National Lottery operator Camelot has revealed changes are being made to its Lotto game in October. The enhancements will create more millionaires than ever before; will introduce a new Millionaire Raffle; will offer bigger rolling jackpots; will give players a free go for matching two numbers; and mean that the chances of winning at least £1m will be better than the chances of winning a jackpot on today’s game. The enhancements will change the way the game works by adding additional numbers for players to choose from – from six from 49 to six from 59.
The changes follow Lotto’s re-launch in 2013 and are part of Camelot’s ongoing commitment to offer players “continuously fresh, exciting and enticing prizes” across all National Lottery games. Camelot says this will benefit the long-term health of the game – driving sales, retailer commission and returns to National Lottery Good Causes.
The changes also highlight the continuous investment by Camelot in retail and game development – which has delivered a 25% increase in National Lottery retail sales in the last five years alone and saw established independent retailers earn, on average, over £6,500 in commission in 2014/15.
Independent retailers welcomed the changes. NFRN Chief Executive Paul Baxter said: “Independent retailers play a pivotal role in the success of the National Lottery and Camelot’s latest commitments to investing in Lotto will be great for the game, great for players and great for retailers across the UK. As well as benefiting from renewed interest in Lotto, which should lead to more footfall and more sales, independent retailers can assist Camelot in raising even more money for charities and foundations across the UK. Around 85% of NFRN members have a National Lottery terminal and, to date, they have raised an astonishing £4.2bn for good causes.
The key highlights include:
- A new ‘Millionaire Raffle’ which will guarantee at least two millionaires each week – one on a Wednesday and one on a Saturday – in addition to 20 winners of £20,000 in every draw.
- Bigger rolling jackpots – from October onwards, average winning jackpots are expected to be triple the level of winning jackpots on the current game. In addition, the limit on the number of Lotto rollovers (currently four) will be removed and the jackpot will be able to roll up to £50 million initially – and even more in future.
- Better odds of becoming a millionaire – in an average week, the chances of winning at least £1 million on the new game will be better than winning the jackpot on the current Lotto game – with odds at one in just under 10 million, versus one in just under 14 million on today’s game.
- Six balls will now be drawn from a total of 59 – the way the game works will be changing and, from October, players will choose 6 numbers from 59 instead of the 49 today.
- Matching two numbers will win a free go. Players matching two numbers will get a Lucky Dip ticket for a future draw – giving them another chance to be a millionaire.
- An extra 1.4 million retail winners a week – the equivalent of around 40 per store per week – will be created through the new Match 2 prizes. This new prize tier means that the overall chance of winning any prize increases from 1 in 54 on the current game to 1 in 9.3 come October. A full table of the game’s new odds and prize structure is available online.
Duncan Malyon, Sales Director at Camelot UK Lotteries Limited, said: “Lotto has enjoyed two years of consecutive growth since we re-invigorated the game in 2013 – and has already delivered over £250 million more to Good Causes than if we had done nothing to change the game. This is a true testament to the support of our dedicated retail partners and players.
“The changes we’re announcing today are great for retailers. Not only will they help to grow the overall category – delivering more in retail commission through sales – but retailers will also benefit from the extra footfall through additional winners claiming prizes in-store. More frequent Rollovers, with bigger rolling jackpots, will help to drive player excitement and engagement in the game – and will provide more for retailers to talk about and upsell on big draw days. We look forward to continuing to work with retailers – making the most of the changes to Lotto – to ensure this success story continues.”
Other aspects of Lotto will stay unchanged – for example, matching three numbers will still win players £25 and the price will remain at £2 per line.
As a result of the enhancements, the odds and prize structure on Lotto HotPicks – which uses the same numbers as Lotto – will also change, with bigger prizes on offer to players. Full details can again be found online.
A full, comprehensive training and support package – including details of launch events – will be provided to retailers well ahead of October. In the meantime, with no immediate changes taking place, players can continue to play Lotto as normal.
