdom) The National Lottery is the state- franchised national lottery established in 1994 in the United Kingdom. It is regulated by the Gambling Commission , and is operated by Allwyn Entertainment , who took over from Camelot Group (who had been running
2040-406: The owner of the correct number buzzes in, he/she advances to the next round, if not, he/she is eliminated. The host continues to ask questions until six contestants have qualified to advance, at which point all others are eliminated. The format of this round was changed beginning with the second series. Each contestant now has a keypad on which to enter answers. Mayo or Schofield asks a question with
2091-411: The probability of a rollover). "Treble rollovers"—two consecutive rollovers—are much less common. The first quadruple rollover draw occurred on Saturday 29 September 2012 with a jackpot of £19.5 million. In the event of a quadruple rollover, if no tickets matched all six main numbers, the jackpot was shared between the tickets that match five numbers and the bonus ball. In October 2015, this rollover limit
Millennium Commission - Misplaced Pages Continue
2142-459: The relevant prize is divided equally between all who match that many balls. If no player matches all six numbers, the jackpot is added to that of the next Lotto draw—a rollover . This accumulation was limited to three consecutive draws until 10 February 2011, when it was increased to four. Rollovers are frequent, with for example 20 Wednesday (39%) and 13 Saturday rollovers (25%) in 2011 (fewer tickets are sold on Wednesdays than Saturdays, increasing
2193-490: The runner-up in round 2 started the Thunderball draw and the Wonderwall winner started the main Lottery draw. When Schofield took over as host from series three, the Thunderball draw moved to being before round 2, with Schofield himself starting the draw, and the Lottery and Lottery Extra draws took place before the Wonderwall; in the third series, the runner-up contestant started both the Lottery and Lottery Extra draws, but from
2244-640: The top prize (for matching five main numbers and the Thunderball) was half the current jackpot at £250,000. After this date, the Friday draw was introduced in addition to the Wednesday and Saturday draws. Following the change of rules, while the chance of winning anything on Thunderball more than doubled, the chance of winning the top prizes more than halved. The Tuesday draw was added on 30 January 2018. The odds and payouts are as follows: On 18 March 2019,
2295-534: The two-ball prize winners received a free £2 entry. 17.82% of the sales are divided as shown in the table and split equally with the number of winners for each selection. In October 2018 the Lotto Raffle was discontinued. Wednesday 21 November 2018 brought significant changes. Ever since the game's inception, all prizes levels from "match 4" and above varied depending on the number of winners at each level and on total ticket sales. From this date, each prize level
2346-710: Was 16. A statute of 1698 provided that in England lotteries were by default illegal unless specifically authorised by statute. State lotteries were established by the Bank of England to generate money for 'good causes' and also to enable Britain to go to war. Early English state lotteries included the Million Lottery (1694) and the Malt Lottery (1697). A 1934 Act, further liberalised in 1956 and 1976, legalised small lotteries. A National Health Service Lottery
2397-450: Was 6. The National Lottery undertook a major rebranding programme in May 2002, designed to combat falling sales. The main game was renamed Lotto , and Lottery Extra became Lotto Extra , though Camelot would later retire Lotto Extra on 8 July 2006 due to low sales. The stylised crossed-fingers logo was modified. However, the games as a collective are still known as the National Lottery . It
2448-449: Was broadcast on BBC One from 12 June 1999 to 16 October 2004. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo and then by Phillip Schofield . Forty-nine contestants take part in this round, each is assigned a two-digit number from 01 to 49. In the first series, Mayo asks a question that can be answered by one of these numbers, and anyone who believes that his/her number is the answer may buzz in. Contestants who buzz in wrongly are eliminated. If
2499-538: Was originally called The National Lottery , but was renamed Lotto in an update on 18 May 2002 after ticket sales decreased. Lotto is by far the most popular draw, with around 15 to 45 million tickets sold each draw. The most winners for a single jackpot was 133 in January 1995, each player winning £122,510. In the draw, six numbered balls are drawn without replacement from a set of 59 balls numbered from 1 to 59 (formerly 1 to 49 until October 2015). A further Bonus Ball
2550-473: Was piloted in 1988 but cancelled for legal reasons before the first draw. The UK's state-franchised lottery was set up under government licence by the government of John Major in 1993. The National Lottery was franchised to a private operator; the Camelot Group was awarded the franchise on 25 May 1994. The first draw took place on 19 November 1994 with a television programme presented by Noel Edmonds . The first numbers drawn were 30, 3, 5, 44, 14 and 22,
2601-484: Was replaced by a jackpot cap. On 18 May 2002, to celebrate the rebranding of The National Lottery, Camelot had introduced three special one-off bonus jackpot-only draws, with each bonus draw having a jackpot of £4,000,000. In the same year on 1 June 2002, Camelot had introduced another special one-off jackpot-only draw to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II . Whilst the estimated jackpot for
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